Towering Memories and Treasured Dreams
by RoseDragonWitch
Summary: Sequel to 'Warm Memories' story. Already, a few weeks had passed since their adventure on the 'ghost island'. Still, they continue forward, preparing themselves for any challenge that awaits them. But it seems that their memories aren't willing to let them go just yet. A distant tower... a mysterious force that haunts the seas... will their trust with each other be strong enough?
1. The Beast Below

**Prologue: The Beast Below**

"Don't look at me like that!" Nami snapped back angrily. "It's not my fault! I'm just predicting the weather! Not causing it!"

"You can create weather though now!" Usopp reminded her. "Can't you make it nice?"

It was just another day of hell in the New World. The Thousand Sunny had looked particularly tired after a string of bad weather over the last two days. At the moment, the Straw Hats were all over the deck, enjoying the warm weather while it last.

"But it is nice now, Usopp-san," Brook called happily from the swing as he swung back and forth and drank his tea. He then looked up and sang out, " _Truly, not a cloud in the sky_!"

"I meant before!" Usopp retorted sourly, though he had reasons to be a little ill-tempered. Over the last two days, they had to fight off back-to-back cyclones, as well as a sudden deep freeze which caused the whole bottom of the ship to become incased in ice, and they had just escaped a battlefield of icebergs when they were then trapped in a fog. Only now did the weather turn bright and sunny again, though Nami was already predicting more bad weather sometime tonight. They were all of the agreement to try and get to the next island as soon as possible and just wait it out.

"You know me better than that," Nami poked at Usopp in the head. "Stop complaining and get back to work."

Usopp sighed before he went wandering off, muttering bitterly under his breath about what he was really thinking about Nami before he went to join Robin on the upper part of the deck to make sure that the plants survived the sudden freeze.

Nami rolled her eyes before she looked down to make sure that the others were also working. Franky had come up from the lower parts of the ship after he managed to break off the remaining ice that had clung to the ship like a fungus, and was up already repairing the torn sail.

Sanji was inside the kitchen, cooking up something warm for dinner tonight to help take away any remains of a chill that anyone might have had, while Luffy and Chopper were both on the grassy deck and were laughing as Luffy was entertaining him by doing his favorite pastime game by imitating the others. He was just showing Chopper how Usopp looked after he slipped on some ice and banged his head on the deck while Chopper laughed.

"Yeah!" Chopper giggled as Luffy was making faces, "That's just what he looked like!"

Nami sighed at the sight of them acting like they didn't have a care in the world. Well, at least they were keeping out of trouble for the moment.

As for Zoro…

Nami glared up at the front of the ship where it was Zoro's turn at the wheel, sporting a large lump on his head from where Nami had hit him earlier. She shook her head angrily, wondering how on earth the idiot could have slept through all of that chaos? He didn't wake up until they had just left the fog and the weather turned nice again. Which led to her giving him a beating to vent some of her frustration.

"Nami!" Luffy whined as he looked up at her, already bored with imitations. "Are we near the next island yet?"

"Would you relax?" Nami called back with a sigh. "In case you hadn't noticed we just entered the next island's climate zone! It shouldn't take us much longer, so stop your whining!"

"Really? YES!" Luffy cheered as he jumped to his feet and punched the air as Chopper jumped about excitedly. Just then, Brook jumped from the swing and went over to them to start singing a song at how they were going on a new adventure as soon as they saw land. Nami shook her head as she watched them all act like idiots once again. Yet this time, she felt the little smile appear on her mouth as she looked at Luffy's laughing, smiling face.

"It's hard to believe that anything bad ever happened to him with the way that he goes through life," said a voice and she turned around to see Robin there, carrying a new book that she got in the last village. She was smiling as she added, "It makes it all feel like it had all been a bad dream."

Nami didn't need to ask what she was talking about.

"Yeah," Nami said softly as they looked at Luffy together. "Hard to imagine what happened before…"

No one ever spoke about it since then, but a couple weeks back, they landed at an island with a deserted temple on it. None of them, not even Robin, was able to figure out exactly what happened that day, but they had one adventure on that ghost island that none of them was ever likely to forget. Luffy was taken from them by the ghost, if that was truly what he was, of their captain's older brother, Ace. While on that island, the rest of the crew was stuck running around as they tried to hunt down a creature that was hiding in Luffy's memories and able to shape-shift into any form that it wanted, though it seemed to like looking like old enemies. But they spent that whole night running around and viewing Luffy's memories from since he was very young, to what happened after the war two years ago.

They were able to glimpse sides of him that they never knew to exist, but that didn't change who he was to any of them. He was still their stubborn, idiotic captain and they didn't want him any other way. They all remembered what happened that night… yet none of them ever brought it up again since they left. Perhaps they knew that there was no longer any point. Luffy didn't seem to mind if they knew or not, if it bothered him, he didn't say anything.

Nami's smile went a little wider as she watched him playing tag with the others.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I'm glad to know that he's ok. You know, I had more than a few nightmares since we left that ghost island behind us."

"I think we all have," Robin nodded in agreement. "But it'll get easier in time." She then looked over at her and asked, "I noticed that you picked up a few maps of the area from the last town that we were in. Do you already have an idea where we're going to next?"

"Vaguely," Nami admitted. "I haven't had a chance to really look over them since we left that town. Really… what were those idiots thinking?"

It was part of an old game of the more immature members of the crew. They sometimes use alias when going into town for shopping. Nami had supported it at first so that they could avoid unwanted attention… but soon their favorite game to introduce each other with the most ridiculous names imaginable had started to cause certain… problems for the whole crew. She was trying not to think about the trouble that it caused in the last village and somehow they ended up being run out of town… like always.

Honestly, what was she going to do with those boys?

Robin chuckled a little as she reminded her, "But they seemed like they were having such a fun time."

"And that's exactly why we get into so much trouble all the time!" Nami muttered bitterly as she thought more about the maps she had been pouring over before the weather got hectic. "The part of the sea around here has as unpredictable weather as the rest of the New World. But that's all I know. I don't even remember the names of the islands in this area. Maybe I better go upstairs and get another look before…?"

But before she could even finish her train of thought, Zoro had suddenly called from the front.

"Nami! The fog is rolling back in!" he shouted out, getting everyone's attention. He was right. Rolling waves of fog was directly in front of them. Though they weren't anywhere near as dark as the fog of the Florian Triangle, they were still so thick that it would be like trying to see through a sea of cotton candy.

"Awesome!" Luffy cried out excitedly as they continued onwards.

"Ah, Nami-san!" Brook shouted out nervously. He had an understandable fear of fog and wanted to make sure that they should be going in this direction.

"It's alright!" Nami called, looking down at the Log Pose once again to check the needle. "The fog here should be gone by midday! Just keep going forward! The next island should be just beyond it!"

"Oh, really? Thank goodness," Brook sighed in relief as he dabbed his feathered boa at his forehead as if he had been sweating.

"Guys? My Usopp radar is telling me that we really shouldn't go in there!" Usopp began, chills going up his spin as they sailed closer and closer to the thick smoke. "I got this really bad feeling!"

Nami frowned as she also sensed a strange chill going down her spine as she frowned down at the Log Pose. No… there was definitely an island through there. They were going the right way.

"Stay sharp everyone!" she called, thinking back to all the icebergs from the last fog they were in. "Anything could be waiting for us! Just keeping going forward and we should be fine!"

"Nami-swan!" Sanji called as he came jumping happily out of the kitchen, a tray in hand as he held a couple fruity drinks. He had come up with dozens of tangerine recipes to appease his sweet Nami and he couldn't wait to see what she thought of his latest creation. He got down on one knee as he held the tray out for her as he told her passionately, "My love for you knows no bounds. But please, let this sweet taste be just a tiny sliver for the emotions that I have tell you how much I care!"

Nami smiled sweetly at him as she took the drink and took a taste. At once, the wonderful taste of tangerine caused her tongue to tingle and she was reminded of home.

"It's delicious, thank you Sanji," she told him, giving him a wink and he swooned, as if she had declared her own love for him.

"Anything for you, Nami!" he gasped out before he looked at Robin was watching the fog come ever closer. "And don't think I left you out my dear Robin!"

And he held the tray out to her for there was a second drink that he had prepared.

"Thank you, Sanji," Robin smiled back. "You're always so good to us."

"Nothing but the best for two of the most beautiful ladies in the world," he sighed lovingly.

"Ohhhhh! I want one!" Luffy yelled from the side of the ship when he realized that Sanji was giving out drinks. "I want one! Sanji! Give me one!"

"Yeah, you jerk!' Usopp yelled, having come running from the upper deck to join them. "Share with us too!"

"Me too!" Chopper cried out, and soon all of them were jumping towards Sanji, not even paying attention to the fog anymore.

"Forget it! I only want to cook for Nami and Robin!" he answered, his love-sick tone disappearing at once. "The rest of you can suck it!"

"BOOOOOOOOO!" the three of them all yelled out, their thumps pointed down, though Chopper couldn't since he didn't have thumbs.

"Ah, guys?" Zoro shouted out once again. "We're going in!"

"Going in what? What are you talking about Moss Head?" Sanji shouted before he finally noticed where they were heading. "What? More fog? Come on! I thought we had enough of that from earlier!"

"Deal with it!" Nami called.

"Whatever you say, Nami-swan," Sanji swooned happily, drooling at the sight of her leaning over the ledge, squinting her eyes to try and see forward though it was no use.

"Don't make me hurt you," she retorted coldly as Franky came jumping down from the top of the mast, having just finished with the repairs.

"Ow! You better watch where you're going!" he shouted out. "If you guys put anymore holes in Sunny, you're gonna have to answer to me!"

"You know… I just realized something. Why are we letting Zoro steer which way we should go?" Usopp suddenly asked and they all looked at each other.

"Ok, I'm taking over!" Franky called heading straight up to the wheel to throw Zoro off. As the two got into an argument, Luffy was jumping until he was on top of the Sunny's head. He put his hand up to shield his eyes as he tried to look forward with excitement already shining on his face.

"I can't see anything at all!" he shouted out. "Nami? You sure there's an island up ahead?!"

"I'm sure of it!" she shouted back as she checked the Log Pose once again. "And I'm also sure that we're close! Just keep going forward!"

"You know, it's not the fog that we should be afraid of," Robin stated calmly as she began to look over her sketchbook and the past pictures she had made. "It's whatever could be lurking inside it that we should be more concerned with."

Usopp, Chopper, and Brook all froze in midstep.

"Why? What do you think inside?" Brook asked timidly as Chopper gulped hard, waiting with his breath held.

"Wait! I don't want to know!" Usopp cried out suddenly and began to shake his hands at her wildly. For he knew that whatever Robin was thinking of couldn't possibly be good.

Robin just gave him an innocent smile that didn't fool him one bit as Zoro finally let Franky have the wheel.

"Seriously," Zoro grumbled. "First you want me to work and now you don't. Make up your minds already!"

"Just shut up and pay attention," Nami scolded as she went to the side of the ship and peered over the edge to get a look at the water. She couldn't see any currents or formations of whirlpools… it seemed to be safe enough. But she knew better than to assume that it would be that easy in the New World.

"Stay sharp guys!" Franky said as they reached the fog, with Luffy still laughing up front.

"This is gonna be so cool!" he called happily and the ship had passed right through the smog.

This was ridiculous. They couldn't see anything in front of them, heck they couldn't even see each other on deck as they were forced to just keep going forward and hope that they wouldn't run into anything.

"Damn! It's as thick as pea soup!" Sanji called out. "This is so stupid!"

"Yeah! I can't even see my own hand in front of me," Chopper's voice called before they heard him scream.

"Chopper? What is it?!" Sanji shouted out, trying to sense any danger around him but not finding anyone other than the crew there.

"Ah… nothing," Chopper called out, sounding embarrassed. "It was… just my hand in front of me."

"Oh, for crying out… don't scare me like that!" Usopp yelled in his direction.

"Shut up all of you!" Zoro called out as he kept his senses sharp and alive. "I don't feel anything that could be a threat around us, but that doesn't mean that we can let our guards down."

He didn't want to admit it, but he kept feeling this odd chill in the air that had nothing to do with the weather. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he didn't like it one bit. He was able to find himself climbing the stairs and up nearer to the front of the ship to where Luffy was.

The whole crew was protective over their rubber-headed, wild captain… but lately they have been more than ever before. Especially after they were given a glimpse of Luffy's past… well, more like seeing all his biggest and most private memories in one big go. Some of the things that they had seen was enough to realize just how far Luffy would go to protect them, and that scared them all more than any monster.

Like when they realized just how close they came to losing him two years ago. It was only with the combined might of several friends and allies, as well as a few enemies, that Luffy was still breathing. Zoro knew that no one wanted to bring any of it up. But he could see the slight changes in everyone's natures since the truth was revealed to them.

Little changes that wouldn't mean much to an outsider, yet he knew his crew well enough to know that what they saw frightened them. As for him, he had been keeping a much closer eye on Luffy ever since that night. Not enough for the rubber-brain to notice of course, but Zoro was sure that everyone felt the same way he did.

The fact was… they didn't want anything else to happen to him like that… especially if they were there to help this time around.

He closed his one good eye and let his Haki spread across the ship, and he was able to 'see' that Luffy had remained where he was on top of Sunny's head. Though his reasoning was telling him that there wasn't anything wrong, he didn't like this bad feeling in the air… it wasn't… normal. Though he wasn't sure what that word meant anything anymore if he had to be honest with himself.

Meanwhile, Luffy was still laughing the whole time ahead of them with Nami wondering just what he was so happy about.

"Seriously, how does he always seem to enjoy whatever happens?" she couldn't help but ask. "We don't know what this next island's like and he's laughing like this is all a big game."

"Yes," Robin's voice agreed, "He'd probably still be laughing even if we crash into something and sink."

"Robin!" Usopp yelled, having heard her. "What did I just tell you?!"

"Stop whining," Zoro answered in annoyance. "I'm telling you there's nothing around here."

"Not very comforting coming from you, Moss-Head," Sanji spoke up.

"You got a problem with me, Mr. Nosebleed?" Zoro yelled back in his direction, and he was looking in the exact direction that Sanji was in though he couldn't see him. And it was a safe bet that Sanji was doing the same thing as well.

"What was that?!"

"I'm seriously going to just let you two kill each other one of these days," Nami called angrily, "Just so that you don't have to give me any more headaches!"

"Oh, Nami… your voice is as sweet to my ears as water is to a man's parched throat!" Sanji sighed dreamily.

As they argued, Luffy kept his gaze forward, trying to see through the fog when he saw something sparkle just in front of him. He blinked, leaning forward a little to try and get a better look, and he saw it again.

"Hey guys!" he shouted out. "I see something!"

"What is it, Luffy?" Brook called curiously. "Is it an island?!"

"I don't know!" he called. "It's just a light!"

"In that case, perhaps it's a lighthouse," Robin's voice offered reasonably. "We must be close to the island."

"That was quick," Nami said a little suspiciously, no longer able to see the needle from the log pose. Not that it matter for if Luffy could see land, then they could just follow the light.

"Hey guys!" Luffy called with awe in his voice. "You gotta come and see this!"

"See what? I can't even see the stairs with all this haze in front of my eyes!" Brook called. "Ah! Not that I have eyes to see with, Yohohoho! OW!" They heard the sounds of bones hitting the deck and it seemed that Brook must have tripped.

Luffy was leaning dangerously far over Sunny's head, still trying to see what was in front of them. He could see the light continuing to glint in the distance. But as they sailed closer and closer, the light began to glow until it was a solid, bright light. Luffy was just in mind to go rocketing himself up in the sky to see when suddenly…

"Oh WOW!" he cried out, they broke through the thick layer of fog until they were back out in the open air and a massive tower stood in front of them. "LOOK AT IT!"

The other Straw Hats came to the upper part of the deck until they were all standing with Franky and Zoro to see a tower upon a land settled right in the middle of this mist. The water that they were now sailing on was calm and as smooth as glass, and there was a giant wall that made of clouds spinning behind them as they sailed onward. When they looked straight up you could see clear blue skies, and dazzling sunshine that seemed to wave at them like an old friend. But all of this paled in comparison to what was in the very center of this circle of clear air.

A small island… with a tower.

A tower with faded, stone brick looming over the small ship, as they sailed over the calm sea. Though it wasn't like any lighthouse they had ever seen, a strong light emitted from the very upper reaches, a light so strong that it had managed to pierce right through the fog. The tower spiraled into the heavens, rather like an Earthlike landmass challenging the occasionally gentle skyline. Stretching up almost endlessly into the sky, as a wind gently blew around the spiraling structure, ancient glyphs of the ages readily cut into the aged ivory, some potently faded; others in glistening sharply. Thin, with spirals stretching uncharacteristically in the carefully structured building, well-crafted into an almost gothic temple, glistening proudly-rather like that of a medallion that has at last found shore. The only sounds other than the occasional squawk of a seagull were the waves gently hitting the side of the ship.

"Gorgeous!" Nami cried out in amazement as they all stared.

"Now that's impressive," Franky whistled as he moved his sunglasses up to get a better look at the tower.

"It's so big!" Chopper cried out in amazement. "It looks like it could touch the sky!"

"And it looks pretty old too," Robin said, a slight shine in her eyes as she looked at it in great interest. "I must say I would like a closer look at it."

"Well, we got here a lot sooner than I thought," Nami smiled, glad to see that the fog had cleared enough for them as she looked about. "Start looking for a place to anchor when we get to shore! If there's a lighthouse, someone has to be tending it, right? There must be a town here somewhere!"

"I am so struck by the size of it all!" Brook cried out happily. "In fact, it inspires me to write a song!" And he strummed up his guitar as he began, " _It was a tower on a distant shore… and about its peak, a piercing light."_

But before he could go on, something else happened. Whether it was fate, or just some coincidence, what happened next would lead to an adventure that this crew won't forget any time soon. All that anyone could say was that suddenly the entire ship was shaking…

"W-What's happening?" Chopper cried out, grabbing hold of the Franky's leg to keep himself from slipping off.

"Earthquake!" Brook cried in panic.

"Idiot! How can there be earthquakes on the water?!" Sanji yelled.

"Who cares?! Let's go!" Luffy cried out excitedly. "I wanna go to the top of that lighthouse! I bet you could see everything for miles!"

But while he was thinking of how cool it would be to climb that tower, he didn't notice how the ship began to rock violently back and forth. Not until he heard the roar of a rumble below. His smile faded a little when he looked down at the water below him.

"What the heck?" he asked as he heard the others shouting behind him. Just then they heard a terrible cracking sound, as if the ship was about to crack open… that was what Usopp and Franky were thinking. In fact, the two of them were already running to the hatch to take them below to check on any damage.

But before they could get even that far, a massive whirlpool suddenly appeared directly beneath them.

"What the hell?!" Zoro shouted out, already pulling out his sword, ready to strike. But at that moment, when Luffy looked down at the once calm water, to see that something was looking right back at him. An enormous golden eye was looking up at him from the waves…

Luffy held up his fists, ready to fight back, already calling out a taunting challenge to their attacker… but before he even had a chance to finish shouting, a thick fog seemed to cover his eyes… no wait… not his eyes… inside them…

His mind was suddenly clouded over and he couldn't think straight anymore. Not that he was thinking to begin with…

He felt drowsy, like he was half asleep, his ears becoming deaf so he couldn't hear anything. The last thing that he could remember before he blacked out was that he was falling backwards through the fog and downwards, at least he thought it was down… he couldn't tell which way was which anymore.

He felt so light and comfortable, like he was floating along in a great fluffy cloud and he started to shift in and out until darkness clouded his eyes once again and he fell asleep.

*Later*

"Luffy?" called a faraway voice.

Luffy could hear someone shouting his name but he didn't want to answer it because he was so tired. He ignored the voice until he could feel someone poking his face. He tried to bat the hand away like he was getting rid of a fly, but the poking was becoming more persistent and it wasn't until a sharp pain poked him in the side did he open his eyes.

"OW! That hurt!" he shouted, sitting up and glaring around angrily.

"LUFFY!"

"LUFFY-SAN!"

Chopper and Brook were there with him and were leaning over him. It turned out that Brook had been poking him with his cane to try and wake him up, finally resorting to using the very tip of his sword to do so. Not enough to draw blood, but just to give Luffy a reason to wake up.

"Hey! What happened? Where are we?" Luffy asked before he blinked and his memory came back. He began staring wildly at them as he yelled out, "Where is it? Where did it go?"

"Where did what go, Luffy-san?" Brook asked curiously.

"That big eye!" Luffy shouted out, holding out his arms as he tried to show them how big he was talking about. "I saw something really big and the water and…" he suddenly realized that they weren't on the Sunny anymore. Rather they were lying on a beach and they were alone with no signs of the ship anywhere.

"Where…? What happened?" he asked in confusion.

"That's what we were trying to figure out," Chopper told him urgently. "I thought that something bad was happening to Sunny, but then I got so sleepy and I don't know what happened!"

"The same with me," Brook agreed. "I couldn't believe my eyes that I could fall asleep like that, then and there. Not that I have eyes of course, Yohohoho. But when I came to, I was with Chopper-san on the beach about a mile down."

"Really? You guys don't remember either?" Luffy asked as he jumped to his feet and his two crewmates did the same.

"I don't know," Chopper said, sounding upset. "Neither of us remember! We just woke up on the beach! We were looking for the others and we just found you lying here! Luffy? What did you see?"

Luffy stepped around, trying to reach out and find the others with his Haki, but he was still feeling so drowsy that he was having a hard time trying to think of what happened.

"A big eye! And I mean huge! Musta been some really big sea monster!" Luffy said, and he sounded excited at the thought.

"So ah… you think that we were all eaten and we're dead?" Brook asked calmly. "Ah, but I'm already dead." But then he realized what he said and began to scream, "AHHHHHHH! But I didn't want to die again!"

"Really?!" Chopper screamed out in terror at the thought.

"Oh, who cares?!" Luffy cried out happily, his eyes shining as he looked up at the massive tower that was standing upon a cliff. "Let's go and check that place out! I bet that we can see everything on the island!"

"But, Luffy? What about the others?" Chopper croaked out fearfully.

"If we go up there, we'll find them eventually?" Luffy reasoned before he went running off.

"Hey! Wait up!" Chopper cried out as he broke into a run.

"Everyone come back!" Brook called as he went running after them as well.

*Later*

The three of them left the beach behind and were travelling through a thick forest. Though concerned with their missing friends, Luffy couldn't help but look around like a child going to the store to pick out a treat.

"Ah, Luffy?" Chopper asked suddenly, "I really think that we should be looking for the others?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Luffy said with a smile. "If we all made it here, then I'm sure they did too. They can handle anything."

"Speaking of which, how did we get here?" Brook asked as he thought it over. "I mean… if that was a sea monster and it did swallow our ship, why not eat all of us too?"

"Ehhhh? You think the ship was eaten?" Chopper asked, his eyes wide.

"But then how come we're not eaten?" Luffy asked curiously, folding his arms behind his head as he walked.

"That's what I don't get," Brook confessed. "I mean… we're all Devil Fruit Users so we should've drowned if we were spit out… ah… maybe the sea monster was a vegetarian and doesn't eat meat!" He paused for a moment before he yelled out, "WELL, ISN'T THAT A BIT INCONSIDERATE?!"

"YOU'RE UPSET THAT WE WEREN'T EATEN?!" Chopper cried out with his eyes big.

"It's the thought that counts," he said sadly. "It's true that I may be nothing but bones… but I still like to be included."

"Awww… Brook," Chopper said as he patted his leg.

"Thank you, Chopper-san…" he whimpered, wiping at a few tears. But as he did, he froze for a moment. "Ah… wait…"

"Hmm? What is it Brook?" Luffy asked, up ahead and turning to look back at him.

Brook stood very still as he was listening carefully. One thing about being a musician is that his hearing was incredibly sharp. Though how he was able to hear without ears he didn't know, but he did know that at that moment he could hear the sounds of distant voices.

"Over there!" Brook called, pointing off in one direction through some trees. "I hear something! I believe that there are people nearby."

"Really? Then that must mean that there's a town nearby!" Chopper said in relief. "Let's go!"

"But I wanna go up there!" Luffy pouted, pointing forward to where the tower still loomed.

"Yeah, I know Luffy," Chopper said quickly. "But… but what if there's a town there and that's where the others are? If nothing else, we can at least find some information. I don't think we need to worry about the tower going anywhere, right?"

Luffy continued to pout but then brightened up as he said, "Alright! But when we find them, then we go and check out that place."

Glad that they were able to convince him for the moment, they let Brook led the way through the trees. But as they walked, Brook suddenly noticed something very strange—almost eerie.

"Do you guys hear something?" he asked, looking up at the tree branches, and if he still had a face, he would have been frowning heavily.

The other two listened but didn't hear anything.

"No," Luffy answered.

"I don't hear anything," Chopper added, wondering what the problem was.

"Exactly," Brook said, sounding a little serious. "There's something not right about this place."

There was no sound... No occasional scuttle of some creature or the chirping of birds. The entire forest was silent other than the sounds of their footsteps crashing through the leaves and twigs. That wasn't normal. No wonder he could hear the sounds of other people so clearly.

Luffy didn't pay too much attention, his gaze still drawn to the tower, and it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to go running off and start exploring.

"Luffy," Chopper said, recognizing that look in his captain's eyes. "I promise that we can go off and explore later, but let's go exploring the village here before we go running off, ok?"

But being told not to go and explore was like trying to leave out some cotton candy with a sign that said 'not for Chopper' out and expect Chopper not to eat it. Still, Luffy seemed to like the idea of 'exploring' the town and agreed as they continued forward.

After a short time of walking, they reached the edge of the forest and onto solid, flat ground… free from trees. It was a giant courtyard of stone and grass, there were the remains of walls and broken pillars scattered every which way. The stone walkway, they were on, was cracked and had broken, grey bricks that looked like they'd been burned by a tremendous fire. There were high-statues made of the same stone, but they looked like a something big has knocked them over… which have been eroded away by the yearly torrential rains over the centuries.

Directly in front of them there was a massive fountain that's shaped perfectly like a dragon. The body was large and the scales sculpted by a true artist, as having the face was so realistic that it looked like its eyes really staring at you. The mouth and teeth were made of a solid silver, the wings were open and it looked like the stone dragon was about to take flight.

"Wow!" Luffy cried out excitedly, running up to get a better look at the dragon. "It's so cool!"

Brook and Chopper both joined him, admiring the statue, not even noticing the ruins of a town that laid in front of them until they heard a voice speaking up.

"Look, how many times do we have to tell you? We're not here to attack you or anything," said a very familiar voice. "We just want to know if you've seen our friends around here? You can't miss them! Or at the least tell us where the market is around here where we can do some shopping for something cute?"

"Hey, isn't that…?" Luffy began but it was Chopper who pointed just ahead of them. Down a worn-looking road were none other than Nami and Robin, both at the door of one house while Usopp was across the street, knocking at a door and trying get someone's attention.

"Usopp! Nami! Robin!" Chopper cried out happily and all three turned to see them.

"Oh, thank goodness we found someone else!" Nami smiled as Chopper went bounding straight for Usopp in a big hug.

"Glad to see you all made it here without too much trouble," Robin said as she stepped forward to greet with Brook and Luffy.

"What happened to you guys?" Nami demanded, like it was there faults.

"Just what we were going to ask," Brook said happily as Usopp returned Chopper's hug and swung him around in a big circle. "Though I am glad to see that you are all safe. Thank goodness."

"Yeah, looks like you were right Brook!" Luffy said with a bright smile, "There was a village."

"Did you guys wake up here?" Chopper asked as Usopp carried him over.

"Just right outside," Robin answered with a nod. "Me and Nami woke up together and came here to try and find anyone else. That was when we found Usopp screaming when he saw the statue."

"Hey! I just woke up and there was a mouth full of teeth looking down at me!" Usopp cried out as Luffy laughed. "That thing looks freakin' real!"

"Really? We woke up at the shore and found Luffy-san there," Brook informed them as he thought it over. "In any case, it's good to know that everyone here is safe. Now all we gotta do is find our last three members, Yohohoho!"

"Yeah, ain't it great?" Luffy laughed with a smile.

"What? You mean they weren't with you?" Nami asked in surprise before they looked at each other.

"Don't tell me it's just the two of them?" Usopp groaned out, shaking his head at the thought.

"That would be bad," Chopper said worriedly.

*Up the road*

"Look! How many times do I have to tell you?" Zoro demanded, "Get outta my way or I'll cut you down, crap cook!"

"Keep dreaming, Moss-Head!" Sanji roared back. "If I let you take charge then we'll never find Nami or Robin! Now shut up and let me lead!"

"Not on your life!" Zoro yelled back, sparks of anger already flying as they glared at each other.

*Luffy's group*

"We better start looking for them before they accidently kill each other," Usopp sighed.

"That might be easier said than done," Robin said, turning back at the few people who were looking cautiously out their windows and doors at them.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked, finally noticing the empty expressions on all the people watching them. "What's with these guys?"

"That's the problem, we don't know," Usopp answered. "I've tried talking to a dozen people already but they won't say anything to me."

"The people here just don't want to talk to us," Nami said, sounding a little frustrated. "We tried again and again, but they don't want anything to do with us."

"Truly?" Brook asked before he spotted a teenage girl with two other younger children with her, looking at them from the shadows of a nearby house.

"Hello there!" Brook called happily, even giving them a little wave, before the teen closed the door without even answering back.

Brook suddenly fell to his knees as a dark cloud hung over his head. "That is unkind."

"Man, I've seen friendlier dead people," Usopp said as he gazed around. He looked at how worn and beat up the village was and added out-loud as he thought about it, "Maybe they were attacked in the past. That would explain why they're so scared and why the village looks like this?"

"Most likely. In either case, we can't really blame them for being afraid of us," Robin reasoned. "We are pirates after all." She then looked to a couple young children poking their heads out from behind a door and she gave them a small smile to show that they were friendly.

The children slipped back inside the house without another glance back.

"Look, we need to find the others and then figure out what happened to the Sunny," Nami said firmly.

"Nami!" Luffy whined out as he continued to stare up at the massive tower in front of them. "I wanna go up there!"

"Would you be quiet?" Nami snapped. "I don't like this place. It's giving me the creeps and the sooner we leave the happier I'll be."

"You just arrived and already so eager to leave. Yet you must have had a reason for coming here," spoke up a young voice and the six of them all stopped and turned around to see that they weren't alone.

A little girl cautiously stepped forward, dressed in a simple cream-colored dress and her dark hair tied back into a pair of pig-tails. "Are you pirates?" she asked. She didn't sound afraid, more… mechanical. Like she was devoid of all emotion.

"Ah," Nami said a little awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm afraid we are. But you don't need to worry. We're not going to attack you guys or anything so you don't need to be scared."

The girl gazed up at her with an unusually calm expression.

"So ah…" Chopper asked as he came forward to talk. "What's your name?"

The girl looked over at him with mild surprise. "You are a pirate raccoon dog?"

"I'm a reindeer!" Chopper shouted out as he pointed up to his antlers. "See? Antlers! Raccoon dogs don't have antlers!"

"Now, now, Chopper," Robin said soothingly before she crouched down until she was eye level with the little girl. "Don't mind him. He's a little sensitive. Now then. What is the name of this island? Could you be willing to tell us? And maybe where we can get our shopping done? We don't mean to cause anyone any trouble."

"Yeah," Luffy laughed. "I wanna just go up there!" And he pointed up to the lighthouse.

"Oh," the little girl said, turning her gaze to him. "So you have come here for the treasure after all?"

She had said the magic word.

"Treasure?!" Nami gasped out, her eyes turning to beri marks as an excited beam came to her face. "You mean there's treasure on the island?!"

The girl pointed up to the lighthouse as she said, "The Tower has stood there for hundreds of years. And legend has it that any who is able to climb the tower to the top will find a treasure more valuable than anything out there. That is where the light comes from, or so they say."

"Really?" Usopp gasped out, gazing up at the light that was shining from the very top windows. "So that light is actually from a pile of gold?"

"Wow! That's so awesome!" Luffy and Chopper cried out together, staring up at the top with new eagerness.

"Wait, if it's there, why are you telling us?" Usopp asked suspiciously.

"Rather you take the treasure up there that no one has ever been able to get to before than to attack the village," the girl answered back calmly.

"Hey, we just told you we're not here to…" Usopp began but Robin put up her hand to silence him.

"It's alright. I promise that not a single one of us wants to hurt anyone," she told her. "But we are pirates. Do you know where we can find three other members of our crew? A swordsman with green hair and three swords, a cook dressed in a suit, and a big muscled shipwright who looks more machine than human?"

She had expected the girl to look surprise, or at the leave think that she was pulling her leg. But she frowned when the girl just shook her head like she gets asked that question every day.

"There is not much else on the island that you haven't already seen," she confessed. "If they were not at the shore or the village, then they must be in the jungle up ahead." She then pointed along the road and added, "That way should take you straight up to the tower. I think that will be your best chance to find them."

"And you don't mind if we go to the tower?" Robin asked knowingly.

The girl didn't answer.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I wanna go and climb that thing!" Luffy said in excitement. There really wasn't much else about this island and he was bored already. He wanted to go and check that place out. "Hey, thanks for helping us out," he added to the girl.

The girl didn't answer back.

"What's your name, little one?" Brook asked politely. She turned back to gaze at him and it seemed to take a moment for her to think of an answer.

"Ok, you don't want to tell us," Nami said kindly, but this girl was really starting to creep her out. "About this treasure? You're saying that there's one up there?"

"We have no need of it," she answered back and Nami was now almost drooling at the thought. "If you want it, that is your business."

"So… ah… this treasure," Usopp began, "If there is such a treasure up there, how come no one's ever found it before?"

"Only one other pirate crew has ever come through here," the girl answered. "And that was a long time ago. Over twenty years ago if I remember."

"Twenty years? That's a long time," Brook said thoughtfully.

"Wait, we're the first pirates here in over two decades?!" Nami asked, highly skeptical. "I find that hard to believe."

"Pirates usually avoid this part of the sea," she answered back, turning to look at Nami this time before she pointed in the direction of the shore. "Because of the giant sea creature that guards this island."

"Sea Monster?" Nami repeated, her eyes wide.

"YEAH! I knew it! I knew I saw something!" Luffy cheered.

"It's not a good thing!" Nami shouted at him before she looked back at the girl and asked more urgently, "Excuse me, what kind of sea monster is out there?"

The little girl shrugged as she informed them, "It doesn't appear unless there is a ship that comes into its territory. It must have seen you and let you go. It only attacks if the ones who come here arrive with ill-intent."

"Wait… what?" Usopp asked at once. "You mean, that this monster spared our lives?"

"That's what it does," the girl shrugged. "We do not fear it for it protects the island and the treasure. I think that it let you come here, but it took your ship. I don't know where you can find it, but it's surely on the island somewhere."

"Well, that explains where our ship went, but how did it do what it did to us? I can't remember much else what happened after we first arrived?" Robin asked curiously.

"The creature has always protected us," the girl repeated with a shrug. "So no one really cares what else it does. Like I said, the creature protects this island so there's no need to want to try and take treasure from there. What would we do with it anyway?"

They all looked at each other before the girl went walking away to one of the nearby houses and ducked inside.

"That was… weird," Usopp gulped. That little kid made his skin crawl.

"But what do we do now?" Chopper asked, looking up at the others worriedly. "Zoro, Franky, and Sanji are all still missing along with the Sunny?"

"While I still don't understand what happened," Robin said, looking down kindly at him, "I don't see it as the worst thing possible right now. And I'm sure the boys are on the island somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm sure that we'll find them eventually," Usopp said as he looked around at Luffy and asked, "Hey Luffy why don't we…?"

But when he looked beside him, he saw that Luffy was gone.

"WHERE DID HE GO?!" he yelled out, his eyes popping out.

"Where do you think?" Nami asked with a sigh.

"It doesn't matter," Robin laughed a little. "Let's just head up the road and see if we can find him and the others. Something tells me that we'll find them soon."

*Franky*

"What a boring place," Franky grunted before he looked up at the towering structure above him. "Damn, I can only imagine how long it took to build that thing." He sighed and looked around as he tried to get his memory back to what happened before. "Not that it matters. I need to find the others and Sunny too! What the hell happened?"

He went sulking off, feeling like a piece of himself was missing when he didn't know where his beloved ship was. He was also worried about the rest of the crew and wondered where they had gotten off to. All he could remember was passing out in that fog and waking up in the middle of this jungle all alone. Still, if he made it here, he could only assume that the others all made it here as well.

All he had to do was find them.

He grinded his teeth together as he continued. Stupid fog knocking him out like that. How could he fall asleep at the wheel like that? Jeez what was the matter with him?

He had to find everyone. And he went running off, logically think that they would head to the tower because that's what Luffy would have wanted to go.

*Luffy*

Luffy couldn't stand the thought of being forced to wait any longer and went running off before the girl even finished telling them the story. As soon as he heard about treasure up there, Luffy knew that he had to see it. What kind of treasure actually glows like that? It was probably something really awesome! He couldn't wait to find out what it was.

He continued running straight ahead, his eyes focused on the giant spire in front of him, but not so distracted that he didn't hear the sounds of footsteps. He skidded to a stop and turned to look at some bushes.

"Oh, Zoro? Franky? Hey, Sanji? Is that you in there?" he called, jogging in place as he waited for them to come out.

"Hey, it's you," Luffy said, when he saw that it was that same little girl from the village. "Hey! Oh, wow, you're fast! You caught up so easy!"

"I live here," she answered back calmly as she walked towards him. She only came up to about Luffy's waist, but the way she held herself made her seem taller. "Why do you want to go to the tower?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked as he thought it all over. "It looks like it might be a cool place and I wanna go looking at it! I can just smell the adventure!"

The girl's expression didn't change as she observed him.

"I see," she told him. "Then do whatever you want. But know this… once you step inside the tower, you won't be able to get out again until you see this 'adventure' of yours to the end."

"Huh? Alright," Luffy said, wondering just what she was trying to get at. "Well, thanks for the heads up." He gave her a little wave before he went walking passed her.

The girl followed him with those blank eyes before she spoke up, "Treasure isn't worth it."

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked, who was looking up at the spire in the distance.

"That tower isn't normal," she whispered to him. "Something lives in that structure that feeds upon emotions of those who enter. Once you set foot inside, you will experience things that will break most people."

Luffy tilted his head at her.

"Emotions?" he repeated as the girl sighed.

"I just thought I give you a warning," she told him as she turned around. "The fog that took you all before wants you here and it wants you to go into that tower."

"I'm not afraid of a little smoke," Luffy told her.

"It's not the smoke you need to be afraid of," she told him softly. "Whatever lives in that tower uses the fog just to hide in it. No more than that."

She then turned and walked a little bit away, pausing only just before she reached the shadows of the trees before she turned back. She pointed up the road and answered, "You'll find your other friends just up ahead. I think that they're fighting."

"Really?" Luffy asked with a smile. "Hey, thanks for that."

But the girl shook her head.

"It is best that you leave this place while you still can," she told him. "You aren't supposed to be here."

Luffy laughed as he told her, "Yeah, we're pirates so we get that a lot."

Perhaps a shadow of a smile appeared on the girl's face.

"You know… there was one other pirate captain who came here," she told him. "You remind me of him."

She then turned and disappeared into the shadows of the trees. Luffy blinked, a little surprised at that but thought no more of it as he went running off.

*Zoro and Sanji*

"Today's the day!" Sanji snarled, the fire licking his legs as he halted Zoro's bladed. "I'm gonna take you out once and for all!"

"Oh, yeah you can try!" Zoro taunted. "One little nosebleed is enough to take you out!"

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled back and soon the two of them were battling it out, knocking over trees or slicing boulders in half as they fought.

Meanwhile, Luffy was running straight ahead when he heard the sounds of fighting. He was so focused on running ahead that he almost ended up running straight into Franky when he came bursting out through some trees.

"Hey! Franky!" Luffy yelled out happily when they nearly collided. "You're alright!"

"Huh? Oh, Luffy! Good to see you aren't dead!" Franky laughed thumping him on the back and almost knocking him to the ground. "And also good to see that me running off in this random direction wasn't a bad idea after all."

"You going to the tower to?!" Luffy asked brightly. "Did you hear? There's supposed to be some kind of awesome treasure up at the top! I'm gonna go and see! Wanna come?!"

"Wait? Wait, slow down!" Franky asked. "Hey, now that I think of it, have you seen…?"

But before he could finish asking his question, the pair of them heard the fighting and they looked up in time to see the smoke rising just beyond the next patch of trees.

"Three guesses who that is," Franky said as they both went running in the direction of the smoke, already able to hear yelling and it left little to wonder who it was who was behind it. They came bursting into a clearing to see the two fighters. Sanji's legs were aflame as he began kicking at Zoro, who was blocking with one sword and using a second to strike back."

"Hey! Knock it off! What are you guys doing?" Franky called as Luffy cheered them on.

"Huh?" both fighters called and looked up to see who it was. "Oh, it's you two."

"What do you mean by that?" Franky yelled back.

"You guys here too?" Zoro asked, unconcerned.

"Yeah! Now everyone's alright!" Luffy laughed out.

"Everyone? You mean Nami and Robin too?" Sanji cried out happily.

"Yep!" Luffy called back happily as he waved at them. "The others are all in the village down there!"

"Whoa! Nami was worried and came here looking for me!?" Sanji gasped out. "Oh, what a relief! Now that that's off my mind…" He glared at Zoro, fire burning in his eyes as he yelled out, "Now I can kick your ass!"

"Get real… or keep dreaming, one or the other," Zoro taunted. They charged in, ready to get the battle truly underway when suddenly someone stepped forward from the trees.

"STOP YOU IDIOTS!"

Nami's punches came flying out of nowhere and soon both of them were on the ground and bleeding.

"Dude… she is one mean lady," Franky whispered, gulping down in fear.

*Later*

"You three really are idiots!" Nami hissed as all three of the Monster Trio were nursing their injuries as they went marching together the rest of the way up to the front gate of the tower.

"Why'd you hit me too?" Luffy sulked.

"For running off like that… again," Nami said angrily.

"So ah…" Franky began, having been the only one of the four of them who hadn't received a beating and intended to keep it that way, "What's this about a treasure?"

Nami's eyes lit up with beri marks when she heard her favorite word.

"I dunno," Usopp said with a frown. "I got a bad feeling about this whole thing. I mean, I think that kid was just telling us a story. Who goes around and has an entire tower to hide away treasure?"

"It's not impossible," Robin said calmly. "While I cannot say it's indeed treasure we'll find, but I am willing to bet that there's something hidden up at the top of that tower, and judging from the ruins I was able to examine outside the village, there's something locked away in that tower, and I'm willing to bet that there are some traps in there that are protecting it."

"Isn't it obvious? Treasure! Some really amazing treasure!" Nami said longingly.

"In that case, we can't let her have it," Usopp whispered to Zoro, who nodded in agreement.

"Yohohoho, my I must say that I, too, cannot wait to see it!" Brook said happily. "Just the thought takes my breath away! Not that I can since I'm already dead! Yohohoho!"

"Oh, who cares?" Luffy asked, his pain already forgotten now that he was able to go where he wanted. "I wanna see it!"

"No! I just want to live! I want to say goodbye to this creepy island!" Usopp said loudly.

"You idiot!" Franky yelled out angrily. "How do you intend to do that? What about our ship? Anyone know where the Sunny went?"

"That's right! Our ship!" Usopp said, realizing that he was right. "Ok, so we look and find the Sunny and then we can leave!"

"No problems!" Nami smiled slyly. "If we get a look from the top of the tower, I'm sure that we can see all across the island! It might just be our best chance and it would be easier then trying to search an entire island, right?"

Franky thought that over before he said reasonably, "You know, that makes sense."

"Ok, let's look for some treasure!" Luffy cheered out.

"That's captain's orders!" Nami smiled whole-heartedly.

"Don't you worry, Nami!" Sanji cried out at once. "I vow that I will make you happy! And thus win your heart in the process!"

"I'll hold you to that," Nami smiled.

"Ok! I'm gonna look for some treasure too!" Chopper declared as he took Robin's hand, who was smiling back down at him.

Usopp looked around, wanting to have someone on his side for once, but no one even glanced back as they all headed up the road, the foot of the spire right in front of them. Usopp sighed, leaning forward in depression

It's no use, they've gone into treasure mode…

"This cannot end well," he moaned out before he went running after the others crying out, "Don't leave me behind!"

*Later*

"Wow! It's even bigger in person!" Chopper cried out, gazing up in wonder. He felt like just a tiny speck compared to how enormous just a single brick of this building. "I don't see how anything other than a giant could've made this!"

"Not a bad guess," Robin smiled as she looked up, her eyes also shining when she pushed her sunglasses up so that she could see the structure better from the light of the setting sun. "But I can tell that it's definitely made by humans, not giants. Though able to build something so vast means that it must have taken hundreds of years at the least."

"Well, if they were going for a world record or something, I think that they succeeded," Zoro said, shielding his one eye as he gazed upwards. "I can't even see the top from this angle."

"Great! Let's go!" Luffy cheered as he and Usopp both went running straight to the front doors, trying to get them to open.

"Hold up, you two!" Sanji shouted in annoyance. But at that moment, something caught his eye. He turned to look at the side of one of two pillars that supported the archway for the front doors. "Hey, Robin!" he called, looking back to the rest of them. "There's something written here!"

That drew everyone's attention as they looked to see where he was pointing.

"Fascinating," Robin said as she strolled forward. "Good eyes, Sanji."

"I'm so glad you think so, Robin dear…" he sighed lovingly.

"Idiot," Zoro muttered.

"Robin… what does it say?" Chopper asked as he looked up at the strange script.

"Hmm," Robin hummed to herself as she walked up to stand with him as she looked over the ancient writing. "It's quite old. Hard to say for sure how old. But if I had to guess it was left behind as a warning to the inhabitants of this island. Maybe even the villager's ancestors."

"Great, but what does it say?" Zoro said as Robin pulled out her notebook and began to take a few notes as she examined it. She had a curious expression and maybe the hint of a frown as she read it all back to them once she had it translated:

 _Those of dark, beware the light,_

 _For through these doors, prepare to fight…_

 _Through these doors, a beast of flame and flight._

 _Beyond here, awaits fire and grief…_

 _Deadly to all but those who accept belief._

 _Forbidden treasure, beware ye thief…_

 _Danger beyond measure, beware ye slayer…_

 _Enter, now, if you dare…_

 _Enter, now… the dragon's lair!_

"D-D-Dragons?!" Usopp choked out loudly, sweat forming on his face at the thought.

"Real dragons? Seriously?" Luffy cried out, who was still trying to force open the massive front doors, but he was looking back with stars shining in his eyes. "Oh, I can't wait!"

"Now you're talking my language!" Zoro grinned evilly, his thumb already flicking out a sword. "I'm glad I came."

"Hey now!" Nami shouted out as she grew very pale, "Wait, time out for a second! What does it mean by dragons? This is a dragon's layer? And what's it mean by 'danger beyond measure'? Oh right…" she whispered as she thought it over.

"Interesting," Robin said as she thought it over.

"What is?" Brook asked her curiously before she turned to look at him.

"You saw it right? The statue of the dragon when we first arrived?" she asked. "I think that there is some merit to the warning. Perhaps the ancestors of this island worshiped that dragon and they built this tower in honor of it."

"But then… wouldn't that mean that the thing is dead?" Brook asked worriedly. "If it was so long ago?"

"So, what you think that they built this thing to worship an overgrown lizard?" Zoro asked with his eyebrows raised. "Weirdos."

"I think that it's a reasonable guess," Robin said before she looked back up at the writing. "And you know… if it's really is a dragon who lives in the tower, then they are known to have legendary treasure hoards."

Nami's eyes shone like gold and she couldn't have looked happier as she cried out, "Luffy?! Hurry up and open that stupid door already!"

"Don't you remember how it warns treasure hunters not to go in there?!" Usopp demanded of her angrily.

"I'm trying! But the stupid thing doesn't wanna move!" Luffy yelled, not finding a giant doorknob or anything. Just two solid stone doors with no way to open it. He stood back, frowning as he tilted his head, half a mind just punching his way through.

"Don't worry," Robin said, having looked over the rest of the ancient writing. "Just wait a few minutes. I think I know a much easier way inside."

"How?" Zoro asked, who was just thinking of cutting right through the doors, but knew that Robin would never approve of it.

"Just trust me," Robin said with a mysterious smile. "I think you'll be quite impressed with this. But we have to wait until the sun almost sets for it to work."

Zoro raised his eyebrows in confusion, highly skeptical, but he didn't say anything as Luffy sat down with his arms folded angrily. "Come on guys, I can go rocketing up to the top!"

"Yes, but then you won't get a chance to go looking around inside," Robin reasoned, who was quite eager to look inside herself.

"Besides, you're bound to break something if we just let you run off without a care in the world," Sanji added as he watched Robin running her hand over the massive door as if looking for something.

"So ah… do you really think that there's a dragon who lives in there?" Chopper asked worriedly.

"Of course not," Usopp said with a bit of a forced laugh. "Well, look at it this way. If there was a dragon here, don't you think that the people who live here would be a little more concerned?"

"Huh, well now that you mention it," Brook said slowly as he thought it over as they walked through the town. "They sure seemed more scared of us than a dragon. But now that I think about it, they just kept talking about a sea monster. Not a dragon."

"Hmmm," Robin said again. "Wait… maybe… that's what it was."

"What, what was?" Franky asked, looking up at the tower. "Come on, you guys! Let's get going!"

"There was a young girl in the village who told us that the reason we were brought here was because of some kind of beast?" Robin informed him. "Maybe that was the dragon that this message is warning us about?"

"WHAT?" most of the crew cried out.

"THAT WAS THE DRAGON?!" Nami screamed out in panic.

"BUT IT HAD TO BE HUGE TO TAKE SUNNY!" Usopp and Chopper both cried out at the same time.

"Dragons traditionally are," Zoro said, his blood racing at the thought of such a confrontation. "Really, I'm hoping that we run into that thing again!"

"In either case, it could be our chance to go," Robin offered. "If the dragon's in the sea, then he's not in the tower, right?"

"Huh?" Usopp said, blinking stupidly for a moment before he started a shaky laugh. "H-Hey! You're right! Well, that's too bad! I personally want a chance to get some payback for the greeting it gave us when we first got here!"

"Well, let's go!" Nami snapped, though still frightened at the thought of coming face-to-face with that thing again, at the moment the idea of finding a treasure hoard was just too good to ever pass up.

"Now…" Robin said as she turned back to look at the setting sun in the distance. And just like that, the light was reflecting shadows across the door and some of the Straw Hats gasped at the sight of seeing the shape of a door within the massive one that Luffy had so much trouble with. It was the glowing outline of a door just wide enough for them, and Robin smiled when she ran her hand over the outline.

"I thought so," she smiled. "This impressive front door here was just decoration. The real door is right here. Which means…" she placed her hand much lower and touched a certain part of the stone as she finished, "Here…"

And just like that, an entrance slowly creaked open to reveal a dark passageway.

"Wow! You're so awesome Robin!" Luffy cheered out.

"I'll say! You're as smart as you are beautiful!" Sanji sighed as Luffy's grin widen and he was the first to go charging in through the door and into the tower. Not aware that from a safe distance away, the form of the little girl they met before was watching them. Still as a statue.

 **(And that is the prologue for the new story. What do you all think so far? Please let me know what you think. As for the many questions on which story idea won the contest, I think it's more fun for you to guess. It will take a few chapters for you to really figure it out, and while I do think that sequels are never as good as the original, I hope that this new story will live up to it. I can't say when the next chapter will be up, but know that I do try to work on it every day if only for a little bit. I'm going to a college where we get two new classes each month, and they have to fill in an entire semester of that class into only four weeks so it's pretty rough and I don't have much time for writing. At the end of every month we have to do finals, which is never fun. Anyway, I just finished finals and I'm free for the rest of the weekend, so hopefully I'll have some time to write before it gets crazy again. Hope you liked the start, and let me know what you think.)**


	2. Floor 1: Beneath the Waves

**Floor 1: Beneath the Waves**

Luffy was the first to go running into the room, looking around with interest, thinking it was going to be exciting and wild… yet instead it was…?

"It's completely dark in here!" he shouted out in frustration.

"Geez, ya think?" Franky asked sarcastically as they all stepped in, with the only light coming from the open door behind them with the fading sun, stretching out their shadows until they reached the darkness of the surrounding walls.

"So far, I can't say the inside is as impressive as the out," Usopp said as he kept his hand on his slingshot, the warning of 'dragon's lair' still ringing in his mind.

"It's creepy," Chopper whispered, not liking this one little bit.

"Yes, it feels like we are stepping into a tomb," Robin said, sending shivers down some of her crewmates spines.

"Robin, why are you so cruel?" Usopp whimpered, an image of coffins and crypts suddenly flashing in his mind. As well as the horrible thought of those resting inside them suddenly placing a curse on them for disturbing their sleep.

"Not that I mind," Robin went on as if she hadn't heard him. "All archeologists love entering tombs."

"You aren't right in the head then," Nami said, shivering as she felt goosebumps across her skin.

"Careful," Sanji warned suddenly. "For all we know, there could be traps set up here. Watch your…"

"Hey!" Luffy yelled out, already running ahead. "Where are the stairs? I wanna go straight up to the top!"

"Would you just wait for a minute?!" Sanji yelled at him just as the last person, Nami, came walking through the door. But as soon as she crossed over the threshold, the door shut behind her, leaving them all in pitch darkness.

Nami screamed out as Usopp and Chopper both ran to the wall and tried to start pushing for a way out.

"Calm down," Zoro called firmly, "I don't detect anyone else here but us!"

But he fell silent as he glanced around. He was sure that there was no one else here but them… he was willing to bet on it… but then why did he feel so uneasy? Like there were eyes watching them from all over the room?

"I don't like this!" Usopp cried out, still pushing at the door with Chopper, trying to get it open.

"No need to worry all!" Franky laughed happily, pushing his shirt back as he cried out, "FRANKY NIBBLE LIGHTS!"

Usopp slapped him and yelled out, "I still can't get over that!"

And suddenly the dark area was bathed in light. An enormous room that was completely empty but for the strange shapes and symbols on the walls. The ceiling was much lower than any of them thought, and for a moment, it seemed like there was no way to get out.

"Hey!" Luffy suddenly shouted out and they looked around to find him standing at another door on the other side of the room and he opened it up to reveal a set of stairs that continued upwards. "I found the stairs! Let's go!"

"Hang on, Luffy!" Usopp yelled. "How are we supposed to get back out?"

"Huh? Oh, it's ok! That girl said that there was another way to escape at the top!" Luffy grinned out happily before he started up the stairs.

"Hey, what girl?!" Nami yelled out. But Luffy was already out of her sights and she growled angrily before crying out, "Why doesn't he ever wait?!"

"He's Luffy, what do you expect?" Zoro sighed with a shrug. "C'mon. Let's go before he hurts himself."

"Or gets us all cursed," Usopp whimpered as they followed behind. With Franky lighting the way, they all began to climb up the spiral stairs, up and up they went, the same paintings on the wall of swirling shapes that made no sense to any of them. Not even Robin was able to make sense of what it all was right away as she ran her hand over the cold stone.

"Well, they can't just be here for decoration," Sanji said skeptically.

"Yohohoho, indeed, I can think of other much more pleasant decorations they could have used," Brook spoke up reasonably. "Like a little bit more color for instance?"

"Or some more lights," Usopp hissed out behind him, shivering uncontrollably. "I wish I brought a coat, its cold in here."

"I don't mind the cold," Chopper said worriedly. "But I do wish that it was brighter…?"

"If only we had the Sunny's search lights," Franky sighed wistfully. "Like when we had her back in the Deep Sea? She could light up this place SUPER easy!"

"Yeah, good luck getting her up the stairs," Usopp said sarcastically as they continued up the spiral stairs, which went on for a lot longer than they thought. But they eventually ended up climbing all the way to a solid door, just open a crack.

"You know," Nami said slowly. "If they really are guarding a kind of awesome treasure up here, they sure aren't making it that difficult. I mean, even if that was some kind of trick door outside, they aren't even bothering to lock up any of the others?"

"All the more reason to believe that this is some kind of scam or trap!" Usopp retorted coldly. "I'm telling you, this isn't a place we want to be!"

"But I got another question," Brook suddenly spoke up as he looked around, "If this is home to a dragon, how would he get in? I mean… it's surprisingly cramped in here, isn't it? So this is the second floor?"

"No, the first," Nami offered. "We just left the ground floor. Oh, well. I guess it doesn't matter."

"Don't get cocky," Sanji warned, feeling slightly sick in the pit of his stomach, though he couldn't place his finger on it where it was coming from. He stood in front this time as he carefully opened the door and let Franky scan the area with light. But as soon as he did so, almost at once they fell upon a pair of feet… and a straw hat…

"Luffy!" Usopp and Chopper both yelled out and they were the first ones in to check on their captain.

"What happened?" Zoro demanded as the rest of them followed, watching anxiously. "I didn't hear anything so how could he have been attacked?!"

"How should we know?!" Franky asked at once. "We were with you too!"

"Damn, I knew we should've had someone go with him," Sanji snarled, his senses alive and trying to detect any unknown enemies.

"How is he, Chopper?" Usopp asked as he turned their captain over so Chopper could see his face.

After doing a quick check-up, Chopper looked up at them all and said, "He's fine. He's just sleeping."

That caused more than a few of them to either have sweat-drops above their heads, or simply falling over in exasperation.

"Sleeping?! Now?! At a time like this?!" Usopp cried out, getting ready to slap Luffy awake so he could yell at him.

"Strange," Robin said softly. She knew Luffy, and he was more excited than anyone about the thought of exploring the tower… and he suddenly fell asleep? That didn't seem right. She suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Well, if there's nothing wrong with him, wake him up," Zoro said as he strolled into the middle of the large room. But as he reached the dead center… he felt his feet stop dead in their tracks, though he knew not what caused it. He felt his whole body tense up, almost like it was frozen in place as he glared around him, not liking this.

What was this feeling? Something… something was not right… not right at all. He stared ahead of him, trying to get a good look to where another door must've been. But what he saw staring back was a pair of golden eyes opening up. Zoro didn't even have time to register what it he was seeing. His hand flew to his swords, ready to draw and strike in less than a second, but then a wave of cold washed over him and he stopped dead. His eye widen in shock as he tried to move. But it was like he was turned into a statue… he couldn't budge…

He tried to open his mouth, to shout a warning to the others, but he could already hear his crew screaming in shock and terror behind them as they also noticed the gaze of something from the darkness staring right back. But that was drowned out as a fog came and engulfed his brain much like it did before when they were still on the Sunny. A high, cold wind came sweeping through him and he could feel the chill right down to his bones as he felt himself slowly falling backwards, his lungs so cold that he felt like he was drowning underwater. He could suddenly understand the fear that a Devil Fruit User has when they fall into the water and are unable to move to even save themselves.

He tried to fight back, truly tried, but instead, he felt his eyes close as the fog was inside him and he knew no more… out cold before he even hit the floor. The last thing that went through his mind before he blacked out as wondering if the rest of them were ok…?

*Unknown amount of time later*

"Luffy? Hey, Luffy? Wake up!" called a familiar voice.

Luffy groaned a little, feeling like he had been asleep for a whole week and didn't appreciate how someone was shaking him to get up.

"Go away, Brook," he groaned, thinking that it was Brook who was already trying to get everyone up for the day.

"It's me, you idiot!" Nami's voice shouted. "And if you don't get up right now, then I'm gonna fine you big time!"

Luffy immediately opened his eyes and sat up.

"I'm up!" he shouted out, looking around. "Huh? Why am I up? It's still night!"

"Snap out of it, Luffy!" Nami said, who had been right at his side, and even in this darkness, he could see the worry that had been in her face. "You gotta help me get the others up!"

"Huh?" Luffy asked in confusion. "The others?" He then finally looked around and realized that that the whole crew was lying around him. "Hey, what happened to you guys?" he asked in worry.

"I don't know," Nami shivered, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself. "We just came in and we found you lying out here. The last thing I remember was feeling really cold and then…?"

Luffy frowned as he cocked his head to the side, trying to think back. His memories came back to him surprisingly quickly as he remembered running up the stairs, looking for the dragon, when he came bursting through the door. But as soon as he stepped inside, he felt a cold wind and more fog before he fell asleep. The next thing he knew was that Nami was yelling at him to wake up or else.

He told her that and she gave him an exasperated look before she then suggested that they wake the others up and then get out of here.

Some of them were easier to wake than others. Some like Robin, Chopper and Brook woke up almost immediately, but it finally resorted to having to slap the others awake. Once they opened their eyes and Chopper gave them all a quick check-up, he let them all know that there wasn't anything wrong with them that he could see.

"Still," he said carefully as he looked at them all worriedly. "Anyone in any pain?"

"No, I think we're all in one piece," Sanji said as he lit up a new cigarette.

"Looks like it," Robin stated unnecessarily.

"Ok, now that that's outta the way, can someone explain what happened?" Sanji hissed, his hand going up to his head where a slight headache was forming. "Hey, Luffy? What happened to you?"

"That's the weirdest part! I don't remember!" Luffy said brightly.

"Don't sound so pleased about it!" Usopp retorted, giving him a slap on the head. "I wish I didn't remember seeing those freaky eyes!"

"Hey, Moss-Head!" Sanji suddenly rounded on hi, "Why didn't you think to cut the bastard before he got us?! You just stood there like an idiot!"

"I tried you dumbass!" Zoro yelled back. "But I couldn't move!"

"You mean you were scared of a pair of eyes?" Sanji laughed out.

"NO!" Zoro yelled out, fighting the impulse to cut him in half. "I MEAN I WAS STUCK! WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT BACK IF YOU'RE SO GOOD?!"

Sanji stopped laughing as he thought about it. "Huh, now that you mention it, I did try to run in and kick someone before Nami or Robin got hurt…? But before I could I got hit…?" he trailed off.

"It was worse than that," Nami said, shivering again. "It was like I could feel something crawling around inside my head. It was such a creepy feeling!"

She could see several shivers around the room, knowing that it was the same for all of them. It felt like… like some giant insect had forced its way into her mind and scuttled around inside her brain before it forced its way out. She reached up to her head and felt around, making sure that nothing was wrong.

Whatever happened, it made her skin crawl and she even felt the need to wash herself.

They all suddenly stood up, not wanting to be there any longer. But before they could even decide to go forward or turn back, something else happened. The darkness around them began to swim before their eyes as the door behind them shut with a loud bang.

There were shrieks of fear and panic coming from the crew as they all stared around at the swirling energy, though what it was that they were watching was anyone's guess. Luffy was shouting out threats to whatever was doing this while people like Zoro and Franky were already pulling out weapons, ready to fight, just as Sanji and Robin readied themselves for anything.

But then there was a startling light that illuminated the darkness, one so bright and sudden that they were all momentarily blinded.

"I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!" Usopp cried out, tears falling, thinking that this was the end and some dragon was going to burn them all to a crisp.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Chopper screamed as he hung onto Usopp tightly.

"COOL!" Luffy couldn't help but yell out… but as soon as the light came, it stopped. It didn't go away completely, but it faded enough so that they could see normally… at least they could if they weren't seeing spots.

It took several minutes for them to make anything else out, with Luffy the first one able to wipe the blurry spots from his vision. The first thing he saw was a grassy deck beneath him as he tried to shield his now sensitive eyes until they got used to the light.

"Hey! We're back on the Sunny!" Luffy called, sounding both impressed and disappointed. At least until he looked up and let out a yell.

"What?" Chopper asked before he looked up as well and seemed to choke on a scream.

"We're underwater?!" Usopp shrieked. "Again?!"

It was true. They were on the deck of the Sunny, while there was a giant bubble placed right over their ship and they were causally sinking deeper as they sailed through the clear, crystal-blue water as dancing sunbeams sparkling around them and fish of all sizes swam about them… almost like a reverse effect on a snowglobe, but with fish instead of snow. With giant vine-like roots twisted and coiled about them, stretching down and disappearing into the darkness below.

"H-HOW? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" Nami cried out as the others looked as shocked as she felt.

"Hey, Usopp?" Luffy asked suddenly. "How did you get over there?"

Luffy was standing right next to Usopp, trying to get his attention, who was ignoring him completely as he was staring out at the water.

"Ah… Luffy?" Usopp asked and Luffy looked behind him to see that Usopp was standing right there. It seemed to take a moment for him to realize that there was a Usopp in front of him… and one behind him. He turned to look at one Usopp, and then to the other… and finally he let out a shriek.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?! USOPP! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A TWIN!"

"THAT'S NOT ME! AT LEAST… I DON'T' THINK IT IS!" Usopp yelled back before he turned to look hard at his double ganger and realized something.

"It's just like last time!" Usopp gasped as he cautiously reached out to grab his double's shoulder… only for him to fade right through it like it was made of smoke. The others, other than Luffy, all looked at each other in horror. Did that mean what they thought it meant? But looking around the deck, seeing themselves here…? There couldn't be any other explanation. Especially when they all realized that all nine of the Straw Hats… were suddenly doubled until there were eighteen of them scattered around the deck.

Luffy looked around at them all in confusion.

"What was like last time?" he asked and they looked at him, just remembering that he wasn't with them then.

"Luffy," Nami began in a surprisingly gentle voice. "Do you… do you remember that island we visited before? The one with… with Ace's grave on it?"

Luffy looked back at her in surprise. "Yeah," he answered, "I remember it. Oh wait…" he thought back to what they talked about that night and he hit his fist into his hand. "Right… you guys said something about seeing my memories, didn't you?"

"Exactly," Robin added kindly. "You weren't there, but this is exactly like how it was like then. It would seem… somehow… we're back in memories again."

"Really? Oh, cool!" Luffy said, looking around with bright interest. "I wondered what that was like!"

The other Straw Hats all looked at each other guiltily. This was the main reason that they didn't want to bring up what happened on that island. They had gone into Luffy's private memories and they had no right to do so. They knew that… and while they wanted to help Luffy, it was still awkward to know pretty much everything about your captain. There was such a thing as too much information after all.

"Luffy?" Franky said slowly. "Ah… about that…?"

Luffy looked at him in confusion again, at least until he realized that everyone was looking away from him, each with the same guilty expression on their faces.

"Oh, you mean watching my memories?" Luffy asked, guessing what they were feeling so down about. "It's ok. Don't worry about it!"

"Don't worry?" Chopper began with his eyes wide.

"It's ok," Luffy answered with a smile, thought it was a little sadness in his eyes. "I know you didn't do it on purpose. And Ace told you to do it, right? He must have had a reason."

Truth was, he didn't really like the fact that they saw so much of his memories. But he knew that they didn't do it because they were trying to be mean. They were trying to help get him back. Besides, he knew that Ace asked them to do it, and if his brother thought it had been a good idea, then he was ok with it, too.

Zoro sighed, not bringing himself to lie as he confessed, "It was more than Ace asking us, Luffy. We thought… we thought we could help you. Though, now that I think about it, I'm not sure if knowing is any differently than before."

That wasn't completely the truth though now that he thought about it. He knew just how far that Luffy would go for those he considered his friends, and they were just shown how far that devotion was. He opened his mouth, about to add that, but Luffy beat him to speaking.

"Well, it's not like I'm happy or anything that you saw my memories like that," Luffy confessed. "But… it's ok. There's no need to get upset over them again!"

"Luffy…" Nami said softly as Usopp and Chopper both felt tears forming up in their eyes, also feeling waves of guilt inside them.

"But… whose memory is this?" Sanji asked as he stared around at himself. "I mean… we're all here! And… how are we seeing this at all, anyway? I mean, sure, I can believe a ghost island that's connected to hell could have some weird power, but we're just in this freaky tower, right? So… we should still be there, shouldn't we?"

"It's an illusion," Robin stated quietly. "That much I can guess. That's what memories are… merely dreams of the past so we are safe here. But maybe…? Maybe this has something to do with the warning we read before coming here?"

She thought back to the words on the stone outside…

"Those of dark, beware the light… Beyond here, awaits fire and grief… Deadly to all but those who accept belief," she recited absent-mindedly. What this what the warning was talking about?

"So… what are you saying? That are memories are gonna come to life and attack us?" Usopp asked before he remembered that they were forced to fight slimy versions of old enemies that same night and he screamed in panic, memories of all their old foes coming back to him and he did not want to go through all that again.

"I don't know," Robin said seriously. "But I do know that we must be careful from now on. If this is the same as the ghost island, then who can say what will happen? For all we know, we could be forced to fight all our old enemies again… or maybe even something worse."

"In other words, keep your guard up!" Zoro said, his hand going to his swords, knowing that he had enough of walking in someone else's memory to last a lifetime.

"But… what are we supposed to do now?!" Nami cried out, not wanting to look at anyone else's memories like this again. "How…? What?"

But no one could answer her as their past selves were running around the deck, staring up in amazement at the beauty around them. Even though the current Straw Hats were all lost and confused, they couldn't help but admire it all as well.

"Wow! I forgot how cool it was down here!" Luffy cried out, staring around with wonder along with Usopp, Brook, and Chopper. They laughed and spun around the ship as their memory selves also watched with amazement.

The Sunny sailed through the water, gradually sinking lower and lower, the bright sunlight sparkling around them, making it look as though they were flying through a magical world as the fish and countless other sea creatures swam about them. The current Straw Hats were all watching their past selves, and they were all looking like children the way that they gazed wondrously about them. In fact, the only ones who didn't look impressed were the two Zoro's, who were both looking bored.

"It doesn't matter how pretty it is whether it's real or a memory," Nami said firmly. She didn't like this at all; wanting to to leave this behind. The last time that they went into another's memory, she saw more than she ever wanted to see. Yet, even she couldn't help but look about with awe like a young child, glad that she got to see such a beautiful place again. "Let's get outta here! I don't want to be doing this again!"

"If you have a way out, I'm more than willing to listen," Franky added as his past self started speaking.

"What a sight!" memory Franky cried out, lifting up his sunglasses to get a good look around. "We don't get a view like this in the submarine."

"Nope, gotta hand it to whoever came up with the idea to use bubbles like that," the real Franky laughed a little.

"So… ah… whose memory is this?" Usopp repeated the question worriedly, hoping that it wasn't his own.

"No clue," Robin answered, "Though with everyone here… it's hard to say… it could be any one of us…?"

But that was when she remembered what Franky had said while they were climbing the stairs… how he wished they had Sunny's lights to help them see since they hadn't really used it since the Deep Sea… was it possible that they…?

"We're sinking lower and lower!" memory Chopper cried out, jumping up and onto the railing of the ship as he watched, "Is the water gonna come in? I'm worried!"

"It feels like I'm drifting away from the human world," past Nami agreed, looking a little nervous, "I'm tense."

"It is a creepy feeling," current Nami agreed with herself, wondering why she was suddenly so calm about the situation.

"A-Are we gonna be able to return to the surface?" past Usopp asked, gulping down a little before adding, "N-Not that I'm scared or anything!"

"Of course not!" the current one confirmed despite the nervousness and slight tremble in his past self's voice. "I am a brave warrior of the sea and the Great Usopp isn't afraid of anything!"

"Awesome, Usopp!" current Chopper cheered as Usopp beamed smugly.

"Yes, in fact, I really do think that we can let you take over all protection of the ship the next time we're attacked by enemy ships," Robin offered brightly.

"Ah… ah, that's ok, Robin," Usopp said, going a little pale at the thought and shook his hands at her. "Really, what kind of friend would I be if I took all the fun and left nothing for the rest of you? That wouldn't be right!"

She only continued to smile at him as Usopp gulped, hoping that she was just kidding.

Memory Luffy, meanwhile, was laughing as he shielded his eyes as he gazed upwards. "The ocean sure is beautiful!" he muttered, and it was true for the glinting rays of light shown like spotlights, causing the water to sparkle around them.

"Look at this side!" memory Brook cried out eagerly, running to one side of the ship with memory Luffy and Nami, all three enjoying the sight of the roots.

"Wow! Trees! No, roots!" memory Luffy cried out, practically bouncing where he stood.

"You know, this is pretty weird," the current Luffy laughed before seeing a large sea turtle drifting lazily by. "But I think I like it! Oh! Look! A turtle!"

"I don't see the big deal," the current Zoro said as he looked around and he gazed at his memory self. "After all, it wasn't that long ago that we were here. What's the point? We all know what's going to happen! This is where we visited the Deep Sea, right?"

"Yeah, now as heavenly as it is to have two more of Nami and Robin…" current Sanji began, his nose dribbled a little bit of blood at the sight of it all, he forced himself to go on, "I think that we better figure out who's doing this! Don't tell me we have to fight another slime freak like last time?"

"Slime thing?" Luffy asked in confusion. "You mean like a guy who could turn to slime? That's kinda gross."

Right… they really didn't go into too much details to Luffy about the creature they were up against. Brook was the one who tried to explain to him what they were fighting with as memory Sanji began explaining that the Sabaody Archipelago was a giant grove of mangroves. But everything that the musician said just seemed to make Luffy even more confused than before.

"So… it's a 'mystery slime'?" he asked. Since no one could think of a better way to explain it, they let him go on believing it… for really, what else could you call it?

Present-day Zoro frowned. Now, he couldn't sense anything dangerous around them, yet… that was the same way he felt when he first walked into the room. It wasn't until that… whatever it was—that thing attack them did he feel any danger at all. But why? Why did it take until that thing was in front of him to realize that something was wrong? He gave his head a hard shake, not liking any of this. Even back on that ghost island he was able to sense when that monster was going to come out… but here, inside the tower—which he was sure that they were still inside—he felt nothing else other than the nine of them.

This didn't look good for them…

Memory Brook was laughing. "What a wonder of nature! It feels like my eyes will pop out in amazement! Not that I have eyeballs! Yohohoho!"

"I've already seen it," memory Zoro said in a bored way.

"Why is it that you always seem to ruin everything?" current Sanji demanded. "Even when you aren't talking, your face is enough to make anyone sick?"

"What did you say you crappy cook?!" Zoro demanded.

"You heard me!" Sanji snarled back.

"YEAH!" memory Sanji snapped. "Because YOU got on a ship you WEREN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BOARD! NOW PIPE DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE! YOU'RE RUINING EVERYONE ELSE'S MOOD!"

"You aren't helping with all the yelling, Sanji," current Usopp spoke up bravely until he was silenced by a dark look from the burning cook.

"I can hardly believe that the roots stretch all the way to the ocean bottom," memory Robin said. "They're so big, I'm speechless."

"Speechless? Somehow, I doubt that, sis," current Franky pointed out to their Robin, who gave him an innocent look as she smiled warmly.

Memory Chopper, meanwhile, was face to face with a couple puffer fish, who had inflated themselves. It had turned into a game when that Chopper had puffed up his cheeks and was doing his best to hold his breath until he couldn't hold it any longer and laughed.

"I give up!" he called to them happily.

"They must be really good at holding their breaths," current Chopper said reasonably.

"Chopper," Usopp pointed out, "They're fish… they don't breath air."

Just then, his memory self was suddenly backing up, almost knocking into Chopper as he choked out, "Ah… hey Chopper? There's something behind us!"

Memory Chopper looked and screamed out in panic at the sight of a fish large enough to swallow several Sunny's in one bite.

"They sure breed them big in the Grand Line," current Nami sighed, wondering why everything in this sea seemed so huge.

"You know, one of those big fish could kept a normal crew fed for a week," Franky pointed out lightly.

"Or in our case, an entire day," Sanji offered, wondering if they could go out and catch a big fish like that soon, though he was sure that they would have to build an outdoor grill to cook it up.

But neither of the two Luffy's were paying any attention as they were both looking around at everything. That was when the Straw Hats suddenly felt a pang of fear at the thought of two Luffy's together… that would be a scary thing indeed.

"I'm so excited!" memory Luffy said, staring around, "An adventure under the sea! It's like a dream!"

"I know, right?" the current Luffy added with a laugh.

"Luffy, it's a memory, you can't hear yourself," Usopp pointed out, but naturally, Luffy ignored him as he continued to look around eagerly. Well, they let him, knowing that they didn't have to worry about him getting into trouble in a place like this… at least they hoped not.

Just then, memory Luffy spotted the large gathering of fish outside the bubble, and with an excited cry, he jumped up and onto the bubble, clinging onto it as it twisted around him like a sheet.

"Hey, yeah!" current Luffy said before he went jumping out as well, wanting to see what would happen. He went right through the bubble and was out in the water. And his first thought was panic as soon as he popped out of the bubble.

"LUFFY!" Chopper and Brook both cried out in panic and went jumping after him. Instinct took over and soon all three of them were frozen in the water.

"Hey? A-Are you guys ok?!" Usopp cried out as anxiety took hold and his past self began to freak out at the sight of memory Luffy clinging to the bubble.

"No, I…" Luffy croaked out before he blinked and realized that he could breathe. "I'm… not dead?"

"Of course you're not dead!" current Nami called back in annoyance as memory Zoro was eyeing some fish as well, already pulling at one of his swords, half a mind to cut through them. "This is a memory! You can't touch anything. We were stuck in them long enough to know!"

"Oh," current Luffy spoke up thoughtfully as he hit his fist into the palm of his hand. "That's so cool!"

And soon all three of them were happily playing in the memory ocean, for it was the closest that any of them would likely get to actually doing so in real life.

"Hey!" Usopp called as memory Chopper began to panic over the sight of Zoro's swords. "I wanna play too!" And he took a running jump to start dancing and flying about in the sea with the others.

"So cute," current Robin said happily. "It's so nice to see them getting along."

"Yeah, but that's a bad habit of those three," Nami scolded. "Even if this isn't real, they're Devil Fruit Users and they just jump right into the water when they know they'll sink? Don't they think about their actions?"

"Just be happy that it's not real," Zoro said as he turned back to the scene, though not really watching it as his mind continued to try and figure out what was going on. However, watching how Chopper and Usopp punched him and Luffy hard in the heads until they were both lying on the deck with large lumps, did annoy him. Especially, when the two of them were yelling out threats.

"STOP IT, YOU FOOLS!" memory Usopp yelled.

"WHAT IF THE BUBBLE BREAKS? I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU EVER TRY THAT AGAIN!" past Chopper screamed out.

"Just because you two got stronger doesn't mean I can't kick your assess," the real Zoro said in annoyance.

"Yeah, well you were just about to cut through the bubble, which was the only thing keeping us alive down there, Moss-Head," Sanji reminded him with a smug grin.

Zoro didn't say anything for he knew that he was going to get some payback in a second.

"Nami," memory Sanji called as the two pushed themselves up, rubbing their heads, "Before these two do something stupid, you better give us the dos and don'ts on the coated ship."

"Alright, Sanji," past Nami called, "Rayleigh gave me some instructions." She turned around to face the whole crew as she called, "Ok, everyone listen up! Gather round and…"

"SHE MOVED!" past Sanji cried out as blood burst from his nose. "A REAL BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!"

"Well, you don't exactly look all that impressive right now do you, Mr. Nosebleed?" current Zoro smirked back as Sanji had a muscle going in his head when he watched his past self suddenly rocketing upwards and into the bubble. Sanji knew that he just couldn't help it. He had spent an entire two years without seeing the splendor of real women… of course the sight of two of the most beautiful ladies in the world in front of him so suddenly would be enough to overwhelm him.

The four Straw Hats in the water noticed what was going on and turned to watch as their past selves were screaming out in fear for Sanji… and the bubble.

"IT'S GONNA POP!" past Chopper cried. "IT'S GONNA POP! DO SOMETHING!"

"HOW CAN HE FLY THAT FAR FROM A NOSEBLEED?!" memory Usopp couldn't help but ask as he watched Sanji pressing hard against the bubble, until with one more great burst of blood, Sanji went breaking through the bubble and was in the sea.

"We shoulda just left him there," current Zoro sighed with a roll of his eye.

"Oh, shut up!" Sanji yelled as the 'Goofy Trio' were all screaming, "SANJI FLEW OUT IN THE WATER!"

"How strange," memory Robin said calmly as she watched Sanji drowning like this happened every day, and Franky watching in concern for the cook in more ways than one. "Even though the bubble is holding against the tremendous pressure of the sea, it's still possible to pierce through it in an instant like that."

"Oh, Robin," current Sanji sighed, his eyes full of hearts, "You're so gorgeous even when you're acting indifferent."

"SANJI! COME BACK!" past Luffy shouted, stretching out his arm through the same place where Sanji went bursting out and grabbed hold of his arm, who looked like he didn't even notice that he was underwater. But as soon as Luffy's hand even touched the water, he paused, already struggling to pull his arm back.

"Being a Devil Fruit User must sure suck if you're a pirate," Franky said, wondering why any pirate would want to give up the ability to swim. They are on the ocean for god's sake!

"I suppose you just get used to it," Robin shrugged. "I was very young when I ate my Devil Fruit, so I don't really remember swimming all that much anyway."

"And I guess you can't miss what you don't remember," Zoro shrugged before Nami looked up and was calling for the boys to come back to the ship. Memory Usopp and Chopper grabbed hold onto Luffy and were helping to reel Sanji back in, who still had that stupid smile on his grayish face. With a great effort, he managed to pull him back to safety. Once he was free of the ocean, all three right back, rolling over backwards until Sanji landed right on top of them, his skin looking ghastly but still having that smile that proved he was thinking dirty thoughts.

"SANJI!" memory Chopper screamed out in panic as the four current Straw Hats stayed out in the ocean, laughing and drifting about. Present day Nami sighed and rubbed her temples. Yep… some things never change. It's been two years… and these boys are exactly like how they always were. But when some of the memories, such as Marineford came into her mind, she paused. She looked up to Luffy's laughing face and couldn't help but feel a tiny smile come to her own. Maybe… that wasn't such a bad thing… if you think about it. It could be a lot worse…

As the four memory Straw Hats disentangled themselves from each other, memory Chopper was examining Sanji, already hooking him up to at least ten blood bags to keep him alive. Past Zoro was staring at it in shock, wondering how Sanji could be bleeding to death only just getting back to the crew.

As Chopper began to press down on memory Sanji's chest to get the water out of his lungs, the others gathered around worriedly.

"What happened to you, Sanji?" memory Usopp cried out in worry. "It's like you've developed a crippling weakness to women!"

"That's what I wanna know," current Franky said, looking at their Sanji curiously. "Just where were you those two years? You were acting like you never saw a woman before in your life!"

"Hey, I've been through hell, and that's all you need to know," Sanji retorted coldly. "Don't ask if you aren't prepared to know the truth."

"But it's so strange," present-day Brook called from above. "You were never THIS bad around women, before!"

"Just the sight of such beautiful ladies was too much for me," Sanji sighed, doing his best not to think of those dark memories he spent in that pinkish nightmare.

"It's not like you!" past Chopper cried out once Sanji's lungs were clear of water.

"How sad," past Brook said sadly. "What could have happened these last two years to turn our lady-loving Sanji into this? At this rate, once he meets the mermaids he's been longing to see, he might die of blood loss. The future looks grim."

"I don't mind," current Sanji sighed, thinking of those beautiful mermaids back at Fishman Island and a blissful expression of peace came over him. "I got to live out a dream! I don't mind if I had to die in the process."

"The stupidest way to die," Zoro added before the two were glaring at each other.

"We'll have to get a blood transfusion for him once we get to Fishman Island," memory Chopper said firmly. "I wonder if Fishmen and mermaids have the same blood types as humans?"

"So basically, like we just saw, the bubble surrounding this ship have the same properties as the ones at the Sabaody Archipelago," Robin spoke up conversationally, already changing the subject.

"Don't stand there analyzing the bubble so calmly at a time like this!" past Usopp snapped.

"It's just as Robin says," memory Nami interrupted, causing some members like Usopp and Chopper to look up at her in surprise. "Fundamentally, they are the same," she went on, "They'll stretch to a certain point and then you can pierce right through it! In a worse-case scenario, if we're attacked by sea monsters we can fire a cannonball at them. And the bubble won't break!"

"Really?" past Usopp asked as the two stood up. "Then what would it take for the bubble to break?"

"Hey, guys!" current Luffy called as he got their attention and they looked up to see that they were all chasing the memory fish about. "Come out and try this! It's great!"

"Maybe you should come back in?" Nami offered.

"But we are having so much fun! Yohohoho!" Brook called as he went drifting around, looking a little creepy with his skeletal appearance… like a lost sailor at sea. "Really, come and join us! Oh, and Nami-san? Do you mind showing me your…?"

"You even finish that sentence and I'll kill you a second time!" she shouted back. She glared up at him as her past self was explaining how the bubble worked to everyone. How it was much stronger than it looked and that it could stretch out. But if there were too many holes open at once, like if a sea monster or Sea King bit at them, then they were history.

"Which really wouldn't be a difference since we would be eaten," current Robin pointed out.

"You know, I would like to see you worried for just once," current Nami sighed, wondering just why she liked to scare them all by saying such dark thoughts. Usopp was right… her imagination really was a curse.

Meanwhile, a large fish in the memory came swimming up, about to chomp down on the Sunny, at least until by fate, or sheer coincidence, another sea monster swam out of nowhere and tackled the first fish away by biting down on its neck, sending them both falling away as the Sunny drifted off.

Memory Usopp and Chopper, who had been screaming at the sight of the fish, both sighed in relief when they saw that they were safe at the moment. Past Nami then went on to explain more about what would cause the bubble to burst. Like if they crashed into rocks or a sea trench… or if the mast or hull broke apart and the shrapnel punctured too much of the bubble. But basically, if they could avoid all that, and not do anything stupid from the inside, then they were safe."

"Nothing stupid?" current Nami sighed as she shook her head. She had forgotten who she was talking about. Was two years really all it took for her to forget that she was part of a crew who was completely insane?

"I see," memory Usopp laughed, already looking more confident. "The bubble's tougher than I thought."

"However," past Nami added, her tone a little more serious, "Of all the ships that set out for Fishman Island, about 70% end up sinking. So be careful."

"THEN WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO US?!" memory Usopp and Chopper questioned, terrified.

"I think that you've been hanging around with Robin to long," current Franky whispered to their Nami, who thought that over. She was just being honest… maybe that was what Robin was doing most of the time? She glanced at her friend, who gazed back with a calm expression, but with a hint of mischief in her eyes that clearly said that she knew just what she was doing. She was dangerous on so many layers, wasn't she?

It did not help that past Luffy and Zoro had gone back to talking about catching fish despite the fact that Nami had just finished explaining the bubble to them not two seconds ago.

"If I use my Gatling gun on them, I'm sure I can catch all those fish!" memory Luffy said to Zoro, who smirked back.

"Then how about we compete to see who can catch the most?" he offered asked, one of his swords over his shoulder. This time when Zoro and Luffy were hit, it was a lot harder than last time. Now they were sporting more lumps than ever on the back of their heads.

"Damn," current Zoro sighed. He was sure he could easily have beaten Luffy in that contest.

"WEREN'T YOU LISTENING TO WHAT NAMI JUST SAID?!" memory Usopp screamed, "WE CAN'T OPEN UP A BUNCH OF HOLES OR WE'LL DIE!"

"I'M GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA YOU!" past Chopper screamed as well. "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Soon they were both crying, just realizing how dangerous this little trip under the sea truly was, and were wondering where Hachi was since he had promised to lead them a safe way to Fishman Island.

Just then, memory Luffy looked up, as if remembering something.

"Oh, right!" he cried out before he dragged over his massive backpack to them. "I've got tons of boxed lunches! And since Sanji's knocked out now… Everyone! Let's have some food!"

Memory Chopper, Usopp, and Brook all cheered and at the sound of the word 'food' current Luffy was looking down hungry at the lunchboxes.

"Oh! Food!" he cried as he went straight down, landing on the deck and went running straight to the lunchboxes that were being set up. He skidded down and tried to pick one up, only for his hands to go right through it.

"Huh?" Luffy questioned before he tried it again only for it to happen again. Suddenly he let out a cry of horror and was now desperately trying to grab hold on something… a piece of bread, a riceball… something… but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even touch it.

"I know that it's not really that funny," current Sanji sniggered. "But I can't help it…"

And soon all the current Straw Hats were laughing at Luffy's misfortune. Say whatever you like about the rubber captain, he was no quitter, and he wasn't going to stop trying to eat all that dream food. They left him at it as memory Franky was asking Nami if the ship was safe enough that they could enjoy the food.

"Well, right now we're just riding a large ocean current, so…" memory Nami answered as she glanced around, "it's fine. I reckon we'll continue on like this for a while. Things won't get busy until later."

"Perfect, you truly are perfect, Nami-swan…" Sanji cried out happily and she grinned back, like she knew it all along.

"In that case," past Franky said, "I've got enough time."

Everyone in the memory all looked at him, wondering what this was about. "There's something important that I got to tell all of you," memory Franky began seriously. And, at first, everyone was looking just as stern as he was.

"Could it be about…" memory Luffy started, and then…

"MORE ROBOT SECRETS?!" the 'Goofy' trio all cried out excitedly, their eyes bright like stars.

"Could they at least try to act serious, for once?" current Nami sighed, thought there was an amused look in her eyes as she watched the boys now practically drooling over Franky as they began to ask what other secrets he was hiding, like if he could transform or if he had any secret weapons.

The present-day Franky laughed out proudly as he watched himself entertain them by pressing down on his nose and giving himself a new hairdo, causing all three to end up falling back and laughing. "That never gets old," he laughed, pressing down on his own nose and giving himself a long pair of pigtails this time.

"What is with boys and their toys?" Nami whispered to Robin who shrugged back as the rest of their little crew rejoined them on the deck once they had their fill of 'swimming' in the ocean.

"I suppose there are some things that little boys never grow out of," she offered, which was really the only suggestion she could give that made any sense.

"No, I'm afraid that… I am afraid it's nothing about-robo," memory Franky said in a robot voice.

"WOW! SO COOL! HE SPEAKS ROBOTESE!" the 'Goofy' Trio called along with current Usopp and Chopper, who just touched down onto the deck. Though Luffy was still focused on the food to pay too much attention.

"This is what I wanna talk to you about," memory Franky said, letting his sunglasses fall back over his eyes, now done with playing about for a second. "Go ahead and eat while you're listening."

They all watched as he sat down at the main mast and let everyone else gather around a makeshift table in front of him, enjoying the lunchboxes—well, most of them since memory Sanji was still out cold. Franky was patient as he let them get comfortable before he started speaking again.

"Hachi told us he would show us the way to Fishman Island," memory Franky explained, "but he suffered from a lot injuries at Sabaody, so he went home to get treatment. He's injured for the same reason as Duval. He was injured trying to protect the Thousand Sunny. Around a year ago, the Navy found out about the Sunny and those two both faced fierce battles and were taken out of commission."

"Yes, we owe them greatly for protecting Lion-chan all that time," current Brook offered, suddenly wishing that he had a cup of tea with him.

"It's Sunny! Oh, I give up with you," current Franky sighed in annoyance. He could let it go if he didn't want to call it Thousand Sunny, but at least call her by her name.

"Huh?" memory Usopp asked, stopping with a bit of food already halfway to his mouth. "Then how is it the ship stayed undamaged after that?"

"Because there was someone else who fought to protect it," memory Franky confessed, which got everyone to look at him in great surprise. "He was the one who separated us from each other two years ago," memory Franky said seriously, "One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea… Bartholomew Kuma. I couldn't believe my eyes when I returned to the Sunny a few days ago."

"I'm still trying to figure that out," current Zoro said as he let Franky explain to them how he had arrived at Sabaody a few days prior. When he found Sunny, he saw Kuma sitting there waiting for him. When he arrived, he found Kuma heavily damaged near the ship. After Kuma saw him, he slowly walked away saying 'Mission Accomplished'. He left after that, though he was so badly damaged that he could hardly even do that much.

Just who was Kuma? Why did he put himself through all that despite the fact that Kuma, himself, most likely didn't even remember why he did it.

'Kuma…' Robin thought grimly.

"There wasn't even a scratch on the Sunny," memory Franky finished up. "And Rayleigh told me later… 'I work for the Revolutionary Army. Since I have a connection with them, I wish to help them escape from here'." He sighed as he added, "I think you guys half expected that. He saved our lives!"

Everyone looked at him with shock, though it was only a little bit. They all already suspected that, not that they could ever have guessed that it was true.

"I do wish that he could have sent us all to the same place, though," current Usopp said sadly. Maybe then, they could have been of some help to Luffy. He knew that in a long run that it was better this way… but it was still a hard pill to swallow. While he learned so much and grew strong, he missed Luffy and everyone else. It hurt so badly that there were times he wanted to just curl up into a ball and cry. He wondered if the others missed him as much?

"And after we vanished from the island, Kuma visited Rayleigh and told him that he didn't have much time left," memory Franky sighed. "I don't know what made him obey the Navy, but he agreed to become a guinea pig and let his body be modified into a cyborg piece by piece and he somehow lost his personality before the war of the best!"

He really did. Sanji was thinking about that empty vessel that they saw before in Luffy's memory before. There really wasn't anything in that body, was there? Just machine parts… no trace of humanity left. Just what could have done that to someone?

"But he couldn't have known what each of us would do after we were separated!" past Chopper gasped. "Even so, he waited for us and guarded our ship even after he lost his personality?"

"He made Dr. Vegapunk, who modified him, agreed to program a mission into his mind," history Franky explained. "Defend the pirate ship until the day one of the Straw Hats return to it. That's why for the last two years, without his memory, he had been carrying out his own orders, as a human weapon, waiting for us."

"That's insane!" memory Zoro said, "Why would he do such a thing for us?"

"It wasn't like he owed us anything," current Zoro agreed, thinking back to how it was his mercy that they survived Thriller Bark. He was suddenly wishing he had a drink with him.

"Terms like 'connections' and 'Revolutionary Army' remind me of Luffy's father, who's their leader," memory Usopp pointed out as he looked at Luffy, who was chewing on a meaty bone.

"But I don't really know my dad all that well," past Luffy reminded him.

"Doesn't mean you aren't his son," current Robin offered, though their Luffy was still not paying attention, now he was actually trying to sneak up on memory Usopp's lunchbox, like it was a wild animal and it didn't notice that it was being hunted.

"But that bear-guy was a good guy after all?" memory Luffy asked.

"There is no mistake that he's the one who gave us these two worthwhile years," memory Franky said, as he stood up. "We can't even ask him why he did it, but just remember that. Bartholomew Kuma turned out to be one of our greatest allies! But even if we meet him again, Kuma is now a heartless human weapon! That's all I have to say."

"We really do owe him a lot," current Nami sighed. Though that didn't stop him from being really scary when he cornered them at Sabaody.

"I'm grateful to him. But still, I've got a lot of questions that are left unanswered," memory Zoro sighed. "I hope we can find out his motives one day."

"That would be nice," the current one agreed. Yet… now that he thought about it, did he really need a reason to want to help them? Maybe Usopp was right in that he just wanted to help Luffy, who was the son of his friend, right?

"Ally?" asked memory Sanji, who finally opened his eyes, but it was clear he heard everything.

"Oh! You woke up, Sanji!" past Chopper said in relief.

"Hey! It's lunch!" memory Luffy spoke up happily when he saw Sanji was alright, and offered him a lunchbox. "Eat up! It's from the Maiden Island!" he added as his present-day self seemed to finally grasp the fact that he couldn't touch any of the food if it wasn't real. Not that it stopped him from sulking and tears swelling up in his eyes as he pouted angrily.

"You sure know how to hurt a guy," current Sanji moaned in despair. What did he do to deserve this? Luffy got to go to the dream island, filled with nothing but women, while he was stuck in every man's worst nightmare?

"Maiden Island? Am I really supposed to be grateful to Kuma?" his past self demanded furiously as his present-day self nodded in full agreement. "Don't you realize where I was the past two years?" He then glared at Luffy and asked, "What kind of training were you doing at the dream island of women, Luffy?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I was with Rayleigh and was wrestling with giant monsters!" current Luffy laughed out as Sanji looked away.

"He doesn't even realize what a golden opportunity that was, I hate him," he cried.

"To be fair, he wasn't technically on the island the whole time," current Franky reminded him.

"Shut up! It doesn't make it right!" he shot back.

"Whoa, whoa, Sanji," memory Brook said, trying to calm him down, "I don't know what you've been through but let's enjoy the voyage now! Do you want to sing with me?"

"Stop trying to cheer me up!" memory Sanji snapped. "I feel pathetic!"

"And you look it, too," present Zoro spoke up.

"At least I'm not the idiot who still gets lost going in a straight line!" Sanji retorted and, once again, the rest of the crew was forced to keep them separated as Luffy laughed. They watched their past selves continue their lunch, with Luffy still trying to eat the food once or twice, despite the fact he knew that there was no point. But once past Luffy finished and was looking up to see that it was quickly getting dark.

"Man," he said, already sounding a little bored. "How deep down do you think we are?"

"It's getting darker and darker," memory Usopp added a little nervous before he slowly began to walk backwards and up the ship as the others all turned their attention to see that he was right.

"We've passed the euphotic zone," said memory Franky, who was finally going for his lunchbox while the others just finished. "And we're almost to the bottom of the Twilight zone. It must be more than 1000 meters down."

"It sure got dark quickly," current Chopper said, wishing that the whole trip to Fishman Island could have been as pretty as when they first submerged and it was still bright.

"It's so quiet down here," memory Robin mused. "It's nothing like being in a submarine. It feels like we're flying through the night sky."

"Yeah, though a cloudy night," current Brook sighed, who always loved looking at the stars at night, wondering if Laboon could see the same stars.

"The sky, huh?" past Nami asked, also looking up. "I have to start using what I studied on Weatheria for two years."

"Good thing too," current Nami nodded, knowing that it was going to take every ounce of knowledge she gained to keep herself and the crew alive. Suddenly memory Chopper let out a cry of amazement as he ran to the side of the ship.

"Hey, look!" he cried out excitedly. "Whales! There're whales!"

"Huh? Laboon? Laboon, is that you?!" current Brook cried out as he went running to the side with his past self, who jumped up at the word 'whale' and also began calling out Laboon's name.

"No way," current Franky laughed, looking up spotting the large—but graceful—whales swimming by without even paying them any thought. "Those whales are big, but nothing compared to Laboon! He was a SUPER whale!"

"Yes, he was," Brook nodded, thinking fondly of the precious memory he was able to see before where Laboon was as large as a mountain. Oh, he hoped that he was still doing well. He was sure that he was still taking care of his head thanks to that mark that Luffy painted there. He wiped a tear away, knowing that no amount of words could ever describe how grateful he was to Luffy for doing something like that.

"No! That's old man Whitebeard!" memory Luffy laughed along with the real one.

"Yeah," present-day Luffy called, pointing at the whales, "It really does look like it."

"The Moby Dick…" Franky said as he thought of when he saw that massive ship during the Marineford memories. "She truly was a beautiful ship. I would've liked to meet the shipwright who designed her."

They watched the pod of whales swim by peacefully, heading even deeper down, the light gradually growing darker with every second. It was a calm moment, at least until memory Usopp was calling out to them that there was an unknown ship coming up from behind them.

"I don't remember this?" present Zoro said slowly.

"Don't you remember when they tried to board our ship and that disgusting captain of theirs ordered to use a Gatling gun on us until Mohmoo pulled the ship away?" Nami asked him. Sanji, Luffy, Franky, and Zoro all thought it over for a minute until their memories came back.

"Oh, that guy…" Zoro said in understanding. "No wonder I didn't remember… I completely forgot about him."

"Yeah, that explains it," Luffy nodded.

"It wasn't like he was worth remembering," Sanji reasoned.

"Yohohoho, so harsh everyone!" Brook laughed happily.

While they were talking about that, their past selves were all grouped up at the bottom of the stairs, asking what kind of ship it was that was following them. All memory Usopp could tell them was that it was coming this way, and quickly. It didn't take long for the ship to reach them, soon it was right at the Sunny's side, where the pirates were all gathering onboard. The ship was at least twice as large as the Sunny, and a Jolly Roger was that of a thin skull with long hair.

Most crew were of fat men with chubby faces, but with thin arms and legs, with the largest of them having a lizard on his head that seemed to serve as some kind of wig. Meanwhile their captain was out in front—a man with dark skin and greasy-looking hair that matched a beard that was in the shape of a whirl going upwards on his chin—with his tongue sticking out of his large mouth.

"I forgot how ugly he was," current Nami stated, her eyes drawing to the giant sea cow that was pulling their ship, their reason for catching up so quickly. They were right alongside them now, banging into them, their bubbles crashing against the other.

"They're trying to ram us!" memory Usopp cried in terror. "Go away! The bubble's gonna pop!"

The two ships were grinding against each other as their bubbles slowly began to merge, when it would be possible to jump aboard.

"Don't know why you're so upset," current Zoro pointed out. "They're a bunch of weaklings. Franky was able to stick their captain in a barrel for crying out loud."

"I was more concerned for the bubble!" Usopp retorted as the creaking was getting worse as the masts were threatening to pierce the shell. "If that popped, then we were all dead in the water! Literally!"

Memory Sanji was already running to the wheel as Franky yelled out for someone to turn the rudder. They managed to slowly start pulling away from the other ship, but the Sea Cow roared and slammed against them a second time.

"They're chasing after us!" memory Brook screamed out as the current Luffy was now laughing, enjoying being tossed about.

"Ya think?!" current Usopp demanded as memory Nami looked up, gasping at once when she heard the Sea Cow.

"It really was a surprise to see Mohmoo again," present-day Nami commented, the rest of their memory selves forced to grab hold of something to keep them from being thrown off. "It was like an introduction to facing my past."

"Nami," Robin said softly as their navigator turned to smile at her.

"It's alright," she said. "Mohmoo scared me a little when I was younger. But he never did anything to me. He was more of a pet than anything else. He was hardly more than a baby at the time."

They all watched as the two ship were now fighting against the other, though it was very difficult to tell what was happening since so much was going on at once. Not that it mattered too much, since they all knew exactly what was going to happen and that they were safe, so the current Straw Hats weren't anywhere near as concerned as their past selves. Still, it was a job to try and keep a level footing with all the movement going on. At last, the enemy's persistence finally won out and the two bubbles finally merged together and the pirates were getting ready to board. Memory Nami, however, completely ignored them all as she ran up to the front of the ship, calling out to Mohmoo to get its attention.

"Hey, Mohmoo!" she cried out, "You're Mohmoo from Arlong's crew, aren't you?!"

The massive Sea Cow turned to look down at her when it heard its name. "Don't you recognize me?" Nami called to it, "It's me! Nami! I was at Arlong Park!"

Mohmoo's eyes widen and there was definitely some recognition in its face.

"It's just a surprise," the current Nami said again, "To think of all the sea monsters it could have been…?"

"And to think that it was also the one who was traumatized by Sanji and Luffy," Usopp muttered.

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, it's not important, Luffy," Nami smiled as memory Sanji looked up at the cow.

"Hey, Luffy!" he called to memory Luffy. "Haven't we seen this guy before?"

"Really?" Luffy called, sticking his head up and over the stairs. As soon as the cow spotted the two of them, it froze as terror overtook it, clearly remembering the beating that it gave them before. After a few tense seconds, tears of fear appeared in its eyes.

"I almost feel bad for the thing," current Robin commenting, frowning a little.

"Yeah, me too," Chopper nodded, thinking back to the memory of those two beating the stuffing out of it… as well as when Luffy was able to toss it over Arlong Park like it was a ball. Whenever anyone from the 'Monster Trio' fought against monsters, it almost made Chopper want to take the monster's side.

The captain of the other crew cackled as he went jumping forward, sticking his head through the bubble, knowing that now was their chance to climb aboard. Everyone's attention was drawn to him, forgetting about the traumatized cow for a moment.

The pirate, whose name Robin said could have been Caribou… though she couldn't remember for sure and they just decided to let it be Caribou since they didn't know what else to call him. Anyway, Caribou cackled, "Your time has come, Straw Hats! Now, men! While they're still dumb-founded, slaughter each and every last one of them!"

Caribou forced himself through until he was standing on the deck as his crew prepared themselves for a fight.

"MEN FOLLOW ME!" he screamed back. But at that second, Mohmoo took off, still dragging the ship behind him as he wailed the entire way. Even as the crew shrieked and cried out in shock at what was happening, the idiot didn't even notice that he was on his own.

"Damn," current Franky said, actually crying a little, still able to hear the cries from Mohmoo. "Poor cow… I feel for him."

"Now… why don't we give them a little greeting?" Caribou called as he walked forward. "Fire the Gatling gun at 'em! Kill every member of the Straw Hat Crew!"

"Even if his crew did come, he didn't think it was going to be that easy, did he?" current Zoro sighed, shaking his head. "This guy was pathetic… what made him think that he was going to be able to kill us?"

No one had an answer as they watched him throw his arms wide and waited for his no longer present shipmates to start firing. Both past and present Straw Hats just watched. When he finally noticed that nothing was happening, he slowly turned his head around and saw that both his crew and ship were gone.

The look on his face was hilarious. And it was only even funnier when memory Franky causally walked forward and grabbed him in one of his massive hands, lifting him up over his head as Caribou shrieked and thrashed around.

"NO!" he screamed, losing that cocky attitude from before. "PLEASE! DON'T THROW ME OUT INTO THE OCEAN! THAT'S ALL I ASK! ANYTHING BUT THAT! PLEASE YOU MUSTN'T TAKE LIVES SO CARELESSLY!" he then actually started to pray. "GOD! GOD IS WATCHING! YOU GOT THAT?!"

"Funny when our lives are in danger we all suddenly become religious," current Franky said as his past self dropped him onto the deck.

"Don't give us any of that!" memory Franky yelled. "Who was just talking about slaughter and Gatling guns?!"

"It wouldn't have mattered to me," present-day Luffy offered.

"Of course not," Usopp said, sarcastically. "But the rest of us aren't made of rubber."

"I don't think that it would have mattered to me either," current Brook offered thoughtfully.

"Nor me," Franky added while he raised up his hand like he was voting.

"Ok, we get it!" Nami scolded, watching as Caribou was begging for mercy now.

"Uh… oh that…" Caribou whimpered out as he was lying flat on his back. "That was just a figure of speech! I didn't actually mean any of that!"

"Figure of speech?" past Sanji repeated skeptically.

"Tell us who you are," present-day Zoro demanded. "You're the captain of that pirate crew, aren't you?"

"Makes me worry just how pathetic his crew was," current Zoro muttered to himself with some sweat-drops on his head again.

At the sight of Zoro there, Caribou turned white and began to sweat.

"Hey, how come he didn't freak out when I spoke?" current Sanji demanded.

"I guess he didn't recognize you because of your wanted poster, Sanji?" Brook offered lightly.

"Damn it all to hell!" Sanji yelled out. He had followed through with his plan to send some pictures to the Marines to get that damn wanted poster fixed already… but so far, nothing! What was with those shit-brained Navy guys anyway? How many world-famous pirates would send in pictures of themselves?

"AND SHUT UP MOSS-HEAD!" he added in a scream to Zoro, who was laughing about it with Luffy.

Caribou then rolled over and was on his knees as he pleaded, "Oh, you're mistaken! I'm not the captain! I was… uh…" he was thinking fast and said the first thing that came into his head. "I was just being used as their slave! Damn! I'm sick of being on that ship!"

"That's one hell of an excuse," current Usopp said raising his eyebrows.

"Ah, yeah… ah…" he went on, "Can you let me stay on your ship for a little while? Just a little bit longer?" He then flatted his head against the deck as he begged, "I'm begging!"

Memory Chopper was looking at him sympathetically. "Wow, I feel kinda sorry for him."

"You're too naïve," current Usopp said with a sigh while their Chopper sighed. It was just hard to forget when that man was trying to escape from the Celestial Dragons, only for that explosive to go off when he was screaming around for help.

Memory Usopp stared down at him as if he couldn't believe that their doctor actually bought all that.

"Oh come on!" he yelled out, "He's obviously lying!"

"WHAT?!" memory Chopper screamed as Usopp stared at him in worry. "IT WAS ALL A LIE!?"

"How can you tell that he was lying, Usopp?" present-day Chopper asked innocently. Usopp sighed once more at the question before he knelt down and patted him on the head.

"Just a guess," he told him grimly.

"Hey, you!" memory Nami called out, having just walked down to the deck. "Can I ask you something? What was with that Sea Cow pulling your ship?"

Caribou raised his head a little and when he saw her, gave her a rather hungry look.

"Oh," Caribou hissed, actually licking his lips. "What have we here? Quite a cutie. You must be Cat Burglar?!"

Memory Sanji kicked him hard in the face—which his current self agreed with completely, only wishing that he could've kicked him again for even daring to look at Nami in such a way! He was suddenly wishing that he kicked him harder the first time.

"Don't you dare look at our gorgeous navigator with those vulgar eyes!" he snarled out, leaving Caribou on the deck with a footprint on his face. He then turned back to Nami, his tone and face changing at once as he looked at her while giving a thumbs up. "Nami-swan! No need to worry!" he called, "You're… safe now…" But just one look at her, when she wasn't even moving, and it seemed to be too much for him. He had another nosebleed. At least he didn't end up going out of the bubble this time.

"NOW YOU'RE REALLY GETTING ANNOYING!" memory Usopp shouted.

"Really, it was getting old," current Usopp stated to Sanji.

"Thank goodness you're cured," present-day Chopper gasped tearfully, having been worried that he would have to worry about Sanji almost bleeding to death whenever he saw a woman. It would've made his job so much more difficult.

"This is all so much funnier a second time!" Luffy said brightly as he watched memory Sanji falling happily to the deck before Usopp and Chopper dashed to him, with Chopper pulling out more blood bags.

"It's just a sea monster we caught in these waters," Caribou croaked out, bleeding and missing several teeth as he answered Nami's question. "Using creatures like that to pull your ship is how professionals travel underwater."

"Huh?" memory Luffy asked happily, "So that's how it works!"

"Yeah!" current Luffy cheered out. "Surume! Does this mean that we'll see Surume again?!"

"Most likely," Robin smiled back at him and he cheered even louder. _'He really was just like a child…'_ she thought fondly.

Memory Luffy laughed as he went running to the edge of the ship and began to look around eagerly. "I wonder if there are any sea creatures around?" he said to himself excitedly, looking around for one whom would be big enough to pull the Sunny.

"And, of course, you picked the biggest thing in the sea!" current Sanji said, thought it was with a snort of laughter.

"Wait a second, Luffy," memory Nami said, coming out onto the deck carrying a pink coat. "What are you planning?"

Past Luffy's eyes were looking hard at all the sea creatures around him, trying to pick one out, but not happy with any of them. "Oh, just a turtle," he said in disappointment when he spotted something just a little bigger then the fish. "That's way too small."

"I don't know about you," current Usopp muttered darkly, "But I like seeing turtles much more than monsters."

Meanwhile, as memory Chopper was back at work healing Sanji, whose his face still holding a smile even when he was being hooked up to blood; Brook stood over him, holding onto several photos of Nami and Robin in different positions and even some close up photos.

"We'll start rehabilitating you with photos since they don't have as much of an impact," memory Chopper said.

"The strangest form of rehab I've ever seen," current Robin chuckled.

"Well, we had to start him off on something small," Chopper reasoned. "And this was the best that we could come up with at the time!" Though it was funny that it was taking being turned to stone when he saw the mermaid princess for him to completely recover.

"Hey, Nami!" memory Usopp called turning to her, realizing that they were veering off course all of a sudden. "Aren't we going into a different direction than the Log Pose is pointing?"

"Yes, but don't worry, Usopp," past Nami replied as she held up her wrist so that they could see their old log pose. "We should head southwest from where it's pointing to be on the right route."

"But why?" memory Luffy asked in confusion. "Isn't it faster to just go straight down? Why do we have to go the long way?"

"Normally, that's true, but the fastest way isn't always the safest way," current Nami said a little loudly so that their Luffy couldn't hope to miss her words. "Something that I think you need to pay more attention to!"

"Really?" he asked as she pointed to her past self, who began to explain that if they continued straight ahead, then they could get caught up in an ocean current and crash into an underwater mountain or volcano before even reaching Fishman Island.

"That's why!" she retorted.

"Oh, ok," he answered and she sighed, wondering why she even bothered. Knowing him, he would have been laughing even as they crashed. Some of the other crew members acted much more reasonably to this information.

Memory Chopper screamed as he and Brook continued to try and treat Sanji, even finding him a coat to use as a blanket. "What?! A volcano! The ocean floor is scary!" he cried out.

"Yes, it is," current Chopper nodded firmly with both Usopp's.

"But I thought all the sea currents in the Grand Line were unpredictable," memory Usopp asked as he watched Nami pull her coat on. "Is there really a current that isn't going to cause us problems?"

"Yes, just one," she confessed as memory Zoro had just finished tying Caribou up in the background to make sure he stayed out of trouble. As he did so, memory Nami turned to them all, calling that it was only going to get colder from here, so they might want to put on a coat.

"It's not that surprising considering how far away we are from the sun," present-day Robin stated as she looked around the sea, which was growing darker still. "It would naturally become freezing the deeper we would go."

"I liked that better than the magma and how hot that was," Chopper reminded her as she allowed him to jump up into her arms, as he remembered how close they were to almost being cooked. Robin only patted him gently as she held him as they continued to watch the scene.

"True," memory Brook said as he hugged himself with past Chopper blew out on his little hooves, his breath coming out in little puffs, "My skin is already starting to get goosebumps. Ah! Though I am…"

"You're all bones," Chopper finished for him. "You don't have skin, right?"

Memory Brook didn't move for a moment, and then he fell to his hands and knees as a dark cloud hung overhead. "Chopper-chan, you shouldn't do that. You can't steal my catchphrase."

"Oops," current Chopper said softly, "Sorry, Brook."

"It's all he's got going for him," current Sanji sighed sadly. "I suppose that if we took that away, there'd be nothing left."

"It's my thing," current Brook whimpered and they looked to see that he was on the ground too.

"Oh, come on!" Usopp yelled at him.

"You have issues, you know that, right?" Zoro asked him as his past self was asking Nami why they were going someplace cold if they were going to the ocean floor.

"Don't we all?" current Robin asked happily.

"Of course, the ocean floor is cold," memory Franky called from the upper deck. "Even in a bath, the water up top is warmer and colder at the bottom, right?"

"Really?" memory Luffy asked as he picked his nose. "I don't really like taking a bath."

"Yeah," present-day Nami said darkly, "I have to threaten you to one at least once a week!"

"It's a pain!" he complained.

"I don't care! There are other people onboard this ship and we have to live with you! The least you can do for us is not smell like a dead fish!" she retorted.

"I see," memory Usopp said as he punched his fist into his hand, "So if it's the same for the sea, the water down below is a lot colder than near the surface."

"Temperature isn't the only thing different," memory Brook said and they all looked to him to see that he was still sulking.

"Will you get over it already?!" past Usopp yelled, at which Brook looked up and held up a piece of paper.

"In the deeper parts of the ocean," memory Brook answered as he showed them the picture of their ship near the surface travelling along a current, but down below, there was another current, but one going in the opposite direction. "There are giant currents known as 'deep currents' that you usually can't see. They are completely different from the surface currents we've been riding so far."

"There are currents beneath the currents?" past Usopp repeated. "You sure know a lot!"

"You are so kind, Usopp-san!" current Brook said brightly as he jumped back to his feet.

"You mean you were sulking that whole time?" Usopp retorted as memory Brook chortled happily at the compliment, a little pink actually appearing on his bones like a blush.

"Only because I've been alive so long!" memory Brook explained.

"The currents all have to connect somewhere," memory Franky explained, "They flow from the east to the west and then meet up. Plunging downwards and then surging back up. It's almost like an enormous dragon."

"Apparently the deep currents flow very slowly," past Brook added, "They say once water goes down to the ocean floor, it can take two thousand years before it returns to a level that can see the sun."

"Two thousand years?!" all six members of the 'Goofy' Trio cried out. (Memory and Preset-day).

"I still can't get over that!" present-day Usopp declared.

"Talk about a slow way to travel," current Sanji offered with a shrug.

"I suppose with all the tons of water pressing down it might have something to do with that," Nami offered as she thought it all over. Though she didn't like to think of not being able to see the sun for the rest of their lives. Thankfully, they weren't in it for long.

But now that she realized it, she was taken aback by their situation right now. Though they all knew what was happening, though they knew that they should escape, watching old memories made everything in their minds go out at once. They couldn't bring themselves to stop, like wanting to finish a good book and were unable to think of anything else.

"Indeed," memory Brook said and he actually looked ghostly as he said in a darker voice, "Furthermore, there are countless legends about those dark, unknown sea currents. Monsters, curses, and souls of the damned!"

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" both Choppers screamed in panic. "THERE ARE GHOSTS IN THE DEEP SEA?!"

"HUH? THERE ARE?! SCARY!" memory Brook cried.

"You shouldn't say such things if you're only going to scare yourself!" current Zoro yelled.

"I didn't mean to!" Brook answered as memory Luffy cried out how exciting it was getting.

"Yeah, too bad that we didn't see a real ghost ship, huh?" the present-day Luffy sighed in disappointment. "That would've been so awesome!"

"Shut up!" Usopp backed at him, "If we ever did come across a ghost ship, you'd want to go onboard and invite a curse on all of us!"

"Really? Would I do that?" Luffy asked him, a wide grin back on his face as he daydreamed about exploring a ghost ship. At the look on his captain's face, Usopp was silently praying that Luffy never had a chance.

Robin would have pointed out that they did meet ghosts before, but she looked away, the images of Saul and her mother coming to her mind and she smiled faintly.

"Ghosts, huh?" memory Nami asked as Luffy ran around excitedly. "I don't know about all of that, but we're gonna use the downflow to dive from the surface currents to the deep currents. By doing that, we'll be able to reach the ocean floor."

Suddenly, both pairs of Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper were all staring out at the sea as Brook strummed up his guitar.

"Deep," past Luffy said almost mechanically.

"Currents," current Luffy added.

"Surface," memory Zoro added in that same monologue tone.

"Ocean," present-day Zoro declared.

"Downflow," past Usopp spoke up.

"Floor," the current Usopp said.

"Dive," both Choppers stated like they understood it.

"Jack-a-Jang!" memory Brook sang. And soon they were pouring tea and reciting together, "So it's a mystery sea current."

"YOU DIDN'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF THAT DID YOU?!" memory Nami screamed at them as the current Nami wanted to hit them. Though she had to admit that seeing it now was a little funny.

Both Brooks laughed as the memory one was asking past Nami if she wanted to sing a song with him.

"Shut up!" she snapped back. For a few minutes, things went on calmly, with the four memory selves still sipping their tea until they began to notice the creaking of the ship, that the fish around them were suddenly being pulled backwards as they tried to swim the other away, and a distant roaring sound.

Memory Robin, who had been on the upper decks, reading a book, suddenly stood up as she called, "Nami! I see the current!"

"Thank goodness that I have someone here who gets me," current Nami sighed in relief. At Robin's words, everyone went up to the front of the ship, wanting to get a good look at it as well. Memory Luffy asking over and over what it looked like as they ran.

"I know we saw it before, but it's still something to see!" current Franky said as his past self took the wheel and caught sight of the Downflow Plume.

"This is SUPER amazing!" he cried out.

"I agree with myself!" Franky laughed.

Even memory Sanji pushed himself forward, having to lean heavily on the stand that held his blood bags.

"Damn, you're looking pretty sad there, cook," present-day Zoro stated.

"Shut up if you don't want a foot to your teeth!" Sanji snapped back, though he had to admit—at least to himself—that he was looking far from heroic here.

"It's the Downward Plume!" past Nami called as Luffy climbed up to Sunny's head and stared down with wide eyes.

"Awesome!" he cried out as memory Usopp gasped.

"It's… it looks almost like…" he choked. "An enormous underwater waterfall!"

"Score one for Mother Nature," even current Zoro had to confess that it was something to look at. It looked like a large, curled waterfall that disappeared into the depths below, and he had to remember that this was all natural.

"That's so cool!" memory Luffy exclaimed as he looked below. "It looks like the water goes down all the way to the bottom! It looks really fast!"

"Yeah, it does!" present-day Luffy laughed before his eyes shone again and he took a leaping jump… at least until Zoro, who foresaw what was going to happen, reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Not now, Luffy," he said. Maybe he was worrying over nothing, it was just a memory after all. But seeing how real it all looked, it was easy to forget that this water was like a dream. He didn't want to risk them all getting separated at a time like this, at least until they knew what was going on. He then dropped Luffy onto the deck, who was looking extremely put out.

"Awwww! But Zoro! I wanna ride it!" Luffy complained loudly as their past selves continued to admire the current before memory Usopp looked down.

"Luffy? Don't we see Surume again in a moment?" Robin offered, who understood Zoro's protective feelings and wanted to help distract him. At the mention of Surume, and how memory Usopp was crying out, with his eyes bulging out, "Its pitch black down there! It's all over! If we fall at that speed, we'll crash into the ocean floor and die!" Luffy forgot about jumping off for a moment, instead, merely glancing down to get a better look at what was coming.

Robin smiled back at Zoro, and they shared a silent understanding that they had to keep Luffy distracted from doing anything reckless for now… though with how unpredictable he was, that was difficult at the best of times. And Zoro was forced to grab hold of Luffy once more when he got tired of waiting and wanted to go now.

"Are you sure we'll be safe riding this current?" memory Nami asked Franky.

"If you were worried, why go this way?" current Franky asked curiously.

"I didn't think it would be that big," present-day Nami shrugged back. She knew that it would be big, but it looked a lot more traitorous than she anticipated. "Besides, it was the only way we could've gotten down to the Deep Sea."

But Franky laughed as he reminded her, "Don't worry, sis! Don't tell me you forgot what kind of ship Sunny is!"

His past self was in full agreement as he reassured her, "Don't worry about the ship. Sunny was built from Adam Wood! She's the strongest ship there is!"

"Hell, yeah she is!" present-day Franky said proudly. "If she couldn't survive a trip to the Deep Sea and back, I'll hang up my tools for good!"

That was all that memory Luffy needed to hear. "Alright!" he cheered, standing up on Sunny's head, "Forward!"

But just then another voice was suddenly yelling out in a terrified voice, "Straw Hat Crew! Turn around immediately! We're doomed!"

They looked back to see Caribou running around on the deck.

"Oh yeah," past Zoro said, "You're here too."

"I keep forgetting about him," current Zoro added as the rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

"There's a monster down there!" Caribou shouted out and memory Chopper shrieked at the idea while memory Luffy and Usopp were both still upfront, looked around at the warning.

"What are you talking about?" past Usopp asked. "Why would there be one here? All those legends aren't real you know?"

"Yeah, besides, Surume isn't a monster! He's the Straw Hat's pet!" current Brook laughed out happily. "Whatever happened to him after we left Fishman Island?"

"I heard that after the battle, they asked Surume to take that giant Fishman away from the island because they didn't have a prison big enough for him," Nami said as she thought back. "Apparently, the best that they could do was forever banish from Fishman Island. So they asked Surume to carry him as far away as he could so he can't find his way back. I guess Surume was then free to go and do whatever he wanted after that."

"So we might see him again someday?" Chopper asked brightly, "Oh, I hope so!"

Luffy laughed as he punched the air excitedly. "Yeah, I want him to pull our ship again! It's gonna be great!"

But as they talked, memory Usopp was so focused on the others that he didn't see the shadow of the tentacle that passed behind him, nor of the remains of ships that floated up to the surface… including the head of some poor sailor.

The other memory selves stared ahead, Chopper and Brook hugging each other tearfully as they tried to point out to Usopp that they weren't alone anymore.

"You too?" memory Usopp asked in annoyance, still not noticing anything wrong. "Cut it out!"

"Seriously, why didn't you turn around?" current Sanji asked as memory Nami pointed a shaking finger ahead, croaking out for Usopp to look behind him.

"I didn't really think about it…" Usopp confessed as his past self finally noticed the enormous shadow and he turned blue in the face.

"Behind…?" he croaked.

"Yeah…" memory Chopper nodded, tears still in his eyes.

Slowly, jerkily, Usopp turned his head around and looked down. The Straw Hats looked down below and saw… a giant yellow-orange octopus many times larger than the Thousand Sunny. Unlike a regular octopus, it has a turtle-like head without a beak between the arms. This octopus had many tentacles, at least eighteen, twice as much as a normal octopus, but in several of them, he was crushing ships he had caught earlier.

"IT'S THE KRAKEN!" memory Usopp screamed out.

"SURUME!" Luffy cried out happily at the sight of him down there below them.

"I forgot how mean he looked here," current Brook said as he thought back to the smiling and happy Surume that he knew. "Yohohoho, I guess you're a good influence on him, Luffy-san?"

"You think?" Luffy asked, thinking it all over for a moment before he shrugged.

Soon both memory version of Brook and Chopper joined in screaming with him.

"THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE GIGANTIC MONSTER OCTOPUS!" past Usopp screamed out.

"He's already crushed some vessels!" memory Franky commented. "It must've taken out all the ships that departed the past few days!"

"In that case, they were never gonna survive the New World," present-day Zoro said thoughtfully.

"Please!" Caribou begged as he ran up the stairs to try and reason with them. "I don't wanna die! Turn around! If we just wait for a few days then then I'm sure that monster will…?

"Shut up! Be quiet!" memory Luffy called suddenly. "I just had a really good idea!" He grinned proudly as he called, "Let's tame him!"

"Huh?" the crew all asked.

"What are you talking about, Luffy?!" past Usopp demanded.

"Why are you asking, Usopp? I already did," current Luffy stated.

"That was me in the memory!" Usopp snapped back. "And I didn't think that you could actually tame something that big!"

"It really wasn't that tough," present-day Sanji said as he thought back to when they got separated and Luffy taught the monster octopus who was boss.

"Yeah, we didn't even have to do anything once Luffy won it over," Zoro agreed. "And we used him trying to find you guys after you got lost from us."

" _We_ got lost?!" Nami snapped. "You were the ones who refused to wear the lifelines! We were looking all over for you!"

"Why don't we all just agree that everyone got lost?" Robin offered reasonably. "We found our way there in the end, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but I don't like it when we're separated like that," Chopper muttered as he sat down. Two years he wanted to see everyone again, and when he got his wish, they lost Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro almost right away. He didn't want to go to future islands without the whole crew there!

"We'll tame that giant octopus and make him pull our ship!" memory Luffy answered.

"Don't be ridiculous!" past Usopp shouted, dragging Luffy over to the side of the ship and forced his face to get him to get a good look. "Look closely!" he shouted as he and Chopper had tears falling down their faces. "Or even if you don't look closely, can't you see how huge that thing is?!"

"Kinda hard to miss," current Luffy nodded. "That's what made him so cool!"

"Man, it sure is big," memory Luffy agreed, his voice muffled from where his face was being pinched together.

"We're done for!" past Chopper cried as the current one chuckled. Shows how much he knew, huh?

"I don't know how many centuries it's been alive, but there are countless legends about the kraken!" past Usopp went on, trying to talk some sense into Luffy, who clearly wasn't listening. "It's a mythical beast!"

Memory Brook, meanwhile, was sitting in the swing, rocking back and forth with a cup of tea as he seemed to have found time for deep thinking.

"A creature with no bones…" he said softly. "A skeleton with no flesh… It appears to be my polar opposite."

"Yes, he is," the present-day Brook reasoned.

"But he's got teeth?" Sanji pointed out as memory Usopp shouted that no one cared what Brook just said. "Doesn't that count as bones?"

"Good point…" Chopper said, trying to come up with an excuse for that.

Memory Robin meanwhile, was already doing a quick sketch of the creature as Franky looked over her shoulder to get a look at it.

"You're pretty good," he complimented.

"Not really," the current Robin smiled back. "It's just a sketch. I must say that you seem to be the most talented artist here, Usopp."

"Why thank you, Robin!" Usopp told her proudly.

"Yeah, especially since he once claimed to have been a painter for fifty years," Zoro snorted and Usopp glared at him. "What? I'm just saying you could have made it more believable?"

"Something wrong, Nami?" present-day Luffy asked, noticing Nami's expression as Usopp and Zoro argued.

"It's just… we're up against the Kraken, and no one seems to be that concerned," present-day Nami stated, torn between yelling and laughing.

"Well, you don't see something like this every day," memory Robin reasoned.

"YOU'RE JUST CALMLY SKETCHING IT?!" past Chopper screamed out.

Memory Zoro, meanwhile, was reaching for his swords. "That sounds fine by me," he answered, "But do you have a plan, captain?"

"I would've backed you up even if you had a plan," current Zoro told him. "But it would've been hard to fight from the ship."

"Yeah, that was a big problem," Luffy agreed as his past self muttered that they were underwater and that was an issue. "But hey, looks like it was a good thing that we got that guy."

"What guy?" Franky asked. "Oh, right… the mud guy. Muddy? Is that his name?"

"Might as well be," Sanji stated calmly.

"No… no… no…" memory Usopp sighed, still with tears in his eyes as he walked over and stretched an arm around Luffy's shoulders, as if trying to explain why two plus two equaled four. "The problem is how big it is… even if we were on land, it would still be dangerous."

Caribou was looking at them all like they were crazy.

"Oh, there's Muddy!" current Franky said. "Yeah, now that you mention it, guess he did have a use after all.

"Turn the rudder!" memory Nami called to Franky, "Set a course for due south!"

"No way, Nami!" past Luffy argued. "Head straight for the octopus!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Nami yelled.

"I knew what I was doing!" present-day Luffy retorted to her.

"But the rest of us didn't!" she reminded him as she poked him in the head. "I knew that you were strong, but I didn't think that you could one-shot the Kraken like that! And if you had messed up, and that thing destroyed the bubble, we all would've died before even reaching Fishman Island!"

"Can't you see all those wrecked ships that thing is holding?!" her past went on, also trying to reason with Luffy. "You wanna end up dead, too?!"

Memory Sanji, who was no longer on the blood bags, had come up with her, still looking at the pictures. "Now, now, Nami-san," he told here. "I'm here…" she turned to look at him and he froze for a moment. "I'm here…" his face turned red like he was fighting to hold something back before a tiny nosebleed burst out. "For you!"

"You withstood it!" past Usopp cheered out. "Way to go, Sanji!"

"It's because of the rehabilitation!" past Chopper added. "And because Nami's wearing a coat!"

"If I had known that, I would've put one on sooner," current Nami scolded. Really, that hopeless idiot… and for once she wasn't talking about Luffy.

"And cover up that beauty? It's a crime!" current Sanji gasped in horror until he fell silent from a sharp look that she gave him. Just then…

"Something's approaching us from behind!" memory Franky warned, looking through binoculars as he looked behind them when they heard the definite roar that was more of a moo…

"Wonder how they managed to convince the thing the come back?" present-Sanji wondered out-loud.

"Don't know why they bothered to come back at all?" present-day Zoro shrugged. He then looked behind him to see Caribou and said, "Oh, right… we have Muddy with us."

"BIG BRO!" Caribou's men screamed out.

"That's the ship from before!" past Usopp yelled out, pointing at it as Caribou went running up to the side to get a better look.

"Coribou!" Caribou cried tearfully. "You guys!"

The large, fat man in front, carrying a bazooka and having the lizard on his head, held it up over his head as he proclaimed, "We're here to save you, Bro!" the man called Coribou cried out as his men all cheered with him.

"You came back to save me?!" Caribou cried as Mohmoo cried in either fear or pain. However, before the Caribou Pirates could get any closer to the Sunny, the Kraken struck. Maybe it was because it was a bigger ship and Surume noticed it first, but it ignored Sunny and instead wrapping one of its massive tentacles around the whole ship, squeezing hard. Caribou cried out, but with a great pop, the bubble burst, and it crushed the entire ship until it was all just splintered wood.

Caribou, along with the memory selves of Chopper, Usopp, and Brook screamed hysterically at the sight of it happening so quickly.

"Did you see that?!" memory Chopper screeched. "The bubble burst!"

"And that ship was even bigger than the Sunny!" past Usopp cried out as Mohmoo broke free and went swimming away, crying the whole time. Caribou's men drifted there in the water before they all began to drift up to the surface, and towards the light.

"MY MEN!" Caribou sobbed as he watched his crew float up to the surface. There was silence all around as they watched.

"They look like jellyfish," memory Zoro mused, nonchalantly.

"SHUT IT, RORONOA!" Caribou snapped. "SHOW SOME SYMPATHY!"

"To be fair, they do look more like jellyfish than people," the current Zoro added.

Once that was done, Surume pushed itself upwards, heading straight to the Sunny now. In a flash, his tentacles were up and surrounding them on all sides.

"IT'S HEADING STRAIGHT TOWARDS US!" memory Usopp screamed out, unable to see anything but tentacles surrounding them.

"It's way too big!" past Chopper yelled in panic.

"How are we supposed to fight this thing?!" memory Nami cried out.

"So cute… I think it's playing," present-day Robin chuckled.

"Playing?" Usopp yelled at her. "He was trying to kill us!"

Memory Zoro and Luffy were both preparing themselves for a fight, Zoro already halfway through drawing his swords as Luffy put his thumb up to his mouth, ready to blow air into it.

"NOOOO!" past Usopp screamed, grabbing both of them from behind and pulling them down onto the deck to stop them. "IF YOU USE ANY BIG ATTACKS, YOU'LL POP THE BUBBLE!"

But then a tentacle was right above them, about to swing down and crush them anyway. Memory Franky managed to save them by running to the front of the ship again, and pulled the lever. "Chicken VOYAGE!" he cried out.

"I love that trick," current Usopp whimpered, so glad that Sunny was one of a kind ship. The Sunny's mane began to spin, causing her to go backwards and just barely dodging the Kraken's tentacle.

"Yeah! Sunny's the best ship in the world!" present-day Luffy cheered.

"You got that right!" Franky beamed in pride.

"Could've picked a better name for that technique though," present-day Sanji muttered.

"We've got to do something!" memory Nami cried out, flinching whenever a tentacle came flying at them. "Can't we run away?!"

"Don't do anything!" memory Luffy commanded as he walked forward, winding up his arm. "I'm gonna fight him!"

"Don't do it!" memory Chopper cried out, jumping up and grabbing hold of his head. "You'll break the bubble!"

They were getting nowhere fast, at least until Caribou cried out desperately, "Listen to me! If you want to fight that thing that badly, I think I have a plan!"

After explaining it, and able to produce large bubbles for them, the 'Monster' Trio were all standing inside them, tied with ropes around their waists as they looked at the bubbles with curiosity.

"This is the improvised swim coating!" Caribou explained as they asked what they were. "An instant diving suit!"

"Whoa!" memory Luffy said as he poked at his own bubble. "Cool!"

"Yeah, I wanna get another one," current Luffy sighed, who actually enjoyed running in the ocean like that.

"Don't worry!" current Franky said confidently. "I've been working on some diving suits that can work like those bubbles."

"REALLY?!" Luffy and Chopper both gasped out in awe as they stared at him in excitement, stars shining once again.

"Of course!" Franky said proudly. "It's taking a while to figure it out because we can't use those bubbles all the time and they could still pop if you're not careful. Don't worry… I'm sure to figure it all out in the end!"

"You're the best, Franky!" Luffy cheered out, already thinking about begin able to go into the ocean again without fear of drowning.

"As long as you've got this on, you can fight freely in the ocean," Caribou explained.

"What's you do that for, outsider?!" memory Usopp demanded furiously that he would even allow them to go out and do something dangerous. "We should be trying to escape that thing! Now you're encouraging them to go fight that thing!"

Caribou then drew close to him as his hissed, "I've been saying we should run from the start. But that stupid captain of yours doesn't listen, does he?" they both looked to see memory Luffy happily leaping around as Zoro and Sanji looked more curious about their bubbles than actual concern of what might happen. "Would you rather he went wild while he was still on the ship?"

"He makes a very good argument," the current Usopp sighed as his past self paused and thought that all over.

"Alright! Get going!" memory Usopp called in a would-be cheerful voice as Luffy tugged at the rope in annoyance, "Go out there and fight as far from the ship as you can!"

"This rope's in the way," he complained.

"Yeah, it was! We never would've been able to fight if we were tied up," current Luffy stated, hating the feeling of being tied down.

"Well, excuse us for wanting to stay together!" present Nami scolded him.

"If you're gonna fight them, then get away from the ship!" memory Nami called.

"Sure," past Luffy said before facing forward again. "Alright, let's go!"

"Right!" memory Zoro and Sanji both agreed and then all three of them were running, untying the ropes in the process and leaving them on the deck even as Nami screamed at them to get back here because they needed to keep the lifeline attached or else they would get separated.

Too late, all three were already in the water, with memory Sanji looking back and having a nosebleed in the process.

"Even when you're about to fight, you're have pervey thoughts?" current Usopp yelled at their Sanji, who shrugged.

"I cannot help but appreciate such beauty even in the heat of battle," he said gentlemanly.

"Or you just have a dirty mind," current Franky pointed out as Brook laughed happily as they watched the three 'Monster' Trio running out into the water.

"Hey guys, buy me some time, would ya?" memory Luffy asked them. "I'm gonna take him out in one powerful blow!"

"Yeah! That was the first time I got to use that attack since meeting up with everyone!" current Luffy cheered, really looking forward to this.

"I'll just take care of him while you're getting ready," memory Zoro stated.

"You'd kill him! So no!" past Luffy snapped at him. "I'm gonna keep the octopus as a pet!"

"You know, you really don't have to kill everything, Zoro," present-day Robin offered. "It's kind rude."

Zoro shrugged, however it really did look funny to see the three of them running out there against that huge creature, who was eyeing the Sunny again, while arguing if they were going to keep it as a pet or kill it.

"Will they be alright?" past Chopper asked worriedly.

"Get farther away from the ship!" memory Usopp called. "Every inch counts!" The two then screamed as another tentacle came swinging up. "IT'S STILL COMING FOR US!"

It was true. The Kraken wasn't even paying the three coming towards it any attention. Which everyone knew it was going to regret later.

"Out of the way you guys!" memory Franky shouted out, opening up his shoulder to reveal several rockets tucked away inside, causing the 'Goofy' Trio to start drooling and sparkling up in the eyes at the sight of it. "Franky… ROCKET LAUNCHER!"

"THAT'S STILL SO COOL!" present-day Luffy cried out, "IT NEVER GETS OLD!"

"THAT'S SO AMAZING!" Usopp and Chopper both cried out as their past selves cheered for Franky when they saw the rockets.

"Man, I wish that I could do something like that!" current Luffy moaned out longingly.

"Hey, maybe I can put some in your shoulders?" Franky muttered to himself, wondering if he could do something like that to a rubber person.

"Don't even think about it," present Robin warned darkly, shutting Franky up at once. "I'm starting to think you're a bad influence on them."

"Huh?" Luffy asked, looking over at them. "You say something?"

"Nothing," Robin added sweetly as the rockets that memory Franky fired broke through the bubble and met with the oncoming tentacle straight on. Because they were underwater, it didn't really burn the skin, but it was enough for Surume to stop dead. As memory Usopp and Chopper cheered, their cries soon turned to fear when another tentacle came up for them. This time it was memory Chopper who saved them by jumping up and shifting into his Guard Point, thus protecting the ship when he turned into a giant ball of fur.

"Is everyone alright?!" memory Chopper cried out as they all let out cries of praise.

"You saved us, Chopper!" current Usopp cheered.

"Oh, shut up you bastard! Nothing you say will make me happy or anything so don't bother!" the current Chopper said thought he did his happy dance, unable to hide the smile on his face.

But the Kraken was far from over, for yet another tentacle came up for them, finally hitting the ship just enough to cause it to spin away, heading straight into an underwater mountain. They were flung about, trying to hold on and unable to keep themselves from stopping. They were pressed up against the bubble, screaming as the mountain came up to them.

It wasn't until memory Robin held up her arms did they manage to save themselves.

"MIL FLEUR! GIGANTESCO MANO!" she cried out as countless arms sprout from the Sunny's side, creating two gigantic arms, stopping the ship from going any further and pushing them back by creating a kind of cushion for them.

"Too close for comfort," present Nami sighed as she leaned her head against their Robin. "We can always count on you, Big Sis!"

"I could use my powers for only a moment because of the sea," she answered back. "But I'm glad to see that was enough."

"Gorgeous and strong…" Sanji sighed lovingly. "My dearest Robin…"

The whole memory crew then began to cheer for Robin as she smiled back, a thin bead of sweat appearing on her memory self's forehead from the effort.

"They're good," they heard memory Luffy said approvingly. "Now it's my turn!" He turned, grinning, back to the Kraken, as he added, "Now my new technique…"

Still grinning, he held up his thumb, getting ready to his one-shot punch.

"Third Gear!" he cried and the current Luffy cheered wildly, having never seen himself use that technique outside his body like this. He watched as his past self took a deep breath which caused his torso to expand with air. He stretched his arm into the water before he put his thumb in his mouth, blowing all the air he had into his hand, causing it to grow. The air shifted from his left arm to his right arm causing his fist to grow.

"Speaking of which, how come you don't shrink anymore when you use that power, Luffy?" current Chopper asked suddenly.

"I got better," Luffy answered simply. "I can use that technique easy now!"

"Thank goodness," Zoro muttered. "That was just embarrassing seeing you shrink."

"Armaments… HARDENING!" memory Luffy panted before he coated his entire arm in haki, making it look as though he dipped it into a black ink.

"What is he doing?!" memory Usopp asked as they all stared down at what was happening.

"It wasn't like that before!" past Chopper exclaimed with his eyes wide.

"You never seen Haki before now?" current Sanji asked in surprise.

"Nope," Usopp confessed. After all, it was just him and Master Heracles on that island for two years as they fought to stay alive. And as far as he knew, his master didn't know Haki. Not that he thought any less of him for that. After all, a great hero like him didn't need it to survive!

"I spent most of my time studying," Nami admitted as Chopper nodded in agreement. He was also learning Kung-Fu and no one from the Bird Kingdom knew Haki either. Now that he thought about it, didn't Zoro say that he would try to teach him to use Haki? He'd have to ask him as soon as they got back to the Sunny. To be able to use it would sure would be useful…?

Meanwhile, memory Luffy's giant arm finally caught Surume's attention, and he glared up at him, though Luffy seemed to be panting with a great effort to hang on thanks to the sea. Surume reached up with one of his tentacles, heading straight towards him. Memory Sanji was the first to step in despite being farther away.

"Damn octopus," they heard memory Sanji snarled. "Are you trying to stop him before he even gets a blow in?" He readied himself before crying out, "Blue… WALK!"

Faster than blinking, Sanji escaped his bubble, actually running through the water, moving so quickly that he was a blur.

"Oh, my!" past Brook cried. "Sanji just left his bubble!"

"Never mind that! Look at that speed!" memory Usopp cried out. "He's like a Fishman! Amazing!"

"Of course!" current Sanji proclaimed proudly. "I spent two years running just to survive! This little thing is nothing to me!"

"Running from what?" Chopper asked with eyes wide, knowing that if it was bad enough for Sanji to feel the need to run for his life, then it had to be scary. And it seemed that he was right, for Sanji's eyes darkened, almost like he had seen a ghost… or rather… he looked like he had become a ghost!

"The horror of those two years," he whispered, a muscle going in his forehead and Chopper screamed at the terrifying look on Sanji's face.

"Seriously, you have got to tell us what happened for you to act like this," Franky muttered in concern.

Current Sanji ignored him as his mind played out the memories once more. For two whole years, he had no choice but to run for his life. He ran from those damn abominations. Compared to them, monsters are nothing! Surume actually looked pretty cute in comparison. He did his best to wipe those memories from his mind… the scary thing was, he didn't know which struck fear into his heart more… Granny Kokoro as a mermaid… or those creatures…? It was a toss-up, through right now, nothing scared him more than those dress-wearing freaks.

His past self suddenly started to spin wildly underwater, his leg heating up despite the water nor any surface to generate friction. His leg began to glow brightly before he spun around once more and landed a kick against the Kraken's tentacle.

"Bien Cuit… GRILL SHOT!"

When he landed that kick to Surume's tentacle, he was actually able to leave a burn like it had been placed over a grill. Surume let out a cry of pain as the heat suddenly caused the water around the injured tentacle to steam up.

"I'm hungry…" current Luffy moaned out, holding onto his stomach as he watched. Grilled octopus sounded so yummy right now.

"Shut up!" Sanji snapped at him.

But that attacked seemed to take up all the air in memory Sanji's lungs, for a mouthful of bubbles burst from his lips and he was looking around quickly for his bubble. Once he spotted it, he turned and began to run straight for it. But that attack had gotten Surume's attention and raised up another tentacle, ready to strike him down.

Memory Sanji realized what was happening too late, and turned around to watch the arm coming down at him. But before he could perform a counterattack, everyone's attention shifted when they heard the clinking of a sword being drawn. They all looked down to see Zoro there, and it was his turn to show off what he learned since they last saw him.

"Three-Swords Style…" he said, his blades glowing with an almost unearthly light. Once again, the attack was so quick that they missed it. "CROSSING THE SIX PATHS!"

All that anyone could tell for sure was that when he was done, the tentacle that had been going for Sanji suddenly became sliced up and Surume was howling in shock and pain at the sight of his own tentacle diced up like sushi.

"So this is the monster that rules of the deep?" memory Zoro questioned, unimpressed. "Pathetic."

"HOW COULD ANYONE BE THAT COOL?!" current Chopper gasped out, staring up at their Zoro in awe. The current Zoro didn't answer him, even when he grinned smugly at the cook as he thought more of those two years. He was grateful that he had a chance to fight every single day in all that time. Even when he was injured and bleeding, even when he knew that he couldn't take even a moment to rest, there was always someone there to fight. And one day, he would be strong enough to surpass everyone… and Mihawk suddenly appeared in his mind.

Even him…

"Even now, I'll still get stronger!" memory Zoro declared while all the memory Straw Hats stared in astonishment at what they were seeing.

"Amazing…!" memory Franky gasped, his mouth falling open.

"I-I didn't even see him move!" past Usopp exclaimed and the others stared down in shock. Memory Sanji, who returned to his bubble and got some air, was livid as he glared down at Zoro.

"I had a plan!" the current one added coldly, "I was going to finish him off until you just had to jump in!"

"Could've fooled me!" current Zoro retorted. "It looked like you were scared! Maybe you should be a little more grateful for me saving your sorry ass. Though I wish I let you get killed!"

"Saved me? So you can chop up an octopus leg?" present-day Sanji retorted coldly. "Big deal! I learned how to do that when I was still a kid!"

"I could've handled it, you showoff," memory Sanji called down at him in annoyance.

"Did you say something, Number 7?" past Zoro retorted.

"I'm gonna fillet you," memory Sanji snarled.

"Bring it on!" memory Zoro spat.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" the two present-day counterparts yelled, looking ready to charge in until Robin grabbed hold of them both with her arms sprouting out of their backs and holding them in place.

"Now," she scolded, "you two will stay like that until you calm down."

The two just continued to glare at each other until memory Luffy started shouting.

"HEY, ZORO! SANJI! STOP!" he called, sounding cross. "DON'T CUT OFF HIS ARMS!"

"It's his fault then," current Sanji answered, "He's the one who cut off the arm."

"You didn't help when you burned Surume's arm like that!" the current Luffy answered coldly like Sanji just kicked his puppy for no reason. But then his past self took over, pulling back his massive fist.

"Gum GUUUUUUUM… ELEPHANT GUN!" Luffy screamed out as his punch landed and with one hit, the Kraken was out cold.

"My!" current Brook gasped out in wonder. "No matter how many times I see it, seeing how strong you are Luffy is enough to cause my heart to beat faster! Though I have no heart to beat anymore! Yohohoho!"

"Did you see that?!" memory Usopp questioned. "He clobbered it!"

"He really has gotten so much stronger!" past Nami cried out in both shock and amazement.

"Of course!" present-day Luffy laughed proudly. "I spent every day for two years fighting against giant monsters! Surume wasn't even the biggest I'd seen! I knew Third Gear was awesome, but it was even better than I thought!"

"You're so cool, Luffy!" Chopper agreed happily.

"Damn, makes you wonder what's bigger than the Kraken?" Usopp whispered to himself. But he looked up to see that as Surume fell back, blacking out, something was moving from inside one of his giant funnels. Something with a grey-tipped nose and a mouthful of teeth. Memory Chopper was the first to notice it and called it to everyone else's attention.

"I never did figure out how that shark got stuck there to begin with," present-day Franky muttered curiously as the shark, as big as the Sunny came out, the mouth looking a lot friendlier than you would expect from a shark, and was wearing a Criminal brand T-shirt.

"A shark?" their memory counterparts asked at once.

Memory Luffy, who was catching his breath and rubbing his arm, looked on in surprise. "A shark?" he asked as the others looked at it with polite interest.

"Is that shark wearing clothes?" memory Zoro asked.

"I guess even sharks like to look nice," present-day Nami offered with a shrug. Usopp looked at her, not daring to say it out loud, but she would know wouldn't she? She was the biggest shark he ever knew.

"Pretty damn big fish?" memory Sanji pointed out needlessly as the shark swam up to them and they realized that he was thanking them for saving him.

"Hard to believe that a fish has more manners than some members of this crew," the current Sanji said with a glare at Luffy and Brook. The shark swam away, going down the Downward Plume. However, it wasn't the only one. The unconscious Kraken began to fall down below, as well… and it wasn't until they felt the pull did Luffy, Zoro, Sanji realize what was happening. By the time that they did, there was nothing that any of them could do.

"Huh? What's going on?" memory Luffy asked.

"We're being pulled into the current!" past Sanji called, getting everyone's attention.

"Luffy!" past Zoro called urgently. "We have to get back to the Sunny."

"That was a fast way to get down there though!" the current Luffy laughed with a big grin. "It was so much fun!"

"You would think so!" current Usopp answered angrily. "We thought you guys were dead for sure!"

Their past selves, however, were all were in agreement, turning and trying to get back to the ship. But it was too late, they were already caught up in the current and the harder they tried to move, the more they were being pulled down. Once Surume fell completely, there wasn't anything holding back the rush of water and soon they were all being pulled down faster than ever, like gravity was pushing down extra hard on them.

"Oh, no!" memory Robin cried anxiously. "They've been swept up into the downflow!"

"This is bad!" past Usopp cried, not even thinking what would happen to the rest of them if they followed. "Quick! After them! We gotta stay together!"

The ship moved forward, trying to get to them, but they underestimated the raw power of the current. Soon, they were all swept up into its flow, and it was all that they could do to hang on… well, the women could hang on, while the men were being flung about like they were in a great wind.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE HERE!" memory Chopper screamed as he rolled over and over in the air.

"STOP MESSING AROUND!" Caribou screamed, unable to move thanks to the ropes.

"Huh? Oh, you're still here?" past Franky asked as he went flying by.

"Why are you so calm?!" past Usopp screamed.

"Seriously, how can everyone stay so calm even when we were in the middle of a crisis like this?" the current Usopp yelled out.

"Well, crying and panicking about it won't change anything," Zoro offered back as they all crouched down and hung on to the deck as they watched the memory play out. Though Luffy had jumped up into the air with their past selves and was flying about, his eyes wide and bright like it was a ride.

"Indeed! Just hang on and sing your way through it! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed as his past self was spinning about above his head.

"My eyes are spinning!" memory Brook called, "Though I have no eyes!"

Memory Nami was near the front of the ship and was struggling to hold on as she leaned over the side to see what was happening. She could see Surume falling beneath them, all of his tentacles flailing about helplessly… that was when she noticed something.

"Key the yard level!" she screamed out, "Steer the ship to the left, or else we'll hit the continental shelf!"

"What is that, anyway?" Luffy asked, throwing out his arms as they fell, laughing the whole way as he felt his blood rushing through his body.

"If we had hit it, we would've died!" was all that present-day Nami had time to yell back.

"Got it!" memory Franky shouted before he grabbed the wheel again. "Hold on SUPER tight, people!"

"Everybody, stay alert!" past Nami exclaimed. "Stay alert, or the ship will never survive!"

"WHAT?!" memory Chopper scream as he continued to be tossed around. Franky was at the wheel and turning it with so much force that it was a wonder that he didn't accidently break it. Meanwhile, Usopp managed to find his footing and had grabbed hold onto the rope, yelling for the others to hold on and not to get flown off no matter what.

The others soon joined in, pulling hard on the yard to try and keep the ship upright. With Franky at the wheel and Nami screaming out directions, they continued on deeper into the sea on the current while their memory selves just watched on. The three ahead of them were spinning powerlessly in their bubbles as they were pulled down, not able to even hold onto anything. As Zoro and Sanji prepared themselves for the worse, both past and present Luffy just flung his arms out and laughed, enjoying the whole way down and everything went black.

 **(So, how was this for a first chapter? Was longer than I thought it would be. You know, when I finished Warm Memories, I promised myself that I would never do another story like this… and when I came up with this idea, I was like, how hard could it be? I didn't learn my lesson, I suppose. As for which story won, you'll have to keep reading. It'll all make sense the further along in the story. Still, I'm surprised by how quickly I was able to get this chapter done. And yes, I'll be using the word 'Floor' rather than 'Chapters' in this story. Please let me know what you think and how it's going so far. Hope to hear from you all.)**


	3. Floor 2: Creatures of the Deep

**Floor 2: Creatures of the Deep**

The memory continued to darken around them until everything seemed to fade out and they were left in darkness.

"OW!" Luffy's voice called out with an angry shout through the dark. He had been in the middle of his freefall and had been laughing until he ended up hitting his face flat on the hard floor. "Hey!" he complained loudly as he looked around. "What happened? Where'd everything go?!"

The others were also trying to glance around and get sense of their bearings.

"Where are we?!" Chopper cried out anxiously, wishing for once that he was a raccoon so that he could see in the dark.

"Stay calm," Robin spoke up, also sitting up and having a sneaking suspicion where they were. "Franky? If you would?"

Franky blinked in confusion before he understood and threw open his shirt so that he could shine a light around them. They were exactly where they had left… or maybe they had been here all this time? They were all sitting on the floor of the room in the tower.

"We… we're back?" Usopp gasped, lying against the stone as he sighed in relief… at least until he felt the cold of the floor and sat back up. "Thank goodness!"

"Is everyone alright?" Brook asked the room at large and after hearing everyone's voice also felt relief flood his bones. "That is so good to hear! Hearing you all is like music to my ears! Oh! But I don't have ears anymore… Yohohoho!"

"Ok," Nami said as she pushed herself up and brushed off any dust as she headed toward the door. "I'm just going to make sure that the door remains open in case something like that happens again and we can all just…"

But as soon as she opened the door, she suddenly shrieked and they turned around immediately, thinking that whatever attacked them from before was right there. But instead, they saw Nami slamming the door shut and looking at them with tears in her eyes.

"There's no way back," she whimpered.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked as Usopp and Chopper both hugged each other tightly at the terror in her voice.

Sanji strolled over, and after gently pushing Nami to the side in case something happened, he threw the door open and let out a loud curse when he saw what was there… or rather… what wasn't there.

Instead of the stairs that they had used to climb up there was nothing but a solid brick wall.

"What the hell?" he asked, reaching out and feeling the rock beneath his fingertips.

"EHHHH? WHERE'D THE STAIRS GO?!" Chopper screamed out in fright.

"That's stupid! Stairs don't just vanish!" Zoro said, drawing a sword and was getting ready to slash at the wall until Robin held up her hand.

"Wait, Zoro," she said firmly. "I know how you feel. But let's not do anything hasty until we get a better idea of what's going on."

"Oh really?" Zoro asked, his eyebrows raised at her. He had half a mind to simply send a spiraling attack straight upwards and through these floors just so that they have a straight pathway up. "I don't like feeling like we're exactly where someone wants us to be."

"What kind of power is going on here?" Brook wondered out loud. "Nothing about this island is making any sense to me. Nami-san, don't you know anything about it?"

"No," she said regretfully. "I didn't have time to go over the maps on the Sunny. It just said that there were several islands in this direction. I can't remember which island this is on the map. And even if I did, I doubt that there's any warning about how freaky this place is!"

"I don't suppose it's just another illusion?" Usopp whimpered, still looking at the walled up door.

"No, it's real, alright!" Sanji hissed glaring at it. "Dammit! Whoever's doing this wants to make sure that we don't end up leaving.

"Wait," Luffy said, noticing the door directly opposite this one and went to check it out.

"Luffy!" Usopp cried out at once in worry as Luffy pulled it open.

"Hey!" Luffy called, getting everyone's attention. "Look! We can go on this way!" They looked, and they realized that he was right… there was a set of stairs there… however these only continue upwards.

"Well, isn't that a little convenient?" Sanji asked sourly. "How much does anyone want to guess that will take us even further up in this fun house?"

"Man, everything is a lot more exciting than what that girl said," Luffy said as he threw his arms behind his head and thought about what just happened and what could be going on above them.

"What little girl?" Sanji asked, his swirly eyebrow furrowing in confusion.

"The girl we met before," he answered back as he turned to look at him.

"Wait, Luffy? You mean you ran into that little girl at the village again before we came here?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Huh? Oh yeah," Luffy answered. "I was really surprised that she was able to catch up to me like that! She reached me before any of you guys did and told me where to find Zoro and Sanji!"

"Wait, I remember seeing her going into a house," Robin said as she thought back. "I don't see how she could have caught up to you so quickly?"

"I knew it!" Usopp shouted out as he ran his hand violently through his hair. "I knew that kid was creepy!"

"Luffy, just what did she say?" Nami asked firmly. She grabbed hold of his face between her hands and forced him to look at her as she said, "Tell me right now, what did she say?"

Luffy thought about it, trying to remember.

"I don't really know," he confessed, "I was so excited about coming here I didn't really pay much attention."

"Luffy! Our lives could depend on this! So please, try and remember!" Usopp cried out imploringly as Chopper nodded in firm agreement.

Luffy frowned as he wracked his brains, trying to think back.

"Well, I think she said something like going into the tower you can't get out until you reach the top or something like that?" he said slowly.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that the moment we stepped into this place, we can't get out until we get to the top here?" Sanji asked, liking the sounds of this even less.

"She said that there was something weird about the tower," Luffy went on, trying hard to think back. "Right… something about… something living in here that feeds on emotions. Something wants us here in the tower and she said that it hides in the fog! Yeah, that's it!"

They all looked at each other.

"Ok, I'm all for getting outta here!" Usopp yelled, raising his hand. "I vote we leave this creepy place behind!"

"I'm with Usopp!" Chopper voted out too, raising his little hoof into the air.

"What about the treasure?" Nami asked at once, the thought of all that treasure at the top still acting like a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"You really think that any treasure is worth this freaky place?!" Usopp demanded as she pouted.

"Nothing bad has happened to us just yet," Robin said slowly. "Other than passing out before, and seeing a few memories, we haven't come to harm. I cannot help but wonder what this is all about."

"In either case, if it's true that the only way out is the top, then we have no choice but to continue," Sanji said slowly. "Though I can't help but feel like a rat running around in a maze looking for cheese."

"I say we keep going for now," Zoro said with a frown. "But everyone keep your guard up! And Luffy! You stick with the group! Let's not risk anything happening to anyone!"

"But…" Luffy frowned, not liking being told to wait.

"We'll still be going up," Robin answered as she strolled forward with him. "But I agree with Zoro. Let's stay together for now, ok?"

Luffy pouted but he nodded in agreement as they all began to climb the stairs; but he insisted on being up front as they climbed. Nami didn't look happy about being here anymore, but she reasoned that it was safer in numbers and went climbing after them as well. Usopp and Chopper stayed behind before they looked at each other in worry.

"Ah… you know, maybe you guys should go on without us?" Usopp called hopefully.

"Sure, you stay there!" Zoro called back. "Just wait there in the dark for us to come back!"

"Yeah, you can both wait here and say hi to whatever that monster is for us!" Sanji added.

At the thought, the two immediately went white and went running after the others, yelling that they all wait up for them. As they left, no one noticed how a pair of glowing golden eyes blinked at them from the darkness… silently watching them climb higher.

The climb up the stairs was uneventful, though everyone was on guard this time. And when they reached the door, they all held their breath as Luffy opened it up. Once again, even more blackness covered their vision, making it look like they were about to step into a deep pit.

But as soon as everyone stepped over the threshold did the door slam shut behind them and the area already shifted around them.

"Why am I not surprised?" Franky muttered ominously.

"Oh, I don't like this," Usopp said, feeling a little green in the face. "This swirling… it's making me feel queasy."

"I don't want to hear that from a pirate!" Zoro retorted coldly.

"Is this gonna be more memories?" Luffy asked eagerly, still amazed over the last one they saw.

"Most likely. It seems that every floor will be a different memory," Robin said as the darkness around them continued to swirl. "If that's the case then…?"

"Then there's no telling whose memory or how many we'll be forced to see!" Zoro said, not liking where this was going. He tried to feel around for the wall of the tower, to try and see if he could follow it to wherever the door to the next floor was, but was unable to find anything. Grinding his teeth in frustration, his mind was trying to come up with some way out of this.

"What did happen to you guys anyway?" Nami suddenly asked. "After we were all separated? We thought for sure that you were all history."

"We almost were!" Luffy said brightly. "When we got down there, mine and Sanji's bubbles popped so we had to get in with Zoro."

"I hated sharing with you," Zoro added to Sanji. "You kept sucking up all the good air."

"Shut up," Sanji snarled back. "I wish I breathed in enough that you suffocated!"

"Anyway, we were looking around for you guys and Luffy found the octopus and smacked it awake," Zoro went on as if he hadn't heard Sanji. "Afterwards, it went off and did whatever it told him and we went looking for you."

"Yeah! Surume was great!" Luffy smiled at the thought. "I think he liked being my pet!"

"Or, he just didn't want you to hit him again," Sanji said, personally thinking that was the main reason that the giant octopus did whatever Luffy told him. The memory came back, at least they didn't notice it at first because it was so dark.

"Usopp?" Nami's voice said.

"Yeah?" Usopp asked.

"That wasn't me?" current Nami said slowly as they slowly realized that they weren't alone anymore. Their past selves were all with them, though thanks to the Deep Sea, they couldn't even tell where they were. Not that they needed it for they all remembered just what it was like and knew what was happening.

But then memory Usopp groaned and he was pushing himself up, rubbing a large bump on his head. "So, we're still alive," he asked as he pushed himself up to his knees. He looked around him and, once their eyes adjusted to the dark, they could start to make out where everyone was, even see a little of their serious faces.

"What's wrong?" memory Usopp asked worriedly. "Why's everyone so quiet? I swear you guys are hopeless without me."

"Really?" current Franky asked as he nudged their Usopp with a sly smile. "Who was the one who was crying and begging that he was nothing without us while we were leaving Water 7?"

Usopp turned a little red at that and he laughed as his past self just noticed the temperature and began to shiver as he hugged his body in an attempt to keep himself warm. "Why's it so c-cold?"

"We can't find Luffy and the others," memory Robin answered grimly. "It would seem we've all been separated."

"What?!" past Usopp questioned.

"I just hope that they haven't been torn to pieces or eaten by a sea monster," past Robin further commented.

"Don't sound too worried for us there, Robin," current Zoro told her sarcastically as she smiled back at him.

"Your imagination is scary," memory Usopp said.

"I agree with myself," current Usopp nodded firmly, wondering just why she seemed to enjoy scaring them so badly.

Their past selves were trying to get a good look around, but all that they could see were the blank eyes of countless fish watching from a distance.

"I forgot how creepy it is down here!" Chopper sniffled a little, not liking the life-less looking in those fish's eyes. They looked like they doll eyes… that they belonged to something that wasn't alive… he hated it.

"Still, we won't be finding anyone in all this darkness no matter how hard we tried," memory Usopp said worriedly after a short time of sailing. But they might as well had been staring with their eyes closed for all the good that it did them.

"I do not like the darkness," memory Brook said uneasily, "Do any of you feel like we're being watched?"

"Yep," current Sanji stated as he looked up and saw the occasional glint of an empty eye, the slight bubbling of the water as something swam close-by. "You guys are surrounded."

"You could sound a little more concerned for us here!" Usopp retorted angrily at him.

"Though now that I think about it, we probably made ourselves easy targets by turning on the lights," present Robin offered.

"You guys are making it a lot worse!" Nami told them all exasperatedly.

"What? You guys didn't die," Zoro reminded her.

"Doesn't mean that we liked it!" Nami yelled out. "I thought that we were all gonna be eaten at any moment! And we weren't sure what happened to you three idiots either! Can you blame us for being worried?!"

"Don't worry, we're probably looking around for you right now!" Luffy said brightly as he went running to the side of the ship, trying to get a look around. He was curious to what kind of adventure that the rest of the crew had while they were gone. So far though, it wasn't very exciting.

"We're probably around 7000 meters down by now," memory Franky offered. "At this depth, the pressure would've crushed the Shark Submerge like a pancake!"

"Maybe I can try and figure out a way to fix that?" current Franky thought to himself thoughtfully. Though to be honest, he didn't really see the need for it unless they went to another island at the bottom of the sea?

"Hey!" memory Chopper said with an idea. "Are we near Fishman Island? Maybe they're already there?"

"I think Caimie-chan said that it was 10000 meters under the sea," memory Robin reminded him.

Past Chopper gasped as he cried out in shock, "We still have to dive down 3000 meters?!"

"Yeah, it's hard to think that you can go even deeper than straight down at the bottom of the ocean," current Zoro reasoned.

"You would know, Moss-Head," Sanji offered. "You suck so much that every time you hit bottom, you break through a new layer."

"WHAT?!" Zoro roared back and soon the two were now sending sparks of rage at each other, both of them aching to break each other's face, until Robin shot them both a warning look as she held up her hands, silently letting them know that she would restrain them if necessary. Knowing that she was more than able to follow through with her threat, they let it go, but they were both glaring viciously at the other, just wishing that the other will someday die a painful, embarrassing death.

"They only had those small bubbles to protect them," memory Usopp said worriedly, pulling on a coat. "Even if they're still alive, they'll run outta air soon!"

Memory Nami, who had grabbed hold of her head in worry, said anxiously, "That is why I told them to wear the lifelines!"

"Huh? You mean… you were worried about me?!" current Sanji asked, forgetting about all his hatred for Zoro at that moment as he looked up at her. Did this mean…? Was she finally about to confess her love for him?!

"I was worried for all three of you idiots!" she answered coldly, having a very good idea to what he was thinking of. "Only you could want to get yourselves lost at the bottom of the sea?!"

Sanji gasped out and fell to his knees as tears appeared. So she does care about him? Oh, he was so happy at that moment.

"Oh, Nami-swan…" he moaned out before his tears became hearts in his eyes and he stood up again, "To know that you care for my safety means more to me than all the gold in the world!"

Zoro shook his head, almost feeling sorry for the cook here.

"Crying about it now won't get us anywhere," memory Franky proclaimed seriously. "Let's look for them. I have a light feature installed!"

That got memory Chopper's and Usopp's attention and were looking at him with bright eyes as Franky turned around, lifting up his sunglasses.

"Do you mean your eyes?!" past Chopper cried out, his eyes sparkling.

"No, why would I put it there?" present-day Franky asked curiously. "I decided to do something a little more original!"

"I think you mean more pervey!" current Chopper said slowly as their past selves watched with baited breath.

"Franky…" memory Franky started out before he opened up his shirt and finished, "NIPPLE LIGHTS!"

Franky's nipples began to glow brightly.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU INSTALL LIGHTS THERE?!" memory Usopp yelled, giving him a slap.

"You people have no imagination!" current Franky said. Some people just didn't appreciate genius! However, upon looking outside, one would think that they would've been better off in the dark. The memory Straw Hats soon found that they are surrounded by giant sea monsters that have been lurking in the darkness, causing the memory versions Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook to scream in horror.

"Oh my," memory Robin said in fascination as the others panicked.

"Wow! This is one hell of an adventure!" Luffy cried out, leaning out and over the edge of the ship as he stared around, trying to keep everything he could see in his sights at all times. "These look a lot freakier than the fish we saw on our way here!"

"Well, to be fair we didn't have any lights with us to get everyone's attention," Sanji reasoned.

"And what would you have done if Zoro's bubble popped?!" Nami demanded hotly.

"It didn't, so why make the world more complicated by thinking about what could've been?" Sanji asked.

Nami shook her head, wondering why she even bothered to try. These guys have no sense of danger, do they? They're just lucky that it all worked out for them in the end.

"We've gotta get outta here!" memory Franky yelled, going straight up to the wheel once again, setting sail and getting Sunny to go as fast as she could go. At one point, that same Franky felt the need to activate another light feature he installed, this one in the Sunny's eyes.

"Alright!" memory Franky called to them, bathing light around them. "Keep your eyes open! I'm sure they're searching for us too!"

As they sailed forward, they continued to try and find their missing trio. They kept coming across strange fish and monsters the further down they sailed, and Robin suddenly had a question.

"Just wondering," current Robin said to the 'Monster' trio. "Could you see our lights at all?"

"It looked like we were separated a pretty fair distance," Zoro confessed. "But we didn't need it. We just followed you back thanks to our Haki."

"Oh, so we turned on the lights and risked our lives for no reason!" current Usopp shouted out. "I rather not have been able to see what was in front of us!"

"I personally didn't mind that," present-day Brook stated. "When the monsters were in front of us… for some reason, the only thing I was thinking of… what was behind me?"

"You really aren't making this any better, Brook!" Nami yelled at him.

"Luffy! Zoro! Sanji!" memory Usopp called, looking around through a telescope. "Where are you?! Luffy! Zoro! Sanji!"

"Where did they go?!" past Chopper wailed tearfully, also looking through a smaller telescope. "Come back!"

Just then, Luffy got a grin and went dancing in front of their past selves even as they continued to try and call out to them.

"Hey guys! I'm right here! I'm a ghost now, come back to haunt you!" he taunted as his hand went right through their bodies.

"Luffy! Stop that before I hit you!" present-day Usopp scolded, which Luffy sighed.

"Sorry," he said automatically, though he didn't sound too sorry. But he knew that unlike his past self, this Usopp could hit him.

"Luffy-san! Zoro-san! Sanji-san!" memory Brook added as both past versions of Nami and Robin were on the other side of the ship, looking out as well, also keeping an eye out for their missing shipmates.

"Damn! The ocean floor is just too big!" memory Franky cursed out. "The range of Sunny's eyes just isn't strong enough!"

"Duh… it's the ocean," Zoro said. "It's supposed to be big!"

"See if I worry about you again," current Franky muttered back.

"How depressing," memory Brook sigh, "And all this darkness only makes it worse."

"Yes, I spent years trapped in the dark, unable to even see the sunlight… I didn't like this at all," the current Brook sighed sadly, wishing that he could see the light again, even if it was a memory.

"Look, as much fun as this all is, I think that we better start figuring out just how to get outta this place!" Zoro called to the others, who blinked in confusion before they remembered where they were.

"Right… yeah, ok, I'm all for that plan!" Usopp said, slapping himself awake as he remembered that they could be in danger. He suddenly froze at the thought… wondering if the dragon guarding the tower was trapping them inside memories and while they were distracted… he would then…?

"Ok, what do we do?" Brook asked at once.

"Awww… but I like watching these memories!" Luffy pouted, having a good time here and not wanting to quit so soon.

"Luffy…" Nami tried to reason with him, trying to think of a way to convince him that this was bad for everyone, but then Robin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She gave her a kind look before she looked up and addressed Luffy this time.

"Who knows how much more we'll see?" Robin answered him softly. "We may end up seeing something that we don't want to, Luffy. We all have memories that we wish we could forget, and I think that its better that we find a way out before we see something that we wish we didn't have to experience again."

Luffy seemed to freeze up at the words she said and though no one said anything, they all knew that he was thinking of his own terrible memories… they all knew that he had more than a few of them hidden away…

Maybe it was a dirty trick to remind him of his own worst memories, but the rest of them experienced what it was like to see another's memories and they did not want him to be burdened in such a way.

"Ok, if we're all in agreement, I say we try and think of a way out of this place," Zoro said firmly and they all nodded, Luffy included.

"That was ever our plan, Moss-Head, but how do we do that?" Sanji asked firmly as he felt about him. "I mean, if we're still in the tower, then we should be able to feel the damn walls here, so why can't I feel anything around me?"

"I don't know, but everyone start searching around and if we can find the wall, then we can just follow it to the next door," Zoro answered. "Unless anyone else has a brighter idea?"

No one did, and so they all cautiously spread out, their hands stretched out in front of them, as if they were blind, as they tried to feel their way to the cold stone. But the further out they spread, the more that they found themselves drawn to what was happening in the memory.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," memory Usopp said firmly before he looked to past Nami, asking her what they should do now.

"We can't slow the ship down," she reasoned back, looking through a pair of binoculars for Luffy and the others. "So just keep your eyes peeled! Don't overlook anything!"

"I guess that was our only choice," present-day Chopper sighed, not wanting to leave the memory ship and get separated from the others if he stepped off in this darkness. But he pressed himself as far as he could as he tried to find out where the wall was. But he didn't understand how the room could be this big around because he couldn't find anything.

"I'm sure we'll find some trace of them," memory Robin said, also starting to sound worried, and not making a morbid remark despite the golden opportunity. "Keep searching."

Just then, a sparkling jellyfish drifted over until it was right above them. Memory Chopper was the first to notice and gazed up with awe.

"A jellyfish!" he gasped out, "There's a huge jellyfish right above us!"

They all looked up in surprise as well, watching it's almost unearthly beauty as it seemed to sparkle like it was dripping with diamonds. The present-day Straw Hats couldn't help but look up at it as well when they heard Chopper call out.

"Indeed! It really is massive!" memory Brook cried, "It's also sparkling! Almost like looking up at a starry night sky!"

"Too bad that it wasn't as harmless as it looked," current Usopp whispered darkly.

"That's really neat!" Luffy couldn't help but speak up when he saw it. "Man, you guys saw some cool stuff, huh?"

"Neat my butt!" Usopp snapped back. "I can't count how many times we were almost eaten out there!?"

"Why are you so surprised?" Sanji asked in a bored way. "When you're in the ocean, you're literally at the bottom of the food chain. Forget about sharks, anything could come up and eat you."

"It's so beautiful!" memory Chopper gasped out, watching it with a child-like innocence. Maybe the jellyfish heard him, for it suddenly poked a tentacle through the bubble, right in front of Chopper.

"Huh? Its hand entered!" memory Chopper added in awe before slowly reaching up a little hoof to touch it. "D-Does it want to be friends with me?"

Once they heard that, both memory Nami and Robin both turned around in panic.

"You mustn't touch it, Chopper!" past Robin yelled out at once, holding up a hand to try and stop him. When the memory Chopper looked back in confusion, she cried out, "It's probably poisonous!"

"I'm sure that had it been anything else, it would've wanted to try and be friends," the current Robin responded to their Chopper, who was wondering why he didn't realize that it was dangerous before. He treated jellyfish stings before, didn't he?

That warning was more than enough for memory Chopper to start screaming; he jumped back and moved as far away from the tentacle that he could as it continued to poke its way around the deck.

"Hey, look!" Luffy called, pointing out when an enormous fish came swimming towards them from out of nowhere, no doubt attracted by their lights. "Ohhh, I bet that he would've tasted good with some salt! Man! I really wish we thought to do some fishing while we were down here when we were going to Fishman Island!"

"Knowing you guys, you'd probably try to cook it on all the lava," Nami muttered darkly to the comment.

As soon as the fish was close enough, it opened its mouth wide, prepared to swallow them, ship and all, whole in one bit. But memory Franky took charge, leaving him with no other choice on how to get out of this.

"Not good!" past Franky shouted. "Time for a small… Coup de BURST!"

They blasted their way away from the jellyfish and out of the path of the fish, who chopped down on the jellyfish with a large gulp.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" memory Usopp and Chopper screamed out, having not noticed the fish until just that moment.

"That jellyfish was just eaten!" memory Chopper yelped.

"Yep, but he's gonna regret that," the current Usopp sighed.

"So cool!" Luffy cheered delightedly and clapped, like he was watching a show.

"It's a good thing that you invented that little trick of the Lion-chan," current Brook told their Franky.

Franky, who had finally given up trying to get Brook to call Sunny her name, merely beamed in pride. "Of course! She's a SU~PER, one-of-a-freakin'-kind ship! Anyone can build a boat, but there will always be one Sunny!"

"Huh?" memory Brook asked, suddenly looking up and realizing that the bubble looked a little smaller than it did before. "The ship seems to have lost some air!"

"Beats being seafood," current Nami muttered darkly, who could think of few things worse than being eaten.

"It's better than being eaten, right?" memory Franky called. "The Coup de Burst is a weapon that uses large amounts of air! However, since we're underwater, our air is limited! Using it means that we'll be using up our air!"

"I never thought that running out of air would be a problem for the Coup de Burst," current Franky confessed. "Running out of cola to get it to work, sure… but not air."

"I understand," memory Brook said as he looked up at the bubble again with anxiety. "But knowing that the bubble is shrinking is making me nervous."

"Man, so that's why the bubble had shrunk when we finally found you guys," Zoro stated as he looked up. He had thought that it was strange that the bubble looked a lot smaller than it did when they left it. Jeez, just what trouble these guys get into…?

At that moment, the fish that had tried to swallow the jellyfish suddenly let it go, before turning upside down and began to sink.

"THE FISH THAT ATTACKED THAT JELLYFISH JUST DIED!" memory Chopper screamed out.

"Neurotoxin, as I thought," past Robin seriously as memory Chopper and Usopp stared at her in horror.

"Stop gawking and keep looking for the door!" present-day Zoro called to them.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing around here!" current Usopp called back, "I don't feel a wall or anything!"

"So what's going on?" present Nami asked nervously, not liking how this was all shaping up. "This is like… I don't know anymore! Nothing about this creepy tower is making any sense to me!"

"It's bigger on the inside?" Luffy asked curiously.

"I think that's the best way to put it," Sanji muttered. For some reason, his senses were greatly dulled here… like trying to taste anything with a burnt tongue… you know the food is there, but you can't get any flavor. That's what this tower was suddenly reminding him of.

This place felt like it was watching them… toying with them even. Whoever was doing this has a sick sense of humor and was most likely going to get a shoe to the face when he was done with them.

"Keep looking," present-day Franky scolded lightly. "At least until we figure out another idea. Because I don't think that this is working either."

"I want out!" current Chopper agreed as his past self was crying, tears flooding down his face now.

"The deep sea is so scary! And dark!" memory Chopper cried out, "There are so many fish with white eyes! It's creepy!"

Memory Brook was surprisingly calm as he sipped his tea. "The deep sea is a world full of darkness," he informed calmly. "Thus, the eyes of many creatures are blind for their sight had devolved."

Those words seemed to bring some comfort to memory Chopper and Usopp as they looked back to the drifting fish.

"Oh, so they can't see us?" memory Chopper asked. To prove a point, past Usopp began to make faces and taunt the fish to try and come over here.

"The world just loves changing things around, doesn't it?" present-day Usopp sighed.

"To be fair, you were asking for trouble," Robin pointed out as her past self said, "On the other hand, some species have highly evolved eyes."

At that moment, a large eel came slithering towards them, letting out a small electric shock and hiss at memory Usopp and Chopper, causing them to scream in terror and fall back onto the deck.

"Well, you can't say you didn't deserve it," Sanji shrugged. "Don't tease the wildlife unless you plan to eat it."

"That eel did look good too," Luffy said, his mouth watering a little. "Sanji, can't you make something?"

"How am I supposed to cook anything without any ingredients?" Sanji asked sarcastically as wanted to hit him. "Nothing here is real! It's an illusion!"

Luffy groaned out as his stomach let out a loud rumble. This was torture… being around food and not being able to eat any of it!

"Huh?" memory Brook asked, "How can I see without eyes, you ask? Ladies and gentlemen, do you wish to know?" He then gave a small drumroll under his breath. "The answer is… it's a secret! Yohohoho!"

"You know, I worry about you sometimes," current Usopp whispered to their own Brook who laughed at that.

"What are you doing all there by yourself?" memory Franky asked.

"It's quite all right," past Brook sighed. "I'm used to solitude, you know."

"I suppose old habits die hard," current Brook shrugged before he danced, "Oh well, I'm happy now! Yohohoho!"

"You really are something else," current Robin informed him in amusement as past Nami was snapping at the boys to take this more seriously. She then gave memory Usopp, Chopper, and Brook a hard hit over the head.

"Why did you hit me as well?" present-day Brook moaned out at the sight of it all.

"I felt like it," current Nami snarled at him, wanting to scream, just wanting to get out of this cold tower.

"LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI!" memory Chopper and Usopp both began to call out again, actually sounding a little mechanically now. "WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!"

"Seriously, you all took your sweet time coming back to the ship when we were worried sick!" current Usopp reminded the three 'Monster' trio.

"Hey, it's a big ocean, you already know that!" Sanji retorted.

"Everyone?" memory Brook suddenly called and they looked up to see him holding the ropes that they used to tie up that loser excuse for a pirate. When everyone turned to look at him, he asked, "Do you know what happened to that pirate fellow?"

"Oh, yeah," memory Franky said as he recognized the ropes. "I forgot about that guy."

"What pirate?" Zoro asked, thinking back. "Oh, right… I keep forgetting about Muddy?"

"Same here," Luffy nodded.

"Yes," current Robin agreed.

"He wasn't worth remembering," Sanji said as he brushed his hand like getting rid of a fly.

"Where did he go?" memory Chopper asked curiously.

"I haven't seen him since we reached the Deep Sea," past Robin informed them.

"Right, the last time I saw him, he was being tossed around like the rest… I just assumed that we lost him on the way down here," current Franky shrugged.

"Maybe he ended up getting thrown off the ship when we got pulled into the downflow?" memory Chopper offered.

"That could be," past Franky reasoned. "His hands and legs were bound after all. He couldn't hold onto anything."

"No, I don't think so," memory Brook said as he showed them the same ropes that they used to tie him up, which were still perfectly knotted. "It would seem the ropes just came off?"

They were looking around, wondering where the bastard went… but they soon found out when memory Franky noticed that there was a head and a pair of eyes looking out from a nearby barrel. Once he found him, he slammed the lid down on the container, hammering down with extra wood, rope, and thick bands of metal until not even a Devil Fruit User with a mud-like body could hope to escape.

"Now we don't have to worry about him," past Franky said confidently as he stood with one foot on the barrel and Caribou was shrieking at him to let him out.

"What were we going to do with him anyway?" present-day Nami wondered.

"I dunno, drop him off somewhere with a warning printed on the front that there's an idiot pirate inside," Zoro shrugged unconcerned. "Not our concern."

"My word!" memory Brook exclaimed, watching in fascination. "How did he managed to get inside that barrel?"

"We were careless," past Franky answered, "We might've been in real trouble if this guy wasn't such an idiot. His body's lost its substance and it looks like he turned to mud."

"Mud?" past Robin asked in surprise.

"Yeah," memory Franky confirmed. "He's a Devil Fruit User, no doubt about it. What's more, he seems to be a Logia. He took our attacks earlier and let himself be captured on purpose."

"I think you were giving him too much credit," Sanji stated. Though he had to agree that they were being a little too carefree here… what if that idiot had been really dangerous and had hidden himself in the girl's room? The idea of Robin and Nami getting hurt was too much for him to even think about!

Their memory selves just left the barrel lying there as Caribou continued to thrash around from inside, crying out for Franky to let him out, trying to call him master and that he'll be his servant if he just let him out.

"I suppose we could have used him as cannon fodder," present-day Franky shrugged. "Oh well, lesson learned."

Memory Chopper suddenly sat down on the deck, slumping over a little as he closed his eyes. There was a slightly sick look coming over his face as his tongue rolled out sickly.

"What is it, Chopper?" past Franky asked in concern when he got a look at Chopper's face.

"I don't know," memory Chopper moaned out, "I just got really hot all of a sudden." He then slumped over and laid down as he groaned, "I can't stand hot places."

"Why not take off your fur then if it gets too hot?" current Franky asked their Chopper.

"I know I should but… HEY!" he yelled, jumping up and glaring at him. "I CAN'T JUST TAKE MY FUR OFF LIKE A COAT!"

But memory Chopper wasn't the only one who was feeling the heat, for past Usopp suddenly took off his coat, already starting to work up a sweat.

"So hot! What's going on?!" he called tossing his coat aside. He looked up ahead, and all that was in front of them was smoke. "Huh? What's with all this smoke? It's blocking our view!"

That got everyone's attention and they all went up to see what was going on; were a towering pillar of smoke obstructed their view.

"Smoke on the ocean floor?" memory Chopper gasped out, sweating hard through his fur. "How is that possible?"

"I still have a hard time believing there can be smoke at the bottom of the ocean," current Chopper nodded firmly.

"Considering all the other strange things we've seen down here, smoke is hardly the weirdest," Nami pointed out.

"This is…" past Nami asked softly as she walked forward, also takin off her own coat as she stared ahead with eyes wide and face growing paler by the second. "Could it be?"

"I hate it when you do that," current Usopp whimpered out. "Like you know something bad is coming and the rest of us don't.

"Usually, because I do," she shrugged back.

"Hydrothermal vents!" past Nami gasped out. "This is a region full of undersea volcanoes!"

"Really? That's exciting!" Luffy cried out.

"You would know because you were there when it erupted!" Nami retorted as the words her past self informed them what was happening was causing a few cries of panic from the other members of the crew.

"I'm surprised that there are volcanoes under the sea," current Usopp said lightly. Now that he knew that they were all safe from a memory, he was almost impressed with how calm he was right now.

"Yes, in fact, it's a proven fact that there are actually a lot more volcanoes in the ocean then there are up on land," current Nami informed him. "That's how most islands are actually made if you can believe it."

Luffy laughed, having forgotten all about looking for a way out. He knew he should, but he really did enjoy seeing what the others went through when they weren't around, and he was wishing that they did stick together because it looked like they were having a wild time here.

"Look! You can see they are all recently active!" memory Nami called anxiously while the smoke continued to build around them, all of them agreeing to get out of here as soon as possible before one of them erupts.

"Just our luck that the volcano did erupt," current Usopp sighed as he leaned against the side of the Sunny to where memory Chopper was whimpering from the heat. But as he was suffering from the heat, he looked down and let out a shriek when some bright red, tube-like creatures with teeth began wriggling their way up through the smoke and up to the Sunny.

"Something's coming after us!" he cried out.

"DAAAAH!" screamed memory Usopp. "Carnivorous tube worms!"

There was no choice, they had to use another mini Coup de Burst to be able to escape from the reaching worms… but that was just the very first part of their attackers. Almost immediately afterwards, they were attacked by giant crabs with no faces… then giant fish that looked more like a cross between old men and meting blobs. The Straw Hats kept getting chased by giant sea creatures, one after the other, and needless to say, they were starting to get very tired of it.

"THE DEEP SEA IS SCARY!" memory Chopper cried out in terror. "There's no way that Luffy and the others could survive down here. I'm so sad! We met finally after two years and now they could be…?"

"Thanks for having so much faith in all of us," Sanji said before Robin gave him a stern look, which he immedately lowered his head in shame and reassured their Chopper, "Don't worry. I guess I should just say that I'm glad you care."

"Really? Thanks, Sanji…" current Chopper sniffled and Robin looked away in satisfaction.

Memory Usopp also agreed, not wanting to hear anything being said of them possibly being dead. "Don't be stupid!" he shouted. "There's no way they're dead that easily!"

"Hell no!" Luffy cheered.

"You were the one I was most worried about, you idiot!" Nami said as she gave him a hard hit on his shoulder. "You couldn't have picked a worse environment to get lost in for Devil Fruit user than the sea!"

"We were with him," Zoro reminded her. "We weren't gonna let him drown here."

"Aww, thanks you guys!" Luffy said brightly.

"You are a pain trying to keep out of trouble," Sanji sighed as they looked around the ship, seeing just how small the bubble was becoming. They were starting to run out of air pretty quickly. But they didn't have time to dwell on it, for at that moment, there was a bright light shining directly in front of them, one so bright that it was almost blinding. Which was enough for Chopper to start thinking that they may be safe at last.

"What's that?!" memory Chopper cried out at once. "It's so bright! Maybe it's Fishman Island! Maybe Luffy and the others are already there!"

Memory Nami was much more skeptical as she said, "But we haven't travelled 3000 meters down yet."

Past Franky meanwhile was now trying to send a message with his Nipple lights. "W-H-O… A-R-E… Y-O-U?!" he was trying to say by flashing the lights.

"Hey!" memory Usopp yelled as he gave him a slap. "What are you trying to send them a message with those?!"

"Seriously, you really are a pervert!" current Usopp rebuked.

"Why thank you," Franky smiled back.

"That's not a compliment!" Usopp shouted back.

Still, at the moment, their past selves were all thinking that this might be their best option and they immediately set sail towards it, to try and get closer to see what it was. The closer they got, the bigger and brighter it became, with them unable to see what it was.

"Can you see anything?" memory Usopp asked.

"No, it's still too bright," past Chopper said, and they were all got so used to the dark that it was very difficult for them to make anything out. But the moment their eyes adjusted to it—they realized where the light was coming from. From the antennae of an enormous angler, its mouth already opening wide and able to swallow them in one bite.

"Damn thing, I wish I could cook it up!" Sanji hissed.

"HOLY CRAP!" memory Franky cursed.

"IT'S AN ANGLERFISH!" cried memory Usopp as screams were being heard all around the ship. "IT TRICKED US!"

"WE'VE BEEN CAUGHT BY A PREDATOR OF THE DEEP SEA!" past Brook screamed, thinking that it was over. "THIS IS BAD!"

Only memory Robin remained calm, and the only reason that Nami wasn't screaming was because she seemed to be too shocked to utter a sound. Thankfully, memory Franky pulled off another mini Coup de Burst just in time, narrowly missing the massive mouth. At least until they spotted the leash… and how the angler was now being held by the leash like how one would take their dog for a walk. The owner was that of an incredibly hairy giant with a roundish head, covered in facial hair, large child-like eyes, and a mouth that took up half the face as it looked down at them.

Soon, the memory Straw Hats were freaking out at the size of the Fishman.

"He really wasn't all that strong," Sanji said, remembering how Surume was able to knock it out easily, and look at how they were able to take that thing out even under the sea. "Or smart…"

The giant Fishman raised up his fist, about to bring it down on them.

"Oh, no!" memory Chopper cried out. "He's gonna hit us! He'll capsize the ship!"

"If he had, then I wished that I kicked him harder," Sanji stated darkly. The memory Straw Hats all started to scream, but it turned out that he wasn't aiming for them. Instead, he went to the angler, punching it in the head.

"THE FISH?!" memory Usopp screamed as his eyes popped out.

"Don't complain, I'm glad that his only target was the fish for the moment," current Nami whispered.

"Hey! Angler!" the Fishman shouted in a surprisingly child-like voice. "You can't do that! Bad fish!" The anglerfish turned to face him, rubbing the bump on its head with tears, like it was wondering what it had done wrong now. "How many times do I have to tell you?! Don't eat any ships! Captain Vander Decken will yell at us!"

"Right, because that's our biggest fear right now," current Franky said with a shake of his head.

"I feel kinda bad for him," Robin shrugged, remembering how he was treated by the New Fishman Pirates… he was like a scared little kid who got mixed up with a bad crowd.

"D-Did he just save us?" memory Nami croaked out, still pale.

"Who cares?!" past Usopp asked. "Let's just get outta here, while we can! Both of them are monsters!"

But before they could think of turning around and running away, there was the sound of loud creaking going on, which drew their attention. An aged, decrepit ship appeared suddenly from the darkness. There was a skull-and-swords figurehead out in front while the wood looked rotten and the sails were torn to rags as the faded words of 'Flying Dutchman' stood out.

"Damn, you think that they would have had thought to take better care of that ship?" current Franky muttered, shaking his head.

"But then it would lose the charm," Robin offered.

"Charm?! That thing is freaky as hell!" Usopp yelled at her just as a sudden eerie song began to be sung from the ship.

 _"_ _Dead men tell no tales and know no greed…_

"Hmm?" memory Brook hummed, inquisitively. "Is that…?"

" _In this country so black not even crows fly…"_

"Me?" past Brook finished as he looked at the skull out in front.

"Nah, you look way friendlier than that old thing," current Franky offered.

"Yohohoho, thank you, Franky-san!" Brook cried out happily.

" _The Dead have no need for jewels on their fingers…_

 _They can't even see their own regrets in the darkness…_

 _Search for it… Search for it…_

 _For all sunken treasure belongs to me…_

 _For I am the richest man in the world…_

 _Captain Vander Decken~!"_

Vander's crew let out a loud euphoria at the end of the song.

"I gotta admit," current Franky muttered. "He may be a jerk, an idiot, and a stalker, but that song was rather catchy."

"IT CAN'T BE!" past Usopp screamed, pointing wildly at the ship.

"EVEN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA?!" memory Nami cried, tears falling fast as memory Chopper was so petrified that he wasn't even able to scream out as he thrashed about like he was about to have a seizure.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" past Brook screamed out louder than anyone. "IT'S A GHOST SHIP!"

"REALLY?!" Luffy cried out, his face breaking into a big smile and stars shining in his eyes. "THAT'S SO AMAZING!"

"Don't get your hopes up," current Nami sighed. "It wasn't real. It looked a lot scarier than it was."

"Funny how you say that now," Zoro muttered, looking at memory Nami who was hugging Chopper tightly like how a child would to a teddy bear.

"I'm not crazy strong like you monsters are," she snapped as her past self began crying. "I'm a chicken! Deal with it!"

Memory Usopp then slapped him hard enough for Brook to spin like a top as he demanded, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU GETTING SCARED?!"

Once memory Brook stopped spinning, he looked about in confusion. "I spun around!" he cried out, "For no reason!"

But current Robin wasn't surprised that Brook had been the first to scream. In contrast to the other cowardly crew members own fears - Usopp's being out of insecurity, Nami's as a survival instinct, and Chopper's from cautiousness - Brook's fear was a little more down to Earth; he fears things that are not normal such as the supernatural. Ironic though, given that he is a skeleton.

In fact, she was sure that they were all thinking back to the very first moment where they first met Brook. Which seemed to be the case for memory Usopp grabbed hold of their skeleton and began to shake him hard.

"Back then, we really thought that you were a ghost!" he yelled, continuing to shake him.

"Ah yes, that must have been frightening," current Brook mused, thinking back to the memory he was able to witness before and he had scared himself!

Past Usopp clung on even as Brook pointed wildly towards the ship, yelling out, "T-That is a real one! Look at the sail! That is the legendary Flying Dutchman! It's a ship that shouldn't exist in this world!" He lifted up his sunglasses as he explained, "This is a tale that goes back hundreds of years! One stormy night, a pirate captain suddenly went mad and threw all of his men overboard! He drowned them every last one of them and cursed at the gods! His name was… Captain Vander Decken, and the name of his ship was the _Flying Dutchman_! He incurred the wrath of the gods! Now he is cursed to drift the seas, tortured for all eternity! The ship we see before us is the very same cursed ship of Vander Decken!"

"Is that really true?" present-day Chopper asked, looking up at Robin.

"There is a story of Vander Decken and his cursed ship," she answered, also having heard the tale before. "But maybe people who travelled to Fishman Island before, who encountered this ship, seemed to think that it was cursed. No one ever guessing that the reason there was a crew who was able to sail under the sea like this is because he was a Fishman, not some ghost ship."

Memory versions of Usopp and Chopper both shrieked and began to run around the deck in a panic as past Robin began to sketch the ship and past Brooke even took a bow after telling his story.

"Don't panic!" memory Franky called loudly. "We all thought that Brook's ship was a ghost ship too, remember? But there weren't any ghosts onboard. Just this funny skeleton!"

"Yohohoho!" past Brook laughed. "Franky-san, you are too harsh!" He then tried to do a thirty degree lean against Franky's massive chest. "And standing at thirty degrees is also harsh!"

"What is the point of that?" current Nami sighed as their own Brook tried to copy that by doing a thirty degrees lean against their Franky as well, only to fall flat on his face.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," past Nami said, a faint smile back on her face and looking much calmer. "Ghost ships don't actually exist, do they?"

"The kraken was thought to be a mythological creature, yet that turned out to be real," memory Robin reminded them. "I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into a real ghost ship."

The others all looked to her, fear in their eyes before they slowly turned to look back at the Flying Dutchman.

"So that could really be…?" memory Nami whispered out as past Usopp finished for her, their eyes rolling into the back of their heads as more tears fell, "A real ghost ship?"

"I'm scared…" past Chopper cried and Brook seemed to faint.

"Robin, you really shouldn't scare them for your own amusement," past Franky told her as she smiled back innocently.

"You are a monster," current Usopp whimpered, falling to his knees.

"Scarier than anything else in the Deep Sea," Nami agreed as she cried as Robin could only smile back much in the same way that her past self was doing.

"But Robin, you are so beautiful even when you're scaring everyone," Sanji sighed fondly, just wanting to kiss her.

"Captain!" shouted a voice from the ship. "Wadatsumi and Angler seemed to have collected another pirate ship!"

"Such foolish humans," a darker voice spoke up sinisterly. "Still, that's a pretty nice ship."

"He's got good taste, I'll give that," current Franky said thoughtfully.

"Don't compliment the idiot!" Nami admonished, still angry at how that man had tormented Shirahoshi for the last ten years, forcing everyone else to keep her locked up in a tower to keep her alive.

"I'm sure it's full of treasure," Decken's voice went on as Chopper and Usopp ran at each other and hugged in terror.

"Like hell, I would let him take my treasure!" Nami snarled out, thinking about the 200 million that was stored safely aboard the Sunny. No one else say anything, but they all knew how she guarded that as fiercely as any dragon and his hoard. Which, now that you think about it, may just be as dangerous as trying to steal treasure from this tower… wait… was this what the memories were? Some kind of trap to prevent them from trying to steal anything?

But before anyone could start to trying to figure that out, memory Usopp was already crying, yelling out, "LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI!"

"PLEASE HURRY UP AND COME BACK!" past Chopper finished for him in a petrified way.

"Will you two shut up?!" memory Franky shouted as the two of them continued to cry and mumble words that they couldn't understand. "We've got no choice but to deal with this on our own! That way, Luffy and the others can make it back to us safely!"

"What? You guys couldn't handle it?" Zoro asked in mild surprise.

"If we were at the surface it would be different," present-day Franky reminded him. "There's only so much we can do when we're at the _bottom of the ocean_."

But memory Nami seemed to be more concern with what was happening with the rising temperature, looking around as the smoke stopped flooding from the stacks and the ground began to glow red. Not that anyone noticed this for they were too busy with Decken and giant Fishman. Vander Decken was now telling Wadatsumi off for almost allowing the angler to eat the ship. For if they ate it, then they couldn't collect the treasure. Which didn't add up when he suddenly ordered them to just smash the ship.

"Yes, captain!" cried Wadatsumi, as he reeled back a fist.

"No!" memory Usopp cried.

"So he is our enemy after all!" past Chopper yelped as they hugged each other once again.

"Franky, quick!" memory Nami ordered. "Use the Coup de Burst!"

"Can't!" past Franky replied, who was holding onto memory Brook like he was a doll, and they weren't sure it was because he was scared or if Brook was still out cold. "We're out of fuel! I'll have to refill the cola in the engine room!"

"Yeah, we've got to find a way around that," current Franky nodded, actually pulling out a notepad and writing notes on potential problems for the future.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" Nami screamed, but it was too late. For the fist came flying towards them, screaming coming from all over the ship, certain that they were about to die; but at the last moment, a tentacle came out of nowhere, landing a solid punch and nearly knocking Wadatsumi out.

"Yeah! Go Surume!" Luffy cheered, punching the air. "We finally found everyone!"

"Bit of a cheap shot," Zoro couldn't help but speak up. "Upper punch from outta nowhere."

"Hey, if it saves us, I say fight dirty!" current Usopp shouted out.

"We agree!" Chopper and Nami both cried out.

"Pathetic," Zoro muttered with a shake of his head.

The impact from the Kraken's punch was enough to cause Sunny to start spinning wildly and into the safety of the kraken's many arms.

"The Kraken!?" memory Chopper gasped as they all stared.

"The monster of the North Pole?!" muttered Vander Decken's voice in surprise. Meanwhile, Wadatsumi slowly pushed himself back up, glaring at Surume, snarling out insults before Surume began a relentless pummeling. His many legs were punching him so fast that it was impossible to keep track over how many times he was being hit. In fact, they almost feel bad for him.

"Hey, that's enough!" called out a familiar voice. "Cut it out!"

At the sound of the order, Surume stopped at once and turned around to face his new master as Wadatsumi collapsed, his face a beaten mess.

"That was great!" called the voice again and Surume seemed to blush in embarrassment and gave a sheepish smile.

"Heeeeeey!" called out a happy-go-lucky voice that they all knew very well. Swimming towards them was a single bubble, with all three of the 'Monster' Trio crammed inside.

"Good thing we found you," present-day Sanji stated. "I think we were beginning to run outta air."

"You weren't helping with you thinking with pervert thoughts and bleeding all over," Zoro reminded him. "Just mention finding the others got you excited."

"Of course, the thought of seeing Nami and Robin again filled me with so much joy!" Sanji sighed happily. "Well, now that I think of it, we don't need to worry about running out of air since your head is full of it!"

"What was that?!" Zoro demanded hotly as Luffy laughed again.

"After we got down to the bottom here, Sanji's was the first bubble to pop so I pulled him into mine… but then after that… mine popped!" Luffy explained with a bright smile like it was an accident that could've happened to anyone rather than an incident that could've killed them.

"Which left me to haul both their asses into mine," Zoro added in a bored way. "And then, once Luffy smacked the octopus awake, he started to have it haul us around."

"It was so great! Though I wish that we could've been with you guys, you looked like you were having way more fun on the Sunny!" Luffy stated.

"Fun?!" current Usopp snapped. "Weren't you watching? It was a journey through hell where every minute could've be our last!"

"Yohohoho! Yes, thinking about it now, I suppose that it was a thrilling tell!" current Brook agreed as he looked around for his guitar… only to remember that it was still on board the real Sunny. He then sighed at the thought, unable to come up with a new song about it.

"Luffy!" past Usopp cried, joyfully. "Zoro! Sanji!"

"I'm so glad you're safe!" memory Chopper sobbed tearfully as all the other memory Straw Hats let out relieved cries of happiness to be reunited after all this.

"Where have you three been?!" memory Nami demanded, but she was smiling as they came closer.

"Where do you think? Looking for you," current Luffy shrugged.

"Nami~! Robin~!" memory Sanji called blissfully.

"We've been looking everywhere for you guys!" past Luffy called back happily as he waved back at them, kicking his feet to keep them moving forward as memory Zoro just heaved a sigh.

"They sure caused us a lot of trouble," he said, "getting separated from us like that."

Normally, they would have snapped at him for that, but at that moment, memory Sanji saw Nami and Robin again and he started to develop another heavy nosebleed. Which caused memory Chopper to worry about him relapsing and already he was starting to work on pictures again. As Vander Decken was yelling at Wadatsumi to wake up, Surume gently placed the Sunny on top of his head as the very tips of his tentacles held it there in place. It was hard to believe that he ever had looked menacing with that bright smile and kind-looking glint in his eyes.

"Well, Sanji's bubble and mine burst," memory Luffy answered as they drew closer. "So, we got into Zoro's."

Once they reached the deck and their bubble hit the side of the Sunny's own larger bubble, it merged together, allowing them through without letting in so much as a drop of water.

"We almost died!" memory Luffy laughed as they landed on the deck.

"Yeah! We totally almost did!" present-day Luffy chuckled.

"How is that a good thing?!" current Nami snapped at him, pulling at his cheek as it stretched out. "What is wrong with you!?"

As her past self also began telling Luffy off for scaring them, memory Brook pulled out a microphone.

"I shall sing a song to celebrate our reunion!" he declared before he began to sing softly into it and memory Luffy flopped onto the deck, relishing the space.

"Where did you get a microphone? Did you just have that on you?" current Zoro asked as memory Chopper cried out and plopped onto Luffy's chest with happy tears to see him safe.

"Of course, doesn't everyone?" current Brook said brightly as he pulled out his own.

"Do you carry that around with you all the time?!" current Usopp demanded.

"I find it much more portable than other instruments," he answered back. "I just remembered I had it! And since I forgot my guitar back on the Sunny, I'm glad, Yohohoho!"

"Looks like nothing can kill you guys!" memory Franky laughed as the current Brook began to sing.

"Please, if we let something like that kill us right away, we have no right to go to the New World," current Sanji said coolly.

"Yeah, until a girl next walks by you, nosebleed cook," present-day Zoro reminded him. "Then you're history."

"Shut up!" Sanji snapped.

"Unbelievable! You actually managed to tame that giant octopus?" memory Nami asked, looking nervously at the tentacles, knowing that they could crush them very easily without meaning to.

"So you're going to have our new friend pull our ship?" past Robin asked them, like how a mother would when her son came home after a strange pet followed him home and was asking if he could keep it.

"That's right!" memory Luffy said proudly. "I'm using him to travel like a pro! Isn't that right, Surume?"

"Why'd you name him after a squid snack?!" memory Usopp asked.

"Seriously, it means dried squid," the current Usopp asked Luffy.

"I forgot about that," Luffy confessed as he roared with laughter.

"We told him that, too," present-day Sanji admitted. "I reminded him that that's a squid snack. I wanted to change it to something like sushi but it was too late, he wouldn't answer to anything else."

Current Robin chuckled to herself. She wasn't the least bit surprised by this. It may be completely ridiculous… but it was also completely Luffy.

" _Surume… the kraken is an octopus, but he named him Surume, YA!_ " memory Brook sang.

" _And Surume is a friend of mine, just without bones!_ " the current Brook continued on. "Yohohoho, you know I do wish that I could have a chance to speak with myself here. Oh, the songs we could come up with?!"

"You know, that would be cool," Franky agreed, wondering about all the inventions that he could come up with if there were two of them.

"Me too! I want another one of me to!" Luffy cried out.

"NO!" the rest of the crew cried out, terrified of what would happen if there were two Luffy's… they couldn't keep just one of them out of trouble…

"Luffy, then you would have to fight with yourself to become the Pirate King, wouldn't you?" Robin reminded him kindly.

"Huh? Oh, right… I guess that's true," Luffy said as he thought it all over. "Ok then!"

The others couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief that he gave up on that idea. They truly didn't think the world was ready for two Monkey D. Luffy's. May that day never come…

"Yeah!" memory Luffy called, pointing straight ahead. "Now pull the Sunny, Surume!"

Surume began to carry the ship happily across the ocean floor, with past Usopp looking anxiously around. "Well, he's not exactly 'pulling' our ship," he started off, "I just hope he's careful not to crush us."

"Oh, who cares? It's all about the journey!" current Brook said happily. "It doesn't really matter if he's pulling or carrying us! So long as we can all enjoy the trip together! Yohohoho!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Chopper cried out with a big smile. "I really do hope we get to see Surume again someday!"

Vander Decken was still yelling at Wadatsumi to get up and go after that ship. Yet they all had different problems to worry about now. In the distance, the ocean floor began to glow a deep red color. Heat was soon around them, making them feel like they were suddenly in a furnace, as the ground began to tremble.

"What's going on?" memory Luffy asked at once as they watched the stone grow redder and redder and Wadatsumi finally woke up in time thanks to the shakes.

"Not good," past Nami gasped. "The undersea volcanos… are erupting!"

"Just bad timing for us, isn't it?" current Nami asked lightly as she watched her past self step backwards while several other members of the crew let out cries of fear.

"We got to get outta here!" past Franky yelled out as there was panic onboard the Flying Dutchman to get going. Needless to say, no one wanted to stay around here for a second longer. As the shaking grew worse, Vander Decken started to bark orders to his men, telling them to retreat, and ordering Wadatsumi and the angler to pull the ship out of here.

"Yes, sir!" cried Wadatsumi and he and the fish began to pull the Flying Dutchman as fast as they could. Yet as they passed by, Vander Decken still had time to finish singing out to the Straw Hats:

" _I am the world's richest man, Vander Decken!"_

"I wonder how rich…?" present Nami wondered thoughtfully, who was able to stay calm while her memory self continued to try and come up with a plan to get out of here.

"Not now, Nami," current Usopp retorted coldly.

"This is bad!" memory Nami whispered before she spun around to Luffy and told him, "Luffy! Tell the kraken to get us away from here as fast as possible!

"Right!" memory Luffy said happily before he started to shout out, "Hey Surume…!"

"Wait, Luffy!" past Usopp shouted, the first to actually notice that they were moving. "That's not necessary!"

"Huh?" Luffy asked in confusion before Usopp pointed out, "Because, he's already running for his life!"

Their memory selves were all looking down to see that he was completely right. Surume was running alright, his face full of desperation and fear as his many legs were all rolling with each other in his need to escape. They were moving so fast that they were blurred and his many legs just looked like one long tangled tentacle. Running alongside him, meanwhile, was Wadatsumi and the angler, pulling the Flying Dutchman behind them, like how a child would carrying about a balloon.

"I never thought I'd see a legendary beast reduced to this!" memory Usopp gasped as he stared down at the Kraken.

"You're a big help after all!" past Nami called encouragingly to Surume. "Keep going!"

"What an awkward way of running," memory Robin mused.

"Well, he does have a bunch of legs so that would make it awkward," current Brook offered lightly.

"And if it gets us away from the magma, then he can run however way he wants," present-day Usopp added.

"Don't say that," memory Franky said. "It just shows how afraid he is of the eruption!"

"And thinking about it, you really can't blame him," current Franky added with himself.

"So… what's that idiot doing?" memory Zoro asked as Sanji was continuing to drool over the pictures.

"Oh, what he normally does," current Zoro nodded. "Drooling… silly me."

"Do you want to die so badly?" present-day Sanji demanded furiously.

"It's rehab!" memory Chopper snapped. The two Luffy's however were both now clinging onto the bubble as they watched everything that was happening.

"I'd really like to see an eruption!" memory Luffy said excitedly.

"No, you don't!" current Usopp snapped before he remembered that this already happened and sighed. "Well, you did. I hoped you liked it."

"Yeah! It was great!" current Luffy commented.

"I was joking!" Usopp yelled back at him. Seriously, why was their captain the only person in the world who would want to stick around and watch a volcano erupt?

"Run to the front of the ship!" memory Usopp cried as he and Chopper jogged all the way up as far as they could go to the front of the ship.

"That won't help!" past Nami yelled at them. "A few meters won't change anything!"

The shaking soon grew so bad that everything around them trembled with a terrible force until, finally, with a great burst, the volcano erupted, causing magma to come shooting out from the seafloor. The force from the impact almost blew them off the ship. Either they were flung about like dust in the wind, or forced to cling onto something to keep them from being tossed off. While most of the crew screamed, both Luffy's just continued to roar with laughter.

Memory Nami pressed herself against the shrinking bubble, getting a good look at what was happening behind them.

"The magma's flowing across the ocean floor," she gasped. "The water temperature is rising!"

"Geez, I wonder why?" current Zoro muttered sarcastically. It couldn't be because of the magma that the temperature was rising could it?

As most of their memory selves started to scream and panic, the magma began to sweep across the floor towards them, right on their heels. The Straw Hats looked up and saw Wadatsumi, the angler, and the Flying Dutchman being were sent spinning off, flying upwards and out of sight.

"What happened?" present-day Brook asked curiously, remembering that was what happened.

"Most likely the force of the volcano's eruption," Nami answered with a shrug. "The heat of the magma and the cold of the water is constantly creating powerful currents."

"I don't know if that's bad luck or good luck…?" Chopper added.

"I say both," Sanji shrugged, and he had a good point. Though they were blasted off to who knows where, they were able to get out of reach of the magma while the rest of them were screaming at Surume to run as fast as he could.

"You're too slow, Surume!" memory Usopp criticized. "You're gonna turn into a boiled octopus!"

"Why don't you get out and help him run?" current Luffy retorted. But that remark was enough to get Surume's attention, whose eyes were wide and full of terror as he began to run even faster. It might have also helped when memory Luffy began to drool at the thought of food as he said, "Boiled octopus? Sounds great! I wanna eat some!"

"And the thing is, Surume knows that he could eat him and it's not a bluff," present-day Sanji offered.

"Poor thing," present-day Usopp added with a sigh. "At this rate, Luffy will eat us when he gets hungry and we run outta food. Probably Chopper first…?"

"WHAT?!" present-day Chopper screamed at him as Surume was now running faster than ever before. Slowly but surely he managed to stay ahead of the magma.

"This might be a dumb question, but why didn't we swim up?" present-day Zoro asked as he looked directly up at the clear ocean above them. No one could answer that question… but thinking about it now… it seemed pretty stupid of them all.

"The currents have started to swirl because of the temperature difference!" current Nami declared, determined to think of something.

"Is that bad?" Chopper asked.

"Yes, it could create a kind of vortex and we'd be swept up in it and die!" Nami answered at once. Well, she wasn't completely making it up.

"Besides, we need to go down! Not up!" current Luffy stated as he looked over the side and was cheering for Surume to hurry up.

"Exactly!" Nami agreed, before blinking and realizing that she just agreed with Luffy with something like this. What a strange day…

"Nami!" memory Sanji said, putting the pictures down and slowly standing up. "Which way to Fishman Isl-?!" But he couldn't even finish the sentence, for just one look at Nami was enough for blood to drip out and onto the pictures.

"You're still having indecent thoughts, even now?!" memory Chopper demanded. "Focus on your rehabilitation!"

"You were just looking at my back!" current Nami whispered, giving Sanji a dirty look, not even wanting to know what was going on in that perverted mind of his. She was going to really hurt him one of these days.

She decided to just let it drop for now as her memory self began looking at the needle of the log pose once again, trying to see which way they needed to go. And when she saw it pointing directly ahead of them, she called without any doubt in her mind, "We have to keep moving straight ahead!" Surume kept on running for several long minutes, with the past Nami not taking her eyes off the needle once during the entire time. "Just a little further!" she called later on, but Surume was quickly growing tired and he couldn't keep this up forever. Finally, Nami screamed out, as she looked on ahead, "Into that open trench!"

Right in front of them was a deep ditch, as wide as a canyon, yet it was darker than any darkness that they had seen before.

"Down there?!" both memory Usopp and Chopper screamed in terror. "THAT'S JUST A STRAIGHT FALL! ARE YOU NUTS?!"

"IT'S EVEN DARKER THAN DARKNESS!" past Chopper screamed in agreement.

"Seriously, since when is jumping into a dark pit considered a good thing?!" current Usopp demanded.

"Well, it's either that or stay with the magma. But if you wanna be burnt to a crisp, that's your decision," current Franky pointed out.

That was a tough one to try and think of a comeback to.

However, he was spared having to think of one as his memory self was screaming, his eyes rolling back into his head as memory Chopper seemed to have passed out for a moment… at least until the magma was quickly catching up and was now practically nipping at their heels. It woke him up at once and he was shrieking in terror when he felt the heat continuing to mount.

"Yeah, I'll take my chances down a dark hole!" current Usopp nodded after careful consideration even as his past self was shrieking at Luffy that there were sure to be monsters down there and they'd never make it out alive.

"Well, you're half right," current Zoro shrugged. "It was full of monsters… pathetic ones that were more ugly than scary… but weren't all that dangerous."

"Ready, everybody?" memory Luffy asked his crew.

"Yeah! Let's go again!" current Luffy cheered out happily.

"Luffy!" memory Usopp yelled, trying to talk reason into him. "Don't do it! That darkness drops straight into hell itself!"

"That would've been a trip never to forget," current Zoro shrugged. If you really think about it though, Luffy had already been to a place that was as close to hell as possible… it was hard to forget the image of seeing a friend being chained down to a table as he screamed in pain and bleed all over the place. He shook his head hard, not wanting to bring that up.

"It's not every day that you get to go to hell," present-day Robin nodded in agreement.

"This is just as much as the first time!" current Luffy cried out brightly as his past self ordered, "LEAP IN, SURUME!"

Everyone braced themselves, some calm, others panicking, others certain that they were doing the right thing as Surume gave a determined leap and they were soon falling, just able to escape the magma behind them.

As they fell, the volcano far behind them let out another blast, seemingly making the whole world shake. Good news was that the magma was no longer following them. The bad news that it started a landslide and boulders the size of houses were tumbling down towards them.

"Quick, Surume! Dodge them!" memory Nami pleaded. Though it was clear that Surume was doing his best, there was only so much he could do while they were falling deeper. The landslide was just over their heads and memory Zoro didn't want to wait around to see what would happen.

"I got a better idea!" he shouted out. "I'll go out and cut every last one of them!" he then looked down at memory Luffy and told him, "Luffy! Hold tight onto me!"

"Sure! Leave it to me!" current Luffy said as he grabbed onto Zoro's leg, ready to pull him back.

But before Zoro could jump out into the water, memory Robin stepped in, refusing to let him go through it.

"Zoro, don't!" she cried out at once, sprouting arms all over and grabbing hold both of him and Luffy to keep them from moving.

"Rest assure, I knew that you could easily deal with those boulders," the current Robin informed him. "But not when we're this deep in the ocean."

"Yeah, yeah…" he replied sourly as his past self was demanding to know why she was stopping him while memory Luffy looked on in confusion.

"We're about 8000 meters below surface," she shouted back, sounding almost angry. "If you leave the bubble, you'll be crushed by the water pressure!"

"Then what can we do?!" memory Zoro demanded back.

"If only we had a little more time to get away from the cliff!" past Nami said fearfully.

But then memory Usopp took everyone by surprise as he declared that they could leave that to him as he ran to the upper decks, pulling out his black slingshot in the process before he took careful aim. They all watched as he finished his calculations, and set a small green projectile into the slingshot and took careful aim.

"Special Attack! Green Star… SARGASSO!" he launched his projectile, which pierced the bubble and was heading straight for the avalanche behind them. With a great big pop, a large net of seaweed burst out of the tiny pod, catching hold of the boulders and almost cradling them as they grabbed onto the walls of the canyon like vines.

"Whoa!" memory Chopper cried in amazement. "Seaweed popped out!"

"It stopped it!" past Nami gasped, and she was right. Though it wasn't going to hold forever, it was able to prevent the boulders from crushing them.

"That really was awesome, Usopp!" current Chopper cheered as he applauded.

"Of course! What'd you think? That I was laying around eating for two years?" Usopp asked proudly as memory Chopper and Luffy continued to tell him how great that was. "It was a constant struggle to survive! I couldn't relax for a second!"

"That'll slow it down for a few seconds!" memory Usopp said with a smug grin before he turned and shouted to Surume, "Get away from the cliff while you have the chance, Surume!"

Surume didn't need telling twice, while the seaweed started to snap and break, he managed to get out from underneath all that falling rubble, making it to safety just as the seaweed began to snap apart and it all came falling down, right where they would have been mere seconds ago.

Once they were away from the landslide, memory Usopp was already starting to tell them about his adventures under his teacher, at least until past Nami told him that he could tell them all about it later.

"That's harsh, Yohohoho!" current Brook laughed happily.

"I'll be sure to tell you all the amazing adventures the great warrior of the sea, Usopp, had!" the current Usopp promised Luffy and Chopper, who applauded at the thought.

As they cheered, memory Luffy also took the time to tell Surume just what a great job he did as well. Soon, everyone was thanking him and began to chant Surume's name. Surume was enjoying it and happily began to dance as they fell down… at least until a large boulder fell directly above them and fell right on top of Surume's head.

"Oww…" current Franky winced. "That had to hurt."

Surume began to lose consciousness. He started teetering back and forth, until he fell down into the darkness of the trench, taking the screaming Straw Hats with him.

"What happened?!" Luffy demanded as darkness overcame his vision.

"This is what happened, remember, Luffy?" Robin reminded him gently.

"Oh, right," Luffy said before he sat down, impatiently waiting for something new to happen, which did almost at once. The darkness around them became light again, almost dazzling as they all had to cover their eyes thanks to the radiance.

"I'm still having a hard time that a place like this could be found on the bottom of the ocean," current Nami said, blinking hard to try and adjust to the brightness. Surume was lying on the soft sand with the Sunny lying on his back and tipped to its side as the memory Straw Hats were all starting to come to. Everyone alive and unscathed despite the journey down this far.

The rest of the present-day Straw Hats stared around them, admiring the beauty that they hadn't been able to really see before due to all the chaos that had happened. The area was full of brightly colored fish and whales that drifted about peacefully while there were tall tree-like pillars that surrounded an enormous bubble that was just above them. Among the flourishing plants that grew about them, they could see the entire island inside the bubble looking like it was made entirely of shells and bright coral.

"It's gorgeous," Nami sighed, smiling as she looked at it. They had been planning on coming here to Fishman Island for over two years… and to finally arrive really made the fact that they spent all that time apart as if no time had passed at all.

"Oh, I get a chance to see heaven again!" Sanji sighed longingly, thinking of all the beautiful mermaids that were still waiting for his return.

"We… we made it?" memory Usopp groaned out as he slowly blinked around them in confusion. "We're alive?"

Memory Robin was already on her feet and staring up in amazement. "Light?" she asked, moving her sunglasses down to help her see. "Even though we're this far from the surface?"

"It's so bright that it's blinding my eyes," memory Brook commented as the light shone through his empty eye sockets. "Though I have no eyes which to be blinded! Yohohoho!"

"Hey, everybody!" memory Luffy called. "Come and look at this!" He then pointed above their heads, his gaze drawn to the island, "Up there! Above us!"

Everyone began to gather to see what it was that he was looking at, still having trouble trying to make out what it was. But memory Luffy was asking Nami if that was the place.

"I would say that's a pretty safe guess," current Franky shrugged. "I don't really see too many other giant underwater islands."

"That would be so cool if there were others though," Luffy said as he thought it all over. A whole underwater series of islands to go to?! That would've been freakin' amazing!

Memory Nami looked at the Log Pose's needle and grinned. "Yep!" she answered Luffy. "There's no doubt about it! The needle's pointing directly at that island! That's…"

"Fishman Island!" both Luffy's finished with an excited yell. Soon there were cries of excitement coming from all over the crew as they stared up at the island.

"Look at us," current Robin chuckled. "It's like we're a bunch of kids who are going to an amusement park or something. It's really quite adorable."

"We've never been to a place like this," Franky beamed out as he struck a pose. "It sure was a SU~PER sweet place to visit!"

"You think we'll ever come back here?" Chopper asked eagerly.

"Of course, we have to go back someday," Nami smiled. "We promised Shirahoshi that we would take her to a real forest one day, didn't we?"

"Ah, that is true!" Brook said at once. "And one must always keep their promises to their friends no matter how difficult they are! Yohohoho!"

"Oh, happy day!" Sanji sighed, "To think that I will one day see this paradise again…? I cannot wait!"

Surume soon awoke to their enthusiastic cries and straightened the Sunny on his head like it was a hat, so that the memory Straw Hats could get a better look. Memory Luffy was roaring with laughter.

"WE DID IT!" he cheered. "WE MADE IT!"

"One of the most famous spots on the Grand Line!" past Franky cheered as he struck his pose and Luffy continued to dance in joy.

"Oh? So we're here?" asked a voice in the barrel before he began to laugh… at least until memory Zoro slammed his foot down on top to keep him quiet.

"Uh, guys?" asked the current Zoro. "What was in there?"

"What? Oh, that's where we locked Muddy, remember?" present-day Usopp reminded him.

"Oh, right," Zoro nodded. "Whatever happened to him?"

"Not sure," Usopp muttered as he thought it over. What did happen to that loser?

But meanwhile, memory Sanji was completely out of reality.

"The island were the mermaids dance!" he sworn, his smoke from his cigarette actually taking on the forms of mermaids and little hearts. "The home of the beautiful mermaid princess! Finally, I'm here! The paradise I've dreamt about since I was a kid!"

Soon, both he and memory Brook were dancing arm-in-arm.

"Mermaids! Mermaids!" they sang together and they weren't the only ones either for their present-day selves joined them until they resembled some kind of show as danced together… at least until memory Sanji couldn't hold back the excitement and he had another nosebleed. Not as bad as the ones before, but still enough for blood to drip down his face.

"Really? What is wrong with you?" current Zoro asked, shaking his head in disgust.

"Just the thought of one of my dreams actually happening was too much to bear especially after the hell I suffered through for two years," Sanji sniffled as he stared with tears falling down his face. "I deserved it, didn't I?"

"Really, where were you think he was for those two years?" current Usopp whispered to the others in astonishment.

"Whatever it was, just thinking about it seems to be a traumatic experience," Robin whispered back, "It does make one wonder… it's actually kind of intriguing if you think about it?"

"SANJI!" memory Usopp cried out in panic. "It's hopeless! Just thinking about mermaids is causing this!"

"Sanji!" past Chopper cried as past Sanji's eyes rolled back and he slowly fell with a loud thud to the deck as Usopp and Chopper were by his beside. With the blood dripping down his face, his fistful of pictures clenched in his hand and his crewmates at his side, it looked like Sanji was on his deathbed… it really was depressing… and pathetic if you think about it.

"I'm so sorry, Sanji," memory Chopper wept. "It'd be better if you didn't meet real mermaids!" He reached over to grab hold of his hand, still holding the pictures. Like he was truly sorry that he couldn't cure him from an incurable disease and he was now denying him is final wish.

"This is so stupid," current Nami whispered.

"For once, you and I are in agreement," Zoro told her.

"Doctor!" memory Usopp cried out mournfully. "Meeting the mermaids of Fishman Island is his dream!"

"But if he meets them, he'll die!" past Chopper cried out.

"Would that have been such a bad thing, really?" present-day Zoro asked as Luffy laughed.

"Oh no!" memory Usopp gasped as Sanji reached up and pushed Chopper's hand away.

"I don't care!" he gasped out.

"Sanji!" memory Usopp gasped.

"Rather than live longer without a dream," past Sanji gasped as he raised his hand up and let the pictures fall, "I wanna die while staring at the mermaids in a disgusting way!"

"You're scum!" memory Usopp shouted at him.

"Yes, he is," current Nami nodded firmly.

"Oh, come on, Nami-swan…" current Sanji sighed. "Don't say such cruel things."

"Whatever it takes," memory Sanji started, fire burning his body as confidence raged around him when he pushed himself to his feet. "I WILL SEE THOSE MERMAIDS!"

"So serious!" memory Chopper gasped.

"The flames of perversion?!" past Usopp asked.

"Seriously, what is wrong with this picture here?" current Zoro asked, sweat drops hanging from pretty much the whole crew as they watched the dramatic scene.

Memory Luffy, who wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the conversation, was now drooling.

"I'm so excited!" memory Luffy moaned out, "I wonder what kind of meet they have on Fishman Island?"

"They had some good food…" current Luffy whimpered, sticking out his lower lip as his stomach was starting to grumble.

"Look," current Sanji said, "I promise to make dinner after we find Sunny and get off the island. Ok?"

Luffy still pouted that he couldn't eat now, but the thought of some of Sanji's cooking seemed to mollify him for the moment.

"Luffy," memory Nami asked, giving him a pat on the shoulder, "Could you wipe the drool off your face and ask Surume to help us find the entrance?"

But before Luffy could give the order, memory Franky got their attention as he shouted out, "Hey! What's with those guys?!"

They all looked up at once to see what he was pointing at. Outside, the Straw Hats were all suddenly surrounded by a pack of sea monsters that looked like they would've been more home in a jungle or something rather than the sea. There were sea monsters in the forms of an elephant, giraffe, gorilla, rhino, bear, and a lion… and just the sight of these massive creatures had Surume freeze-up in fear.

"Where do you think they found these guys?" current Sanji asked curiously as he looked at them.

"A zoo?" Robin offered with a shrug.

"Wish we could've eaten one of them," present-day Luffy said, thinking of the meal he could've had from just one of them. If nothing else, he wished he could've rode one of them.

"It's a herd of sea monsters!" memory Nami shrieked.

"WE'RE DONE FOR!" past Usopp shouted out, "AND AFTER WE MADE IT SO FAR!"

"These sea monsters are so cool!" past Luffy cried out excitedly before he noticed the shadow of a smaller figure. "Someone's riding them?" he went on in confusion.

"They really are super cool!" current Luffy nodded in agreement. "I bet that they could've pulled the ship here really fast! Can you imagine riding them?!"

"Honestly? No," present-day Usopp confessed.

"Why are you taking orders from the likes of humans, Kraken?" a voice spoke from the back of the Sea Giraffe. Surume seemed to gasp in horror before he dropped Sunny and quickly turned to run as far away as possible, running almost as fast as he did when trying to escape the magma, while the Sunny was spinning wildly out of control.

"Surume, come back!" memory Luffy yelled angrily. "Where are you going?! We only had a bit farther to go!"

"Huh, I wonder why he was so scared?" current Luffy asked puzzled.

"Maybe because he was outnumbered and those sea monsters are pretty big?" Chopper suggested, wishing that he thought to see if he could talk to Surume.

"This isn't the time for that!" memory Usopp bawled, "Hold on! Don't get thrown off!"

"My eyes are spinning!" memory Chopper gasped, looking dizzy.

"Mine are too!" past Brook cried out, "Though I don't have eyes that can spin!"

"Are you ever going to get tired of those skull jokes?" present-day Robin asked curiously.

Brook didn't even need time to think it over.

"Nope," he answered brightly, "Yohohoho! They are my thing, Robin-san. I cannot ever give them up!"

When Sunny finally stopped spinning, they skidded across the sandy bottom before they came to rest looking up at the rest of the sea monsters.

"W-We've ended up right in the middle of the heard of sea monsters!" memory Usopp shrieked.

"You're the Straw Hat Crew, aren't you?" that same voice from before spoke up.

"W-Who are you?" memory Luffy demanded. "How do you know who we are?"

"Well, I'm guessing our flag gave it away," current Franky sighed. Really, what good were flags if no one bothered to look at them and put two and two together?

"Of course I know about you," that obnoxious voice answered. "You're the pirates who took out Arlong's crew." At the mention of the name, memory Nami's eyes widen in horror, turning ghostly white as the memories were still silently tormenting her. "If that was all you had done, then this would've been a lot easier. But of all things, two years ago you defended Hachi, a former member of Arlong's crew. And from what I hear, you also beat up one of those damned Celestial Dragons!"

The one speaking was one of three Fishmen whom were looking down at them from the back of the giraffe sea monster, and were looking down with great interest. The Fishman out in front was the one whom was speaking, a slim, bright yellow Fishman with puffy orange hair and small beard. The next Fishman was a rather stocky, beige-colored Fishman with brown spots on his thick neck, pink trailing with yellow tips on his head and neck. Some kind of lion-fish Fishman…

And the last figure was actually a merman, and an octopus one at that. His upper half was in a black open suit and loose tie. He also had octopus legs with large blue eye-like motifs on them. He had unkempt hair, human-like arms, and his mouth looked just like Hachi's as he drank out a flask of sake.

"I remember that loser," current Zoro said, glaring up with one eye at the octopus.

"Of course you would remember fighting a drunk swordsman," present-day Sanji muttered darkly. "It must be like looking in a mirror. You're both ugly enough."

"You are so dead…" Zoro snarled.

"I dare you," Sanji retorted coldly.

"Acts worthy of our beloved Fisher Tiger, the hero of Fishman Island!" the Fishman out in front declared.

"Fisher… Tiger?" memory Robin repeated slowly.

"Right…" the current Robin said, having heard that name from Koala before… how much she admired and looked up to the man. She supposed she shouldn't have been so surprised to hear about him here at Fishman Island.

"I can't decide what to do with you," the Fishman went on, looking down at them with a smug superiority that made them all want to hit him. "Hey, tell me. Are you friends or foes? I'll let you choose. Will you join us? The New Fishman Pirates? Or will you refuse? If you refuse, we'll sink you here and now."

"He's calling that a choice?" current Usopp asked. "Not really much options."

"I chose the third option," present-day Zoro answered.

"Which is…?" Franky asked, though already having a good idea to what he was going to say.

"That they get the hell outta our way or we take them all out," Zoro shrugged.

"Like hell I was gonna follow them," Luffy said firmly as he sat down and folded his arm.

"What?" memory Luffy demanded as past Nami whispered to Franky to hurry up and refuel. The current Nami nodded, knowing that it was their only choice here. Since they all knew that Luffy, past or present, would never listen to what they said. But the problem was that they were at the ocean floor and that meant that if they tried to fight here, then they were as good as dead. So she planned to use up all their remaining air for a Coup de Burst and just charge straight to the island. It may have been crazy, but it was either take this chance or they came all this way just to die.

Memory Robin, who was listening in as the others were looking horrified by such a plan, nodded grimly. She agreed with what Nami said, soon followed by the rest of the crew for they were unable to think of any way out of it.

After a moment of hesitation, memory Usopp was onboard with the plan as well, he went running to the Energy Room, telling Franky to take the wheel while he refueled it. Everyone went running around, readying themselves for the blast-off. They tied things down and folded the sails while waiting for Usopp to finish pouring cola into the engine.

If the Fishmen noticed, they didn't seem the least bit concerned.

"So, will you become our underling, Straw Hat Luffy?" the Fishman laughed.

"Why should we? What made him think that we ever would've joined that idiot?" current Sanji asked as he lit up another cigarette.

He glanced over to memory Luffy, who kept his head down, his eyes shadowed over by his hat before he smirked and looked up. "No way! Morons!" he shouted back.

"Well said," current Zoro said approvingly as the present-day Luffy smirked at the look on the Fishman's face. Even from this distance was looking angry.

"You refuse…" the Fishman said slowly, as though he had been mortally insulted. "You reject my invitation to join the New Fishman Pirates?"

"That's what he just said isn't it?" current Robin asked in amusement.

"Besides, it's more a death threat than an invitation," current Brook added.

"In that case," the Fishman declared, his eyes twitching, "You are enemies of all Fishmen! Just a group of sinful humans!"

"Like you're so much better!" current Chopper shouted out loudly.

"Who's he calling sinful?" present-day Nami asked in deep annoyance. Just decide all humans are evil just because a lot of them are assholes? How was this guy any better? Join or die… really, just what made him think that they were so much better by forcing them to either join him or death?

Memory Luffy responded by pulling his face out and sticking his tongue out as he taunted them. "Idiots! Why should I become your underling?"

"I have yet to hear a good reason," present-day Franky nodded as Brook laughed.

"Like we can be controlled anyway, Yohohoho!" the present-day one happily.

"Luffy!" memory Chopper pleaded, "You really shouldn't taunt them."

"Actually," current Robin interrupted kindly, "I think that it worked out for us. It's good that he's keeping them distracted."

"Really? I guess so…" the current Chopper said as he looked on and saw that she was right. The Fishmen were all focused on Luffy insulting them and not really paying attention to what the rest of the crew were doing.

"What a shame," the Fishman sighed as if a deal he had been hoping to go in favor had just been canceled, "There's no way I can let you pass now. You're gonna sink, right here!"

He then ordered the Sea Lion to attack.

"I've finished refilling the fuel!" they heard memory Usopp's voice called over the Transponder Snail that memory Franky held. "Franky! We're good to go!"

"You know, that couldn't have come any sooner," current Nami stated with a smile as she began nudging Usopp in the side with her elbow. "Good save."

Usopp smirked back, rubbing his nose as he said, "Of course! You know you can always count on the great Usopp to save you all when you need him most!"

"Roger that!" memory Franky called in understanding as the Fishman ordered the Sea Lion to sink them all.

Memory Luffy held up his fist, shouting out, "Wanna fight?"

He wasn't the only one raring to go, for both memory versions of Zoro and Sanji were in full agreement as they readied themselves for a fight. But the whole time, power started to gather at the back of the ship until it began to glow, about to fire.

"Do it, Franky!" memory Nami cried out.

"The Sunny's a lion too!" memory Franky shouted to the closest of the sea monsters—the lion—and declared, "Let's settle the score later, Sea Lion!"

"Shame we never had a chance to settle that score," current Franky sighed before adding confidently, "Though I think the winner would've been clear from the start."

"Here goes…" memory Franky said as he pulled the lever, "Coup de… BURST!"

The Sea Lion opened its mouth wide, preparing to swallow Sunny whole, but Sunny moved so fast that it was a blur. It blasted right through the water, leaving nothing but a stream of bubbles in its wake as it projected itself straight for the island. All the while, their protective bubble continued to shrink, their air disappearing and flattening their memory selves until they were all pressed against the deck like a toy inside a protective casing.

"H-hey!" memory Luffy cried. "What's happening?!"

"We're gonna be squished!" past Chopper gasped, his tongue rolling out as he struggled to even breath as the bubble continued to press tightly against them. Memory Brook was already sounding like he could hardly draw breath.

"I cannot fill my lungs!" past Brook panted. "Though, I do not have lungs!"

"I have to say," current Sanji said, while the other present-day Straw Hats were able to remain on their feet as they rode the ship through the water. "This wasn't one of our better entrances."

"Endure it!" memory Nami cried, though it was looking very painful for her to do so as well. "Just until we break through to Fishman Island!"

"We're almost there!" memory Franky added, now a good distance away from their enemies.

"Wait for me my dear mermaids!" memory Sanji called desperately as he pushed against the bubble, determined to stay on his feet. Once they reached the island, they collided with the side of the bubble, pressing their way through it until they were between the two bubbles… but what they didn't expect was for their coating to be torn off on their way inside.

Soon they could all stand again as air came rushing back to them.

"The bubble came off!" memory Luffy cried out. "It was absorbed by the giant bubble!"

"Just our luck," current Franky sighed.

Memory Brook gasped as he pointed ahead, "Look! What's happening?!"

Memory Robin gasped in realization. "The bubble has two layers!" she called, "A normal ship would plummet to the bottom between them!"

"Why have two bubbles anyway?!" present-day Luffy shouted out in confusion.

"In case one pops the other will be there to protect the island, I suppose!" current Usopp shouted back.

"We're about to hit the second one!" past Franky shouted. "Hold on tight!"

Everyone braced themselves, grabbing hold of something nailed down as they waited for impact. The ship collided with the second bubble, slowly pushing their way through. But what they did not expect was the water that was waiting.

Memory Zoro cursed loudly before they were all the way through and were suddenly underwater again, only now they had no bubble to protect them. The present-day Straw Hats could only watch how the ship stopped dead in its tracks as it was suddenly at the mercy of the current like a toy ship in a bathtub. The memory Straw Hats were flung off, unable to hold on and were floundering in the water.

Even those who could swim were helpless against the strength of the current, and present Zoro was also shaking his head at the sight of all this. Jeez, what good were they? They made it all the way to the island, only to almost drown this way? He held nothing against the Devil Fruit Users in a case like this, but the rest of them?

His memory self and Sanji were both reaching out, desperate to reach the others, but were being carried away in countless directions. The memory versions of Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper were caught up in the flow and were carried away from the others, spinning out of their sights as they were taken below. Sunny was carried off on another current, almost in the complete opposite direction as memory Zoro was carried away upwards. The last thing that they saw was memory Nami drifting off in another direction as past Franky managed to reach out and grab hold of the only Straw Hat that was close enough: Robin.

Everything faded out at that… and the next thing that they realized was that they were back in the room they were in before, with no idea how they got there. The room was just like how they left it, just the empty space and the two doors that stood on either side.

Zoro strolled passed them to the door and threw it open, cursing out to see that there was another stone wall where the stairs down had once been.

"I can see this happening a lot, so maybe we should get used to it," Robin offered.

"You know something?" Brook whispered tearfully. "This place isn't good for my heart… ah! Though I don't actually have one, Yohohoho!"

"I don't like this place, it's scary!" Chopper sniffled a little, wanting to go back home to the Sunny.

"Are you kidding? Man, this is the coolest tower ever!" Luffy laughed, "I can't wait to see what's waiting for us on the next floor!"

"Coolest tower? It's not normal! Nothing about this place is making sense!" Usopp snapped back at him.

He then turned to the others, who were still looking around curiously,

"Hey, c'mon guys! Let's get going!" Luffy called and before anyone could stop him, he bolted, heading straight to the door opposite them and wrenched it open to see the stairs.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled, "No! Wait up!"

They all knew that there was no helping it and they went running after him to keep up. They had to clamber up the stairs, some of the more excitable Straw Hats actually falling over each other as they tried to follow.

Zoro was the last one to do so… but as he neared the door, he suddenly felt another chill in the already cold air and he stopped for a moment, feeling a great sense of unease. He turned around to face the room, glaring around, but he was fairly sure that no one was there… yet… why did it feel like there were eyes watching them from within the walls?

Why did this whole place send shivers down his spine for another reason than the cold? He stood there for a moment longer until the feeling of unease faded. He followed after the others—not noticing how the ghostly image of a clawed hand seemed to be reaching for his neck… missing him by less than an inch as he stepped through the door that would take them to floor 3.


	4. Floor 3: Mermaids and Perverts

**Floor 3: Mermaids and Perverts**

"Luffy?!" Nami called in frustration as they climbed up the stairs. "Could you wait up for once? Don't go charging in!"

"But it stopped just when we were getting to the good part!" Luffy called back as he spotted the next door. "I wanna see what happens next!"

"Luffy, we don't know what's going on! Besides, you already know what happens!" Sanji yelled, only gritting his teeth when he heard a door opening up and knew that Luffy already made it to the next floor. "Dammit, why doesn't he ever listen?!"

"He's Luffy! It's what he does," Usopp reminded him as they continued to climb up and spotting the open door.

"He's gonna get himself killed one day," Nami gasped out.

"Or all of us," Usopp panted as they went burst over the threshold into the next room, only for the door to, once again, slam shut behind them.

"Damn, I am really starting to hate this place," Franky hissed. "Someone's definitely toying with us here. And I am not happy about it."

"Hey, Luffy," Zoro scolded. "What if something happened? We have to stay together until we get some answers."

Luffy rubbed his head, as if he just remembered that he promised to stay with the others. "Sorry," he said. "But I was just going up the stairs! It's not like you can get lost here."

"Knowing Moss-Head, he'd find a way," Sanji spoke up as the images around them began to change, and Zoro was giving him a deeply annoyed look, like he was imagining slicing off his head.

"And remember the last time you did that?" Nami added darkly. "We found you out cold on the ground. Jeez, think before you act. That's not too much to ask, is it?" Then she remembered who she was talking to and added with a sigh, "Then again, maybe it is."

The images were becoming clearer and light was returning quickly. Nami was just wondering if she could somehow put a leash on Luffy when the room started to show up around them.

"Where's this?" she asked.

"Oh! I know it!" Chopper cried out at once in excitement, recognizing the place at once. "This is Camie's house! This was where we woke up after we ended up in the water again!"

"Right! I remember this! The mermaids found us and saved us before drowning," Luffy said happily.

"Really?" Brook asked as the house soon came into focus and he could get a good look around. It was a small and humble place to live, but it was clean, with half the floor full of water and bright colors all around that practically shouted out the bubbly personality that the person who lived there had. "I like it," he decided. "It makes my heart feel so happy! Not that a skeleton has a heart, Yohohoho!"

"Hey, look," Usopp said happily, "There we are."

He was right, laying on a large, clam-shaped bed were the memory versions of Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper—all of them apparently sleeping, and having been changed out of their wet clothes into Criminal brand shirts and casual clothes.

"AH! CAMIE!" current Sanji cried out in joy when the mermaid entered. Not much had changed about her over the last two years, she did grow a bit since then, looking a little less child-like, and developed more of a womanly figure. She was wearing a black Criminal brand spaghetti strapped top with a jagged hem and some new jewelry of a red-beaded necklace and a flowery bracelet.

"Oh, she just grows more beautiful every time I see her!" Sanji gasped out, his eyes replaced with hearts as he watched her move around the kitchen with adoration as she began making up some food for her guests when they wake up.

"It wasn't that long ago when we last saw her though," Chopper said, tilting his head in confusion as Robin merely gave him a pat on the head.

"It's alright. Let him dream," she told him kindly. They watched as memory Sanji was the first to wake up, and when he saw Camie, he went nuts—drooling over the sight of her as the others all began to come too. Memory Usopp and Chopper both woke up at the same time just as five tiny identical-looking mermaids, each one of them looking nearly alike but for the different clothes and hair color, came drifting in, looking at them curiously. Once memory Luffy started to stir, they were looking over him inquisitively…

"I can't help but feel like we were on display all of a sudden," current Usopp couldn't help but say as memory Luffy's eyes slowly began to open as they talked. They had a very strange speech pattern. One would start off by saying a regular statement. The next would then make an exclamatory version of the first one's statement, followed by the third stating the complete opposite of the original statement. The fourth then questioned the original statement, and lastly, the fifth mermaid then questioned if the original statement mattered or not. All in all, it seemed to take a long time trying to get a point across.

Memory Luffy suddenly coughed, spitting out a large amount of water that was still inside him, scaring the little mermaids, who then took off to hide behind Camie. At the sight of their captain waking up and breathing normally, the memory Straw Hats were all smiling in relief.

"Alright!" memory Usopp cried, punching the air. "He's awake!"

"Don't make us worry about you all the time," current Usopp said, poking there Luffy in the head. "We knew you would be alright, but that doesn't give you the right to scare us like that!"

"Sorry," current Luffy laughed back as he rubbed the back of his head. "I don't really remember anything after we hit the water like that."

"Luffy!" past Chopper cheered as memory Luffy was looking around with confusion at the others. Still spilling out whatever water was in his lungs, he slowly sat up, taking several deep breaths as he looked around the bright room.

"Where are we?" he asked confused.

"Luffy-chin!" Camie called happily, still working on the food as the five small mermaids were half hiding behind her, looking at them with a mixture of curiosity and fear. "I'm so glad you're alright!" she smiled. "How you feeling?"

"Oh, dear, sweet Camie… you truly are a living angel," current Sanji sighed lovingly. "Would that I could thank you for taking such good care of us."

"We want her to stay our friend, not make her regret ever knowing us," Nami hissed, pulling on his ear. "She could do better than you."

"Nami-swan, why must you be so unkind to me?" Sanji sighed, not even minding that she was tugging painfully on his ear. "I will have you know that I would do nothing but treat Camie like a princess!"

Nami sighed in annoyance at him, but she had to admit, he was someone whom she was confident enough to believe that. Whatever else he may be, Sanji would never mistreat a woman. She supposed that any woman who did fall in love with him would be lucky… maybe…

"Camie?!" memory Luffy asked. "Whoa! It really is you! It's really been a long time!"

"Yeah, it really was great to see her again," the current Luffy smiled happily.

"And it's really good to see that she looked like she's being doing great too," Usopp added brightly.

"Oh, Camie!" memory Sanji swooned dancing over to her and scaring the little mermaids. "You're even cuter than you were the last time I saw you, Caimi-chwan!"

"You're scaring everyone! Would you behave yourself for once?" Nami demanded, giving their Sanji a slap on the head. She took back what she thought before. They weren't even here for that long and already he was making people scared of them.

Thankfully, Camie didn't seem to be the least bit bothered by any of his antics, merely beaming at them as she answered, "It's been a really long time. I'm so happy to see you all again!"

"Wait… Camie is here?!" memory Luffy repeated slowly. "So that means…" It seemed to take a moment for his mind to remember before he happily proclaimed, "We're on Fishman Island?!"

"Where did you think we were?" the current Usopp asked, nudging Luffy curiously, who shrugged back.

"I thought that I was in heaven," present-day Sanji sighed.

"Yeah!" past Chopper answered with a smile. "Apparently some mermaids saved us while we were about to drown!"

"Right," past Usopp nodded as he thought it all over. "We were all unconscious until a few minutes ago."

Once he calmed down, memory Sanji came back over, carrying Luffy's hat. "This is Camie's house," he explained. "Here, your hat." He threw it like a disk, which Luffy caught with his head.

"I'm amazed you managed to hang onto it despite the fact that we were underwater," Robin added to him.

"Yeah, I'm glad," Luffy agreed as he moved his own hat up from hanging around his neck until it was back on his head. He was suddenly grateful that Nami thought to put the string on to hang onto it in battle for him.

"Camie's house, huh?" memory asked as he looked around the small, but bright room.

"I'm sorry, guys," said Camie in embarrassment. "I meant to pick you guys up, earlier, but I didn't think you were coming until _next_ month."

"Don't sweat it," memory Luffy said lightly before he looked around, finally realizing that they were the only ones here. "Hey, where are the others?"

"You just noticed we weren't there, pal?" Franky smirked sarcastically. "Thanks a lot!"

"Oh, you could take care of yourselves," current Sanji answered back. "You just like to be at the center of attention."

"Ow! Maybe, but I'm better than Brook!" Franky offered.

"Yohohoho! Of course! Who doesn't love being the life of the party?" Brook laughed happily. "Just thinking about it, makes me want to sing, Yohohoho!"

Robin merely shook her head in fondness. Now that she thought about it, they were all a bit attention-seeking. Though it wasn't really like a nasty need for attention, more like a little kid looking for attention. Trying to be the center of all the action. It was really quite endearing if you thought about it.

"Well…" memory Chopper confessed slowly, as if hesitant of speaking like he was afraid of worrying Luffy. "It looks like we all got separated. The others aren't here. I sure hope they're ok."

"Really?" memory Luffy asked.

"Yeah," past Sanji explained, "I tried to reach for them as long as I could, but we were the only ones dragged to the bottom."

"That current was crazy," Franky nodded bitterly. "I was barely able to move the whole time. I had to use up some cola to get us out of there."

"Which I am grateful to you for rescuing me," Robin smiled at him, and Franky blushed a little.

"Of course!" he declared as he struck a pose. "You know you can always count on SUPER me!"

But memory Luffy just smiled reassuringly at Chopper. "Well, I'm sure they'll manage somehow," he said confidently. The three memory Straw Hats with him, seemed surprised at first, but then again, he was right. It wasn't like two years ago when that stunt could've gotten them all killed. They were more than able to take care of themselves.

"Though, I do hope that the next time we come here, we'll just use the entrance," present-day Chopper sighed, having hated that feeling of almost drowning. Especially after they finally met up again after all that happened.

"I hear ya," Nami nodded firmly.

"Ah, but it's almost like our calling card to make a grand entrance!" Franky reminded her.

"Yes, just like our grand exits! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed as he began to hum into his microphone. "Makes you wonder what we will come up with next!"

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Nami retorted coldly. "Our 'grand entrances' are gonna kill us one day!"

"I guess," memory Sanji said as he thought it all over. "Bones won't be much good in the water, but they've got the robot and Moss-Head with them. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Hey! We have names, you know!" Brook answered back. "Don't tell me you forgot all about us in just two years?"

"I thought of Nami and Robin every single day while I was away from them!" current Sanji retorted. "To be separated from them like that was no different than having my heart torn out and stomped on the floor!"

"That's right! I'm sure they're fine!" memory Chopper said, looking much comforted by the other's confidence.

"I want to see the others, too!" Camie said, holding up a platter of drinks for them. "Ah here, you all must be cold, right? I made you some soup to warm you right up!" they all got excited as she held out the bowls. "Ta-daaah! Cold seaweed soup," she said happily. "It's delicious!"

There was a pause as they looked from her to the drinks.

"Cold? Using cold soup to warm everyone up?" Zoro asked slowly. "Really?"

"She's so sweet," Robin chuckled. "I guess it's the thought that counts."

"I just wanna know what she was thinking when she decided to give us that?" Usopp nodded carefully.

"Uh… cold soup?" past Usopp repeated slowly.

"Yep," she answered before she seemed to realize what the problem was.

"AAAAAH!" she screamed out like it was something truly terrible. "WHAT AM I THINKING?! COLD SOUP CAN'T WARM YOU UP! OH, I MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!"

And suddenly she and Usopp were screaming together. "I GOT IT WRONG!"

"I'll say you have!" past Usopp yelled back.

"What is wrong with you?" Zoro demanded. "It's nothing to shout about?!"

"I don't know, I guess I got caught up in it?" present-day Usopp muttered as he turned red. Truthfully, he couldn't believe that it took Camie that wrong to realize that she was making a cold soup.

"Don't worry, Camie!" memory Sanji said, a thick blush on his face as he sipped his drink. "It's warming up my heart!"

"Just the kind gesture from such a beautiful woman was enough for my heart to be set ablaze!" current Sanji nodded sagely. "That was more than enough to warm me up!"

"Hey, Sanji, don't hog it all!" memory Luffy exclaimed, tugging at the cook's arm. "Lemme have some, too!"

"Well, at least we don't need to worry about you insulting our hosts by never clearing your plate," current Sanji sighed as he patted Luffy on the head like a faithful dog. "It's considered rude not to eat something your host makes."

"I thought that it tasted really good!" current Luffy said brightly, his hand over his stomach and wishing that he had some right now despite the cold air.

Just then, the five little mermaids came back, though none of them realized that they had left—having been so happy to be able to catch up with Camie after all this. They were each holding up a piece of a sheet that had the Straw Hats neatly folded clothes inside, having been dried for them. They started passing them all out as their memory selves thanked them before memory Luffy asked who they were.

"Oh, they're my friends," Camie answered. "They're the Medaka Mermaid Quintuplets."

Now that they came out from behind Camie, they were able to get a much better look at them. All five of them had thick curly hair, almost like mini afros, and tails with white stripes—as well as each wearing cowboy hats and bubble rings which let them hover in the air like they were swimming through water.

The first one who spoke was a redhead with a green-striped tail, a white top and a green cowboy hat with white polka-dots.

"I'm Ichika!" she said brightly. The second mermaid to speak up was blond with a red-striped tail, with a matching red top and hat.

"I'm Nika!" she added just as brightly.

The third had orange hair with a blue-striped tail, top, and hat as she spoke up, "I'm Sanka!"

The next one had bright pink-hair with a white hat and a brown striped tail and top. Like her sisters, she added, "I'm Yonka!"

While the last mermaid had dark brown hair, a yellow-striped tail, a black top and a leopard-printed hat and finished, "I'm Yonka #2!"

"Why not Goka?!" asked past Usopp.

"I think that their parents just got lazy with the names," Zoro shrugged.

"Well, five at once… I guess that they just picked that name until they could think of another and it just stuck?" Franky offered.

"That sound so ridiculous, yet it wouldn't surprise me," Nami sighed with a shake of her head.

"They're fast swimmers and are really smart," Camie added.

"Really?" Luffy laughed as he pulled his clothes back on.

"This is the bottom of the Mermaid Inlet," Camie explained, holding out her arms in welcome, "This is the girl's dormitory for the Mermaid Café. A lot of my friends live here, too."

"She really shouldn't have said that," Nami sighed. And like she thought, memory Sanji gasped as steam blew out of his nose as he straightened his tie.

"G-G-G-Girl's Dormitory?" he choked.

At that, both memory Chopper and Usopp gasped in horror. "Crap!" they cursed.

"You almost died just looking at Nami and Robin!" present-day Chopper said fearfully. "And to see so many mermaids in one place could have killed you!"

"It almost did," current Usopp muttered darkly under his breath.

"Though, I guess we should just be happy that now you are completely cured," Chopper went on with a sigh of relief. "I don't know how we could have gone on if we had to keep worrying about you almost bleeding to death."

"Darn," Zoro sighed. "We could've gotten ourselves a new cook. One who would actually be useful."

"What? I'm going to fry you up one of these days, Moss-Head!" Sanji retorted. "At least they don't have to worry about constantly giving me directions to where the fight is!"

Zoro's eye twitched horribly as his hand went to his swords.

"You wanna fight about it?" he demanded.

"Anytime you are!" Sanji snapped back, the two glaring as sparks of anger flew between them.

"Do we have to put you boys in a corner or something to get you to behave?" Nami demanded, wishing that there was a way to put some kind of muzzles on their faces to get them to shut up.

"I don't know," Franky shrugged. "It's when they aren't arguing that you know that it's serious. So I guess we shouldn't really mind too much."

"It is getting old though," current Usopp sighed.

"Why don't we all just watch the memories?" Robin said, reminding them of where they were and that now wasn't the time to argue… though who knows how long that will last.

"Camie!" memory Sanji cried out, ignoring his crewmates cries of worry as more steam blew out of his nose and he was actually drooling as he asked her, "You said this was the Mermaid Café? What's that?"

"It's the café where I work as a waitress," Camie answered, not realizing that she was adding more fuel to the fire, "A lot of pretty mermaids work there."

"Well, that pretty much signed his death warrant," current Usopp sighed as memory Sanji gasped at whatever image had popped into his head. His face turned into an almost creepy-look as he slowly sank to the floor like he had been mortally wounded and was making his last stand.

"No! Sanji!" memory Chopper cried.

"Chopper, do something!" past Usopp shouted, clearly thinking that this shock was going to be too much for Sanji at the moment.

"LIKE HELL!" memory Sanji gasped as he stood up straight and tall.

"He's back!" both past Usopp and Chopper exclaimed in surprise. But Sanji didn't stay on his feet for long, having sank back to his knees, shuddering and quivering as he beat his hands on the floor.

"I swore to myself," he began, "that I wouldn't waste any time getting a nosebleed and pass out! So please…" he was crying now. "Shouldn't I be awarded for this?!"

"Wow," said current Usopp. "Such an earnest desire from one so perverted."

"This is just sad," Franky whispered, feeling so bad for Sanji here.

"You really are ruining our image of pirates," Zoro stated, almost feeling sorry for the cook. Was he dropped on his head as a baby? Maybe even more than one time judging by this.

Present-day Luffy blinked in confusion at the scene before Robin just smiled back and patted his shoulder gently as she said, "Hopefully, he's not too much of a bad influence on you. It's nothing to worry about. He'll be fine."

"I know!" Camie exclaimed. "Let's go up! I'll introduce you all to my friends!"

"Camie, please don't encourage him," Nami couldn't help but laugh a little at their friend's cluelessness. "I know you want to help, but you shouldn't really give him what he wants. Especially, if it's bad for his health."

It sure didn't take much to get everyone out the door, for all of them wanted to get a look at the island… however, the problem was that everything outside was already submerged. After Camie guided them to her balcony, she created a large bubble for them, ensuring that they were safe with their air supply before Camie led them to an enormous turtle with a whistle in his mouth and a bubble on his back. She explained was the Sea Turtle Elevator, which would take them upwards, before she then asked the turtled sweetly if he could take them up. The turtle blew his whistle in answer before it began to swim upwards.

"These are the underwater coral apartments," Camie said, already sounding like a tour guide as everyone stared out at the whole underwater city in awe. "My floor is on the lowest floor, since it's the cheapest. The higher levels, where the sunshine is are a lot more expensive."

"Wait," past Luffy asked. "So you mean you're poor? Oh, where are Hachi and Pappug?"

"You think that she would want to live with Pappug," current Usopp stated. "I mean… he has way too much room for a star fish."

"Oh, this doesn't look at all like a bad place to live either, Usopp-san," Brook reminded him. "Why, I'd give my soul for a chance to live here in a mermaid's paradise… ah! But I am just a soul now, aren't I? Yohohoho!"

"Hacchin got badly injured about a year ago," Camie replied Luffy's question.

"Yeah!" memory Luffy said, while the rest of them had been staring outside the bubble with bright eyes. "He was protecting the Sunny on the Sabaody Archipelago, wasn't he?"

"I heard that he's more or less recovered," Camie answered calmly. "Hacchin comes from the Fishman District, so he's resting up there."

"Yeah! I'm so glad that I had a chance to thank him for that," current Luffy added with a nod.

"Too bad that didn't last long," Nami sighed, thinking of how beaten up he was when she saw him in the Sea Forest. Still, if Chopper was the one who was treating him, then he was sure to make a full recovery. While a part of her still lamented the fact that he had been part of Arlong's crew, she was glad that she was able to let go any remaining hatred she had for Fishman in general. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she saw with her own eyes that not all Fishman were as evil as Arlong had been.

"The Fishman District?" memory Usopp questioned, turning away from the bubble as he looked back at her.

"That place is kind of a scary, actually," Camie confessed. "But I feel safe with you guys, so I don't mind giving you a tour."

"Sounds like a wild place," Zoro stated.

"Yeah, that's where Hody and his gang came from, remember?" Nami sighed. "I heard that place was forever cut off from the rest of Fishman Island and no one is allowed to live there anymore."

"I do hope they end up doing something with it, though," Brook offered. "I know that a lot of bad stuff happened there, but I also think that they may be able to use it for some good too, someday."

"Yeah," Chopper said softly, thinking of home, and how Doctorine had taken Wapol's castle and turned it into a medical academy now.

"Let's go down there, later!" memory Luffy decided. "I wanna go see Hachi and thank him!"

"Alright, sure thing Luffy-chin," Camie agreed before she added, "Oh! And about Pappug… he's a super famous designer so he's got a huge mansion up in Fishverly Hills, the most luxurious part of Fishman Island! I'm going there later today to deliver clams for him. You should all come along!"

"Was it really that big?" Zoro asked with a yawn, already bored. "I mean, how much room does a starfish need?"

"That's what I've been wondering," current Usopp muttered.

"I will say this for him, though," Nami stated. "For a starfish, he has good taste."

"But I thought that Pappug was your pet," memory Luffy asked. "Why don't you live together?"

"Well, I don't exactly fit in around there," Camie said, not sounding the least bit upset about that. "And the clams in these parts taste better anyway." She looked outside and said happily, "Oh, we're almost there!"

That was when Usopp caught sight of long, straw-like tubes that seemed to stretch all over and he was asking her about it. She was more than happy to explain how they worked, but she decided to show them. She pushed herself out of her bubble and swam upwards, with the others cheering at how fast she was going—with only memory Sanji gasping in horror, pleading for her to come back.

But soon, the turtle came up to the top level and let them out of the bubble and got a good look around. They stepped up onto some large, flat rocks and they looked around at the coral and the blue sky above them before they heard Camie's voice.

"Luffy-chin!" she called and they turned to see her in one of the tubes that curved in the air. "You see?" Camie asked as she began to follow the roads, "I can swim even through the sky!"

"That looks like fun!" memory Luffy cheered. "I wanna try it!"

"I wish I could swim like that," current Chopper sighed in longing as his past self and Usopp were gasping out, their eyes sparkling, at the fact that there was a sky and even clouds at the bottom of the ocean. "Not being able to swim is a pain sometimes," he then added as he sat down. Though, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if normal reindeer could even swim.

"Yeah, it sucks," Luffy nodded with him with a pout.

However, at that moment, female's voice called out, "Hey, Camie!"

Memory Sanji gasped upon hearing female voices, and was now staring around wildly with his present-day self and Brook, all of them wanting to get another look at the beautiful mermaids here.

"That… that was a woman's voice!" memory Sanji gasped, staring around, "W-Where are you?!"

Camie, who was at the top of one of the water roads, stopped and began to wave.

"Hey, everybody!" she called happily.

Memory Sanji was now staring wildly in the direction where Camie was waving and as soon as he spotted them, he looked as if his heart had just stopped beating. They were at an inlet which was full of giant shells and coral of every color you could think of. The bright light shone off the water, which was of the brightest shade blue, sending off little rainbows and making everything sparkle. And mermaids… dozens of them, each just as beautiful as the next, rested on the stones or played in the water.

At the sight of it, current Brook gasped, his hands over his chest as if he was having a heart attack, and fell back over, his eye sockets taking on the forms of hearts.

"Such beauty… that can't even be found in dreams…?" he gasped. "It takes my breath away… if I had any anyway…"

"How are your pirate friends, Camie?" asked one of the mermaids, looking at them curiously. "They almost drowned, right? Looks like they're okay."

"You're the ones who didn't come in through the entrance, aren't you?" asked another mermaid.

"Hello, there!" another greeted with a way. "You guys don't look so scary to me!"

"So they entered, illegally, huh?" asked another with a shrewd grin. "That's so wild! I just love pirates!"

"So welcoming aren't they?" Franky asked as he moved his sunglasses up and gave a loud whistle at the sight of it all.

"And we love you!" current Sanji and Brook sang out together, arm-in-arm, and reaching out like they hoped that they could touch them. At least until Nami hit them both, telling them to behave.

"Pathetic," Zoro sighed as he rolled his eye. What was wrong with them?

"Wow!" memory Usopp gasped out, his eyes shining brightly as he stared at it. "This is like a scene out of a fairy tale! An island of coral and a bay full of beautiful mermaids!"

Memory Sanji shuddered as he stared at the mermaids, and then… which both surprised the Straw Hats, and they were sort of expecting it, he burst into tears. He went running up as far as he could to the edge of the rock and he began to howl with tears flooding down his face.

"Sanji?!" memory Chopper gasped, "Why are you crying?!"

"He's crying harder than when he left the Baratie," memory Luffy staring at him.

"Yeah, you really were," current Luffy said, thinking back how that might have been the only time he ever saw Sanji really cry that hard.

"A dream that I had since I was little had finally come true!" current Sanji gasped out as he wiped his own tears away. "I bet that when you finally become King of the Pirates, you'll be crying like a baby too!"

"I finally found it!" memory Sanji declared as he punched the air. "THIS IS MY ALL BLUE!"

"No, it's not!" current Chopper cried out before Robin put her hands on his shoulders and silently shook her head.

"Let him dream," she told him, "At least he's not hurting anyone."

"No, but he sure caused us a lot of problems," current Usopp sighed, thinking back to the worry that he had given them before when he almost bled to death by nosebleed. What a stupid way to go.

"Are you really sure about that, Sanji?" past Usopp asked quietly.

Camie, who left the water road, burst out of the water and called out to her friends, "I'll introduce them to you! This one is Luffy-chin! He's the captain!"

"Yo!" memory Luffy said, holding up a hand in greeting. "Nice to meetcha!"

Memory Sanji was still sobbing as Camie went on, "The crying one is Sanji-chin! The one with the long nose is Usopp-chin…"

"Nice to meet you, ladies!" past Usopp greeted with a thumbs up.

"Then there's Chopper-chin, the raccoon dog!" she finished brightly.

"I'm a reindeer!" memory Chopper corrected.

Present-day Chopper sighed, not sure of what he could do to try and stop people from thinking that. He had antlers for crying out loud! What else did he need to convince them? Maybe he should be in his Walk Point a little more often…?

Just then, one of the mermaids then reached up and grabbed Sanji's hand, much to his surprise. She had bright green hair and a flower in it as she asked him what was wrong. With a wink, she asked if he wanted to come dancing in the water with her. Memory Sanji gasped, as if he couldn't believe his good luck and looked around, as if he didn't know what he should do… just then, he fell to his knees, tears falling faster than ever. It seemed that finally making it to Fishman Island and being asked to dance in the sea with beautiful mermaids seemed to be too much for him.

"Oh… I understand now," memory Sanji sobbed. "There is no way such joy could exist. I must have died today."

"What's with all this negative talk?!" questioned past Usopp, who was unable to believe that Black-Leg Sanji… someone who could face giant sea monsters, deadly assassins, and crazy marines, be reduced to such a state all at once. "Seriously, what happened to you in the last two years?! Isn't this island the paradise that you've always wanted to see?!"

"And I wouldn't have minded," current Sanji cried. "I was in paradise, and if heaven is anything like this, then I wouldn't mind dying. And if it was a dream, I didn't ever wanna wake up… OW!"

Zoro had given him a poke in the back with the tip of his sword.

"What was that for?!" he yelled at him.

"Just letting you know you weren't dreaming," Zoro answered with a smug smirk. "Though, the rest of us are still in a nightmare because you're still here."

"Damn you," Sanji snarled as Brook laughed.

"Ah, Sanji-san, let us just enjoy the beautiful sights! We shall be counting the days until the glorious day we return to these beautiful mermaids," Brook reminded him happily.

Meanwhile, memory Luffy was laughing. "Sanji, you're so funny!"

"This is not funny!" past Usopp retorted, just wanting some answers to what could have been so terrible to reduce Sanji to a quivering wreck.

"I told you before," current Sanji hissed at their Usopp. "Don't ask if you aren't prepared to hear such an answer!"

He just turned back, envying his past self, who was out of his mind with happiness. He began to rip off his clothes until he was just in his pants and soon there was laughter as the mermaids played in the bay… with Sanji frolicking with them.

"I… am going… TO LIVE HERE!" memory Sanji declared for all the world.

"Then why didn't you?" Zoro asked. Really, he would've been fine for leaving the idiot here. And if he was so happy here, why not stay behind?

"Sanji! You're so funny!" exclaimed one of the mermaids as she playfully chased after him and Zoro felt the need to gag.

Meanwhile, memory Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were sitting with Camie as they watched, with Luffy splashing his feet in the water as he pouted.

"Looks like he's back to his old self now that he's here," past Usopp said. "It must be because of sheer willpower."

"I'm not even going to ask," Nami sighed as memory Luffy lamented that all he could do was watch, expressing a wish that he wanted to swim too.

"Luffy-chin, you can swim too," Camie informed him, "if you wear a bubble."

"I can?!" past Luffy asked, excitedly. "Really?!"

"Sure," she answered, leaning up against the rock that Luffy was sitting on. "Just ask one of the technicians in town, and they'll make one up for you."

"Hey, Franky?!" the current Luffy suddenly asked. "You think you can come up with something like that for us?"

"Hey, yeah!" Chopper cried out in excitement. "That sounds really cool! Can you, Franky? It would be great to be able to swim like that."

"Indeed," Brook nodded. "It would be a relief to know that should something happen, we won't be completely helpless in the sea."

Franky thought that all over. "Dunno," he confessed. "I mean, we can't use those bubbles just anywhere so that may be a bit of a problem… but if there's one thing I love, it's a challenge! Alright! Just leave it to me! I'll start brainstorming some ideas once we get back to Sunny!"

Luffy, Chopper, and Brook all cheered at the idea—looking forward to whatever he could come up with as the others watched with amusement. Though they would be lying if they didn't like the idea of not having to worry about having to jump in after them if they fall overboard.

"Anyway, I'm relieved," memory Chopper said, still watching Sanji, "If he gets another nosebleed, I won't be able to treat him since I'm out of blood bags. And Sanji has a rare blood type as well."

"You had to jinx us," current Usopp had to nudge their Chopper who sighed back, privately thinking that it was like fate was laughing at them like this. Though, he supposed they should just be grateful that they managed to find two people with the same rare blood type when they needed them.

"Huh?" memory Usopp asked worriedly, "Are you sure he'll be alright?"

"Why do I have a bad feeling that something bad is gonna happen?" Franky couldn't help but ask.

"Because something did," current Chopper sighed.

"Hey, Camie!" memory Luffy suddenly spoke up. "There's somebody here on Fishman Island who I wanted see."

"Oh?" Camie mused. "Who is it? The Mermaid Princess?"

"Nope," Luffy answered before he grinned widely. "Jimbei!"

"OH!" the present-day Luffy cried out excitedly. "Jimbei! Does that mean we get to see Jimbei again?!"

"Looks like it," Nami smiled. "Of course, it would only be a memory…?"

"But it would be nice to see him again, even if it's only a memory," Robin added.

"Yeah, I can't wait until he joins us for real!" Usopp cheered out with Brook.

"You think he really will join us?" Chopper asked with bright eyes.

"He promised us, didn't he?" Luffy asked happily.

Brook nodded before he added, "Yes, but he is a man, and has other duties that must be taken care of first. But he promised us that the next time we meet, he would join."

"Good," Zoro said. "Though I think we should have warned him what he was getting himself into. This is one hell of a crew."

"Yohohoho," Brook laughed, "But that's what makes us so much fun!"

"You mean Boss Jimbei, Luffy-chin?" asked Camie in surprise.

"Wait a minute!" memory Usopp cried. "Jimbei? As in 'Knight of the Sea' Jimbei?! You know TWO Warlords now?! Oh… wait, he quit during the war so I guess he's an ex-Warlord now."

"Yep!" past Luffy answered. "He's my friend!"

Memory Usopp's mouth fell open in horror.

"HOW IS IT THAT YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE?!" he questioned. "First you know the Pirate Empress, and now this?"

"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that out," the current Usopp muttered as Sanji froze at the mention of the Pirate Empress.

"That makes two of us!" he cried out before he swung around and grabbed Luffy by the front of his shirt and shook him as he demanded, "HOW CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU GET SUCH A BEAUTY?!"

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked. "She's my friend. What else is there to know?"

"A FRIEND?!" Sanji roared out before he fell back to the ground and began to cry hard. "It's not fair. Not one bit of this is fair!"

"You've got issues, you know that right?" Franky asked.

"After Ace died two years ago…" memory Luffy said quietly, "The only reason I got back on my feet was because Jimbie helped me!"

"Yeah, I think we all owe him for that," Nami said softly as she looked over at Luffy with soft eyes. She remembered the horrible memory of seeing him in that half-dead state when he finally woke up on Amazon Lily. Even though Jimbei had given him a hard beating… it did calm him down and remind him that he wasn't all alone in the world.

Luffy suddenly noticed the disheartened look on Nami's face and glanced over at her.

"What's the matter, Nami?" he asked.

She just smiled back and wrapped an arm around his shoulder as she patted his head. "Nothing to worry about," she reassured him. "Now then, pay attention."

Grinning broadly, memory Luffy held his hands up and cried out, "I really wanna see Jimbei! I promised I'd meet him again on this island!"

"Now that you mention it," Camie said thoughtfully. "I read an article that said you were with Boss Jimbei."

As memory Sanji continued to play with the mermaids, memory Luffy was asking Camie where Jimbei was right now. Yet, she regretfully informed him that he wasn't on the island anymore.

"Huh?!" past Luffy demanded.

"You know how he quit the Seven Warlords of the Sea two years ago, right?" she asked. "Because of that, the former members of the Fishman Pirates couldn't stay here on the island anymore. So they all left, together with Boss Jimbei."

"There really wasn't any other choice for him," Robin sighed. "It was either stay here and cause trouble for everyone, or head back out to sea. Still, it sounds like they had been doing alright."

"I'd like to meet the rest of their crew," current Chopper spoke up. "That would be really cool, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe someday," Brook offered as memory Luffy was looking severely disappointed.

"Huh?!" he whined. "So that means I can't see him?"

"It's a long story," Camie sighed. "But basically, the war has had a great impact on this island."

But before she could explain, they heard the cries of Camie's name and they glanced up to see the mermaid Quintuplets flying towards them, looking worried. When they got close, they explained that there was a royal ship heading here, and most likely coming to arrest Luffy and the others for their illegal entry.

Camie gasped before she looked to the rest of them, adding, "You all have to hide, Luffy-chin!"

"Thinking about it now, I think it may have been better to let them find us," current Usopp sighed. "At least until they tried to attack us at the palace?"

"Bad luck just seems to follow us everywhere we go," Nami sighed dramatically as the memory versions of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper hid behind some coral as one of the mermaids dragged Sanji with her as they hid behind the rocks. Memory Sanji looked as if he couldn't have cared less where he was going, just so full of bliss of where he was. As the Straw Hats went to hide, a Giant Oarfish appeared, carried what appeared to be a boat around the middle of its body. Once they were close enough, they heard the sounds of horns being played, and a voice calling out:

"THE THREE NEPTUNE BROTHERS HAVE ARRIVED!"

"Showing off a bit, huh?" Franky asked. "At least we don't need to announce ourselves when we go someplace."

"No, we just end up destroying something or crashing," Nami reminded him as three figures appeared on the head of the Giant Oarfish and were looking down.

"Hey! It's them!" current Luffy proclaimed, having forgotten about Weakhoshi's brothers.

The youngest of the three brothers was Manboshi, a rotund and stocky Sunfish Merman with a polka-dotted tail and red scales. His attire consisted of a blue hat with a white stripe going across the middle of it which is serrated at the bottom side and also has a dot pattern inside of it, with a yellow sash around that passes over his shoulders and made a circle around the back of his neck, making it look as if it were floating. He was dancing happily, like he just couldn't hold himself back as his brothers were looking down at the mermaids.

The second was Ryuboshi, a Giant Oarfish Merman and he was extremely tall and thin compared to Manboshi. He had wide eyes, long, wavy, dark pink hair, and beaver-like teeth, with his clothing of a fancy robe-like garment with long sleeves that are puffed up at the shoulders and wrists. He carried two swords behind him that are held in place with an orange sash that is worn just like his brothers.

And, of course, the eldest was Fukaboshi, a Shark Merman, enormous and muscular with a wide chest and large arms. He had a long face, framed by wavy fair blue hair that flowed down to his shoulders, with a sharp and pointy nose and dot of some sort in the middle of his head. He had gills on his massive neck and has a dark blue shark tail with light blue polka dots, with a light blue sash worn like the others.

He was the first to speak, calling to the mermaids in a deep voice, "Hello, girls of the Mermaid Inlet. I have something to ask you."

The mermaids immediately began to let out excited cries at the sight of them, like Brook at one of his concerts.

"It's the Princes!"

"What brings you all the way down here?!"

"So lucky they are to live here," Sanji sighed, wishing that he could trade places with the princes.

The rest of the present-day Straw Hats went behind the coral to find the three other memory Straw Hats peaking around them cautiously to see what was going on.

"But we received a report of pirates entering the island, illegally," Fukaboshi asked the girls. "Have you seen them?"

"If they did then please say so so-la-ti-do," sang out Ryuboshi, "If they didn't, then that's alright too-mi-re-do!"

"Akkamambo!" Manboshi sang as he dance. "I wanna have some fun here too!"

"They are a riot, I'll give them that," Franky laughed.

"Seems a bit annoying if you ask me," Zoro shrugged.

"Nobody has come this way," one of the mermaids lied.

"Are they really so important?" another asked curiously. "I mean, for you princes to come all this way out here…?"

"Well, we haven't confirmed yet whether or not they are who we think they are," Fukaboshi confessed.

"We haven't confirmed it-mi-re-do!" Ryuboshi answered with a song.

"I can't take it anymore!" Manboshi called as he danced. "Everyone! Let's dance together!"

"He dances like he's got two left feet, Yohohoho," Brook laughed.

"He doesn't even have one left foot," Robin chuckled.

"But they knew how to have a good time," Brook answered back. "I hope we get to return one day and have another feast!"

"Oh yeah!" Luffy cheered at the thought. "They had the best meat!"

"I would give anything for another one of their sweets," Chopper sighed, his mouth drooling at the thought of all those heavenly deserts.

As his younger brothers continued to sing and dance, getting the girls to cheer adoringly up at them, Fukaboshi gently quieted them down before he seemed to think that the mermaids were telling the truth.

"I see. Thank you for your assistance," Fukaboshi answered politely, "We will look elsewhere. Forgive us for disturbing you while you were having such a good time." It certainly looked like they were going to leave without any problems, for they ordered the Oarfish to set off, already turning around.

"Let's have another good dance sometime!"

"Sorry for disturbing you-fa-mi-re-do!"

"Not at all!" the mermaids sang back as they happily waved.

"It looks like they're leaving," memory Usopp whispered with a sigh of relief, already halfway coming out from behind the coral. It looked like their luck had won out for them… at least… it would have if it wasn't for Sanji…

No sooner did the princes turn around to leave did the current Straw Hats noticed that Sanji was up against the chest of one mermaid. Memory Sanji shivered and smiled and his nostrils violently until he couldn't hold it in any longer. Without warning, a geyser of blood burst from his nose and filled the sky in a stream of a mermaid… signaling exactly where they were as the mermaid screamed in panic.

"I didn't even think that something like that was even possible," Zoro said, shaking his head in amazement. "So how do you intend to talk yourself outta this one, cook?"

"I just… couldn't… hold it back," present-day Sanji sighed. He felt so ashamed of himself… that poor mermaid… she was still screaming as his blood was covering her front. To think that he almost died here… after so long… he wasted all that time by almost dying. How terrible.

"OH, NO!" memory Chopper cried out in panic. "SANJI!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" past Usopp screamed.

"It's alright," Nami sighed as she ran her hand through her hair tiredly. "If he dies, just let him die. It's what he would've wanted."

The mermaid shrieked as blood dribbled down his face as she cried out, "SANJI-SAN?!"

"Holy crap!" memory Luffy shouted, his eyes wide. "All that blood! Sanji!"

"It didn't work!" past Usopp cried in panic. "He couldn't hold in all that excitement!"

"That's an understatement," Franky whispered. "I didn't know that someone could actually bleed to death by nosebleed."

"Stupidest way to die if ever I heard one," Zoro sighed before he looked to their captain. "Luffy? Please, can't we get a new cook? One that doesn't make the rest of us look lame?"

"Shut up!" Sanji snapped. "You're damn lucky to have me here and don't you forget it!"

As the Straw Hats watched as they pulled memory Sanji to shore, they hardly noticed how the princes had turned their ship around and were coming back towards them. Out of the gondola came an army of Fishmen wearing shell armor and armed with tridents—all of them jumping to the ground, looking ready for action. Soon, they had the memory Straw Hats surrounded, and Sanji was now lying in a pool of his own blood.

If the current Straw Hats didn't already know that they weren't here with ill-intent—at least not yet—then they would think that things were looking pretty serious for them.

Memory Luffy slowly stood up and faced the soldiers, as if daring them to try anything as Usopp helped to pull Sanji up onto land, who was still bleeding heavily.

"Please wait!" memory Chopper cried, jumping up in front of past Luffy before any fighting broke out. He then implored to the soldiers, "We're sorry for entering the island illegally! But if you're gonna arrest us, please do it later!"

"Yeah, we'll arrest you later, after your crewmate makes a full recovery so that they can rot in a cell," Zoro yawned.

"They weren't trying to arrest us here," Nami reminded him.

"Well, how long did that last?" Zoro answered back bitterly. "Besides, I'm just trying to remind you all that most aren't that understanding when it comes to pirates."

"Is there anyone here willing to donate blood?" past Chopper cried out pleadingly. "Without help, our friend will die within an hour! He has blood type S, Rh negative! It's not that common, but is there anyone here with that with that blood type?! Or do Mermaids and Fishman have different blood from humans?"

The princes looked on worriedly as the knights lowered their heads and the mermaids grew very still and quiet—fear on all of their faces.

"Hurry! Isn't there anyone?!" memory Chopper cried pleadingly.

"This… is the dumbest way to die!" past Usopp yelled as Sanji continued to jerk about and smile even though he was dying.

Memory Luffy suddenly dropped to his knees in front of the soldiers.

"Please, anyone! I'm begging you!" he cried out, lowering his head as he pleaded for help. "Please give Sanji blood!"

"Man, Luffy…" Sanji muttered, smacking himself in the face with his hand like he was trying to hide his annoyance. But in truth, he was touched that Luffy was willing to bow his head like that to save him. "I never asked you to do that for me."

"Yeah, he's not worth it," Zoro nodded and Sanji glared back at him.

Just then, Camie popped out of the water right next to them.

"Luffy-chin! Chopper-chin!" she said hurriedly, getting their attention. "Both Fishman and Mermen, have the same blood types as humans. It's possible to do a blood transfusion. But…" But before she could finish explaining, they heard a harsh laugh behind them.

"These humans are sprouting nonsense!"

"Them again?" Franky asked in annoyance. "Damn, why is it we keep picking up annoying bastards like them?"

"Just our luck," current Usopp sighed as they all looked up and saw the gang that had tried to stop them from entering the island in the first place. It seems they left their giant sea monsters at home this time… all but the bear, who was glowering down at them.

"It's him!" memory Luffy exclaimed, getting back to his feet. "That guy we saw outside the island! The one with the sea beasts!"

"What are those losers here for?" Zoro asked darkly.

"What else? They wanted us to go with them to the Fishman district," Chopper answered angrily. "They probably wanted to try and make us slaves like they did to those other humans.

"Oh really?" Zoro answered back. "Not gonna happen. Not in this lifetime or any other."

"You think he would've gotten that answer before when we went blasting straight passed them," Sanji added.

"Some people never learn," Robin reasoned as the princes all stepped down from the gondola and approached the scene, at least until the soldiers requested that they stay back, for they recognized him as Hammond and his gang from the Fishman District.

"Give our blood to an inferior race like you?" Hammond shouted out with that same annoying laugh. "Nobody on Fishman Island would be stupid enough to do so! And even if you did find someone then the human haters would come to judge them in the dead of night!"

"Judgement?" memory Usopp repeated in confusion.

"If I had to guess, I would suggest that these guys, or maybe even Hody and his gang would attack any Fishman or Mermaid who would want to help a human," Robin answered grimly. "That would explain why everyone here is so afraid about offering their blood."

"Well, that's horrible," Nami snapped, suddenly have a new suspicion this was the real reason why no one wanted to give blood to Luffy that day despite all that happened. Bit ungrateful though… the guy almost got himself killed for them and not one of them bring themselves to ignore the law and offer blood? Good thing they had Jimbei there. She didn't know what would have happened if they didn't have him.

"That human can just lie there and bleed to death," Hammond sneered. "He's completely beyond help."

"Well, he's half right," Zoro reasoned.

"Hey, all I needed was blood, you need a brain transfusion!" Sanji retorted. "Too bad no one will ever give you one."

"Keep talking and you'll wish you bleed to death here!" Zoro snarled back, his hand twitching a little on the hilt of his sword.

"There is an old law in this country," Hammond then added. "It is completely forbidden to share any blood with humans!"

"What?!" memory Usopp cried out in horror.

"Make no mistake," Hammond added, "This law was created by you humans."

"Does it really matter who came up with it?" the present-day Chopper demanded. "It's a stupid law anyway! If humans and Fishmen all have the same kind of blood then…?"

"Unfortunately, the world doesn't think like that," Robin sighed. "If only we had someone like you there to remind them of facts like this when this law was first made. I think the world would be a better place if we had more people like you, Chopper."

"You mean, more reindeer?" Chopper asked innocently as he blushed and Robin chuckled.

"Yes," she nodded, patting his head. "The world can always use more reindeer."

"In the long history of our existence, you feared us and called us monsters!" Hammond went on, going into a rant. "That was what caused the death of Fishman Island's hero, Fisher Tiger!"

"Yeah, well, you guys aren't exactly innocent either pal," Sanji called out, looking down at his past self and saw how ghastly his skin was becoming. Really? Did he have to look so pathetic here?

"Fisher Tiger?" memory Luffy repeated.

"That name sounds familiar," present-day Luffy stated, frowning as he tried to think back to where he heard it before. Someone mentioned it to him, he was sure of that, but he couldn't think of who it was.

"The man who put his life on the line to free all the slaves, regardless of species!" Hammond continued, his voice growing louder and louder. "He died after a bloody battle, he could've lived had he been given a blood transfusion! And you heartless humans refused to give him blood… SO HE DIED!"

Nami sighed to herself, and remembered the story that Jimbei had told them before. While that wasn't technically how Fisher Tiger died, it was because he refused human blood that was the end of him. The truth was, Fisher Tiger hated humans, but did not wish to pass on that hate to a new generation… too bad that didn't reach Hody and his gang. Thinking about what happened to them, she could understand why King Neptune had thought about lightening their sentence. Besides, given how old they looked, she doubted that they would be able to live too much longer.

"Who cares about any of that?" present-day Luffy demanded as his past self glared at Hammond. "That's got nothing to do with the fact that Sanji was dying there!"

"Not that it makes it right, but they are just scared of what might happen if people like them find out about them helping Sanji-san, Luffy," Brook tried to explain, but Luffy just huffed and folded his arms, refusing to just accept it.

"Straw Hat Luffy," Hammond commanded. "I just have one thing to say to you. Leave your worthless underling to die and come with us to the Fishman District!"

"Isn't that two things?" Brook offered as he counted.

"The Captain of the New Fishman Pirates, Hody Jones, demands to see you right now!" Hammond shouted.

"Oh, too bad we'll have to disappoint him," Sanji answered sarcastically, "Looks like since we refused such a generous invitation, he came all the way to see us instead."

"That explains a lot," Robin nodded in understanding. "Wow, he must have really wanted to meet us if he went to all the trouble to find us."

"Too bad that it didn't end well for him," present-day Usopp added grimly. "I don't think he'll be wanting us to come visit anytime soon."

Meanwhile, his past self was yelling out for Hammond to shut up before he looked around at everyone else.

"Look, I don't know anything about your laws, but please, is there anybody here with an S, Rh negative blood type?!" he cried out pleadingly, "We don't care what we have to do to repay you in return! For now, please save his life!"

By this point, memory Sanji was now struggling for breath as he twitched on the ground.

"I'm telling you, it's pointless," Hammond spoke up, not noticing that Camie dove under the water. It seemed like he had enough of asking, and pulled out a bazooka, taking aim at the memory Straw Hats as he declared, "If you're not gonna come willingly…"

But memory Luffy also seemed to have had enough of listening to him. He placed his hand on his head to hold his hat in place before his legs already began pumping blood. They heard him quietly mutter, "Second Gear."

If you blinked, you missed it. For he just vanished from their view for just a moment, drawing their attention away from the rest of his crew.

"We'll just have to bring you along by force!" Hammond finished shouting out as he fired the bazooka. It seemed to have worked, for he had temporarily forgotten all about the other Straw Hats, aiming straight for Luffy once he was in his sights again. A thick net burst out of the bazooka, heading straight at him.

"I thought I already told you," memory Luffy answered, still sounding angry, but spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, as he disappeared once more, reappearing right next to the flailing net. "I won't…" he held up his hand, "DO WHAT YOU SAY!"

"You tell him!" Franky cheered as memory Luffy hit all three of their attackers with three solid punches of a Jet Pistol. The punch was strong enough that it knocked them backwards and a fair distance away from them. As Zoro watched Luffy hit the octopus Fishman, he watched as he held up one of his tentacles, striking Luffy's arm in a fraction of a second before he was also flung backwards.

"Did you see that?" current Usopp whispered to Chopper. "Because I sure didn't."

"Nope," present-day Chopper gaped out in awe, rubbing his eyes. "He's so fast."

"Wow! I almost didn't see myself move!" present-day Luffy cheered out in excitement.

Luffy then shifted out of his Second Gear just as the giant Sea Bear roared behind him, charging down and ready to attack.

"LUFFY!" memory Usopp cried. "LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!"

Yet he didn't need to shout, for memory Luffy barely glanced up as he held up his hand. He didn't even have to say anything as he unleashed his Conquerors Haki, which washed over the Sea Bear. At once, the massive creature fell to all fours, right in front of Luffy with a whimper, like he had been a kicked puppy.

"Poor thing, I almost feel bad for it," Robin said.

"You know, he's actually kinda cute when he's not trying to attack anyone," Brook nodded in agreement.

"The Sea Bear gave up without even putting up a fight!" memory Usopp cried.

"Amazing!" past Chopper gasped with his eyes wide.

"First time seeing Haki?" Zoro asked curiously.

"Yeah," present-day Usopp nodded. "Wow, I really hope that I can learn how to use it someday. That would be amazing to have."

"Only one in one million people are born with the Conquerors Haki," Sanji reminded him. "But I think that it might be possible for you to learn the other two forms. However, awakening it, isn't usually easy. Either by forcing it open… or through intense training."

"How did you two awaken yours, anyway?" Luffy asked him and Zoro.

"A little of both for me," Zoro confessed. "I fought every single day for two years… even when I was injured and could barely move."

"Mostly through stress with me," Sanji admitted, thinking of the nightmare of being chased by those disgusting people every single day that he was gone. Just the sight of them was enough to send him into a panic. "Though, I'll have you know that I was no slacker. Fighting in hell can make you stronger like nothing else."

As for everyone else in the memory, it wasn't just the past versions of Usopp and Chopper who were impressed. For the mermaids were all gasping, staring up in shock at how easily Luffy dealt with them, even the soldiers and the princes were looking on with a hint of awe.

"Impressive," they heard Fukaboshi, still sounding calm despite everything.

"Luffy-chin!" called a voice from above, and they looked up to see that Camie was sitting up on the giant oarfish's head that was pulling the gondola. She was waving down at them, getting their attention.

"She didn't…?" Robin asked, a smile appearing on her lips.

"She did," present-day Usopp nodded. "I think that we may be a bad influence on her if she's just going around and stealing people's stuff."

"Bring Sanji onboard!" she called down, "Let's hurry to the town! There should be humans at the port! Let's hurry!"

"Okay!" memory Luffy called before he stretched his arms and grabbed onto the oarfish's dorsal fin before he stretched his other arm around his three crewmates.

"Hey, wait…" current Sanji began, not remembering this at all. "Don't tell me you're gonna…?"

"You could've killed him that way!" Brook gasped in horror.

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"What you usually do! Rocketing up without thinking with Sanji in that condition could have…?" Nami began, but Chopper was waving his tiny hooves down at her, just pointing and they watched as Luffy rocketed all four of them upwards and onto the oarfish's back, just behind Camie.

Memory Chopper and Usopp were both shrieking as well, thinking that this was going to be painful, but then, to everyone's greatest surprise, once Luffy landed, he carefully brought the others up with him. He very gently set his crewmates down and unraveled his arm from around them.

"How come you never did it like that before?" Zoro demanded, thinking of all the times that he was rocketed back and ended up getting smashed against a wall.

"We had to be careful," current Luffy answered back as if it was obvious.

"Right, Luffy, could you do that from now on?" Nami pleaded, having like this new Gum Gum Rocket. "I think it would spare us a lot of unnecessarily pain in the future."

"Right," memory Luffy called to Camie, once they were all set, "We're all here! Let's go!"

Camie nodded before she then turned to the oarfish and asked quickly, "Please Ryuuguu-chin. Take us to the city!"

The oarsfish let out a low grunt in understanding before it rose up into the air, heading off to the town.

"You there! Wait!" a knight bellowed up, "The Ryuuguu belongs to the princes! Come back!"

"Man, you guys just took the princes ride back home," Franky laughed. "That's just great. Bet they really appreciated that."

"Funny, they don't look too bothered by it to me," Robin commented as she looked behind them and they watched the expressions on the prince's faces.

"Hopefully, they understood they did it to save someone's life," Nami sighed. "I think that if it had been for any other reason than they wouldn't have let you go that easily."

"Yeah," current Luffy nodded as he remembered how the three brothers fought. "You're probably right. They could've come right after us if they wanted to."

"Good thing for us then," present-day Usopp stated.

"I'm so sorry!" Camie called back at them. "I promise to bring it back after we've helped Sanji-chin!"

And without another glance back, they took to the air and flew off, heading off in one direction. If it had just been the four of them, they never would've known which way to go; but thankfully Camie was with them, and knew exactly which way the town was.

At one point, she turned to face Luffy as she looked guilty, like she thought it was her fault.

"I'm so sorry about this," she apologized. "If I had the same blood type, I wouldn't refuse."

"What does she have to apologize for?" Nami asked in surprise. "She's not responsible for any of this. She shouldn't have had to worry about seeing someone bleed to death today."

"Oh, how could I have worried her so?" Sanji gasped out. "What was wrong with me?"

"That's what we're wondering," current Usopp muttered as most of the rest of the crew nodded in agreement and Brook laughed happily.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for!" memory Usopp remarked before looking down at Sanji with a shake of his head despite the worry there. "It's his own fault for having such a dirty mind! Just look! He's still smiling, even now!"

"So… bouncy… and soft…" memory Sanji whispered out.

"I'm trying to feel sorry for you here, Sanji," Nami said darkly to their Sanji. "But you're making it very difficult."

"Sanji, snap out of it!" memory Chopper cried. "Don't imagine anything at all! We don't have a second to spare!"

Memory Usopp looked back to Camie and said, "Still, this reminds me of the discrimination that you and Hachi suffered at Sabaody two years ago. It looks like the scars run pretty deep. I never once thought a nosebleed could cause a problem like this."

"Yes, you can tell there's a lot of hatred on both sides," Robin stated grimly. "But hopefully, peace could come one day. Maybe not this generation, but the next."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Brook nodded. "If nothing else, we at least helped them to see that humans aren't all bad."

"That should help speed up that they can live in peace," Nami smiled as she nodded. She really couldn't wait to see that day come.

"Yes," Camie said slowly. "But… even if we get to the city, I'm still worried. I can't promise we'll find a donor in time." They all looked at her in surprise as she confessed, "In the past month, we haven't had any human visitors at all. You guys are actually the first ones we've had in a while."

"Why's that?" memory Luffy asked in surprise. "I thought this was a famous tourist spot?"

"Another thing to hate that Hody for," current Usopp muttered. "I think it would've made finding a donor a lot easier."

"Yeah, it is, but…" Camie said slowly. "We don't know for sure, but there is a rumor that something is interfering with people coming to the island. That there's something sinister going on in the underbelly of the island… everyone on the island is talking about it."

The memories continued as they watched them fly over the town, desperately searching for someone who would be willing to donate blood to their friend. They called down, asking over and over for help, but those who did listen turned their heads away, not wanting to get in trouble or involved.

Finally, when it became clear that no one was volunteering to help, memory Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp jumped down so that they could search through the town themselves. They were looking all over, pleading for someone, anyone, to donate blood for their friend. But when none of the Mermaids or Fishman would agree to help, they then started looking for humans… but it turned out that Camie was right, for there were hardly any humans around… if any.

Just when it looked like they weren't going to find someone in time, memory Chopper called for Luffy, yelling that he found a couple humans in a bar who were willing to help. The memory faded there, and the three current Straw Hats explained that after they met up with the donors and thanked them for agreeing to help them, Camie took them to the home of her boss, Madam Sharley, where they could treat Sanji in peace and not have to worry about the soldiers finding them. Once they unloaded Sanji, Camie thanked the Oarfish and told him to return to the princes, with her apologizes, and then went back to help Chopper as Luffy and Usopp waited.

No sooner did they finish explaining that did the memory come back… it was extremely hazy at first, but gradually cleared enough where they could see what was going on. Memory Sanji was lying in a bed, and hooked up to blood bags as memory Chopper and Camie worked at his side. Past Sanji was slowly opening his eyes, seemingly trying to focus on everyone's faces as he slowly blinked up at them.

"Damn, Sanji," Franky said, shaking his head. "You look terrible."

It was true, for Sanji's skin was a grayish tint, showing that his blood lost had been severe, and even breathing seemed to be painful for him. Still, once they saw his eyes open, Camie and the memory Straw Hats all gasped.

"Sanji! Are you awake?!" memory Chopper asked when he saw him move.

"Sanji-chin!" Camie asked in worry, tears in her eyes.

"W…where am I?" memory Sanji croaked out. At the sight of his eyes finally open, the memory versions of Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Camie all heaved sighs of relief, the former two laying back on the couches as Chopper collapsed on Sanji's chest.

"What a relief," he whimpered out.

The current Chopper nodded. He knew that he had to learn a lot more about medicine if he was going to keep everyone healthy in the New World… but he never expected that one of the first things that he would have to treat would be a bloody nose.

"We're in a town with a harbor, Sanji-chin," explained Camie as she wiped a happy tear away. "Sanji-chin, you lost almost all the blood from your body."

"Oh, to think that I made such a kind-hearted angel cry like that? I'm a monster…" present-day Sanji sobbed out at the sight of Camie's tear. "To think that she would shed tears for my sake…? I don't know what to say!"

"How about an apology for scaring her?" present-day Usopp asked darkly.

"I'm so happy we found a couple of donors," memory Chopper, raising his smiling face.

"Wait… blood?" past Sanji repeated slowly, as if having trouble grasping what they were talking about. He carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked at the tubes stuck in his arm. "What happened to me?"

"Wait! Don't get up so fast!" said Camie quickly, waving her hands at him. "You still need to rest more."

"But why won't the Fishmen give us any blood?" past Luffy spoke up, still slumped against a sofa. "We looked everywhere in town, but we couldn't find any humans, anywhere."

"I was about ready give up!" past Usopp exclaimed, also slumped over in his seat.

"You guys…" the current Sanji sighed, while fighting a smile. "Can't do anything without someone worrying about you."

"What's wrong with that?" Nami asked. "Isn't it nice to have someone worry about you? And in your case, you were lucky."

He laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess so," he acknowledged. "Thank you, guys."

"Anytime," current Luffy smiled back.

"You guys did all that for me?" asked memory Sanji. "Thanks." He then put his hand to his head as he seemed to be trying to remember what happened. "But I barely remember anything. Where was I? And what was I doing…?"

The others gasped in horror.

"NO!" memory Luffy and Usopp cried together. "DON'T THINK BACK!"

"The last thing we need is for you to have another nosebleed!" memory Chopper snapped.

"Really, were you trying to kill yourself here?" present-day Chopper demanded harshly as he glared up at him.

"Sorry!" current Sanji answered as he held up his hands. "It was an honest question."

"Oh yeah, Sanji!" memory Usopp said, as if he just remembered something, as he approached a curtain. "Let me introduce you to the blood donors we finally found at a bar!" He pulled it back, "You have to say 'thank you'!"

A slim and very delicate-looking hand reached up and moved their fingers as if wanting him to come over.

"Huh?" memory Sanji asked, his eyes wide, "Don't tell me I got blood from such a delicate lady!"

Those who knew the truth, all looked at the current Sanji, who was turning even redder. "Give me a break!" he yelled. "I was still on blood lost! I wasn't in my right head!"

"Ah… are we missing something here?" Nami asked in confusion.

"It's ok. We're both humans," the voice answered with a giggle. "We have to help each other when we're in trouble."

"I almost wish they left me to die now," memory Sanji shivered at the thought of who they were. Memory Sanji was already looking lovesick… and there was serious danger of a relapse… at least until Usopp pulled back the curtains all the way to see two cross-dressers there.

"Oh," Nami said in understanding, not even trying to hide her laugh.

"It's ok, silly!" one said.

"If you want…" the other said.

"We can give you more, silly!" they both said together and memory Sanji's hearts broke at the sight of them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" past Sanji screamed, looking close to passing out before he was up on his feet, running around and jumping like a frog. The crew who hadn't seen this before all started to laugh as current Sanji turned even redder. Of all the people in the sea… they had to have those creatures…?

"All in all, I think that we couldn't have found two better donors for him," Robin offered brightly. "If they had been women…?"

"It would've be the last nail in the coffin for him," Franky nodded. "Literally… it would've killed him."

Memory Luffy then laughed as he leaned back on the couch, moving his hands behind his head. "I'm glad that Sanji's back to his old self," he laughed good-naturedly.

But memory Chopper looked up at him and a flash of worry came over his face for some reason as memory Usopp was now telling Sanji off for not thanking the two donors, who continued to dance happily.

Past Chopper ignored them however as he walked over to Luffy, trying to get a better look at his arm for some reason.

"Luffy, let me see your arm," he asked and past Luffy looked surprised by the request.

"Uh… okay," he said as he lowered his arm for them to look at and that was when memory Chopper rolled up the sleeve to see a tiny cut just above Luffy's wrist.

"That little scratch?" Zoro asked with his eyebrows raised. What was the trouble?

But the current Chopper didn't answer as he watched his past self carefully take a sample of Luffy's blood and added it to a couple chemicals from his bag when he mixed it into a vial. After giving it a little shake, the light pink chemicals turned to a shade of purple.

"A positive reaction for poison!" past Chopper whispered in horror, "I knew it! That's a poisonous wound!"

"Poison?" Brook gasped out.

"Come to think of it," memory Luffy said as he thought it back, "When I was fighting those Fishmen, I did feel something sting me."

"Yeah, if you didn't say anything, I probably wouldn't have noticed," current Luffy shrugged.

"But you're ok?" memory Usopp asked in worry as he looked over it. Once Luffy reassured him he was feeling fine, memory Chopper wanted to see the cut again. He dabbed a cotton swab against the scratch, already using medicine on it just to be on the safe side.

"This must be deadly poison," memory Chopper said anxiously "You sure you're feeling alight?"

"Yeah!" past Luffy answered. "I didn't feel a thing after that! It didn't even hurt that much, really."

"To be fair, it would have been deadly to most people," Robin informed their Luffy, but she was frowning, already guessing what this was about.

Once memory Luffy reassured him again that he was fine, memory Chopper seemed shocked, but in a good way.

"I can't believe it," he said. "It looks like there are some antibodies developed in your body to counter such poison! Have you ever been poisoned before?"

"Poison, huh?" past Luffy asked as he thought about it. "Oh! I almost died from poisoning at Impel Down!"

"Right, I fought some guy with some poison Devil Fruit powers there," the current Luffy nodded as his memory came back.

"Magellan?" Sanji asked him grimly.

"Yeah, that poison guy," Luffy nodded. "How'd you… oh, right. I keep forgetting you guys saw my memories before."

"Yeah, it wasn't a fun time," current Chopper gulped down.

Memory Luffy then started to laugh.

"Almost died?" past Usopp demanded, looking like he wanted to smack him for sounding so upbeat here. "That's not funny!"

"Really, it's not," the current Usopp said, looking at their Luffy. "We saw the kind of shape you were in, Luffy, and it's not a laughing matter! You could've…?"

"But I didn't," Luffy answered back.

"That's not the point!" Nami told him coldly, turning her head away as she fought the tears as she tried hard not to remember how Luffy was chained down to that table and screaming in pain… and all that blood? "Please… for us… don't ever do that again."

"She's right!" Chopper agreed as he jumped up into Luffy's arms and buried his face against Luffy's chest, able to feel that horrible scar there made him cry even harder. "Please… don't go on your own like that ever again."

Luffy blinked before he gently patted Chopper on the back, also looking a little guilty that he was laughing about it so easily. Truth was, he didn't forget how painful that experience was… but after everything that happened at Marineford…? He shook his head hard as he felt the memories coming back… feeling like it was a beating on his head just recalling it.

He knew that while Ace may not blame him for what happened… but…?

Zoro was looking at him, and seemed to understand what was going on. Even if Luffy forgave himself for what happened to Ace, the trauma from that event wasn't something that would heal easy… if ever. Thankfully, he was given a way to change the subject when memory Luffy went on speaking, as if he hadn't heard Usopp speak.

"I think it was that guy," he said excitedly. "The swordsmen with the octopus tentacles. He blocked my punch. He must be a pretty strong guy."

"Don't get your hopes up," Zoro answered with a shrug. "That guy was trying very hard to kill me… but he couldn't even kill my boredom."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Luffy nodded grimly, as if he had been severely disappointed by a birthday present.

Soon, they were all arguing over which of the Fishman Pirates they fought was the lamest, and it was hard to try and figure that out. But in the meantime, once their memory selves were satisfied that both memory Luffy and Sanji were alright, Camie left memory Chopper to take care of Sanji and nurse him back to health as she guided Usopp and Luffy with her through the rest of the building, saying that she wanted to introduce them to someone.

As they walked into the front room, the first thing that they noticed was a large pearl sitting in an cushioned oyster. The two boys both went running over to admire it, not even noticing that there was someone else in the room. At least, not until Camie made the introductions to her boss, Madam Sharley.

Madam Sharley was a larger than normal mermaid with dark eyes and short black hair, as well as a beautiful face despite the fact she wore a dark-blue hood up. There were beads around her waist, where they saw that her tail was that of a shark rather than the tails of the mermaids at the inlet. She was sitting comfortably on the couch as she smoked a bubble pipe, and watched them curiously as Camie introduced them to her.

"You mean I was in the house of such a beautiful woman?!" Sanji gasped out. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"To keep you alive! That's why!" Chopper reminded him darkly.

"So," Madam Sharley asked in a calming voice, "is the blonde boy doing well?"

"Uh-huh," Camie answered happily. "But since you're such a beautiful lady it's best if you don't go in there. And let's not tell Sanji-chin this place is the back of the Mermaid Café."

"Why's that?" Madam Sharley asked with a chuckle.

"His doctor, Chopper-chin, says that if he finds out, they'll be trouble again," she answered back.

"What a strange prognosis," Madam Sharley chuckled in amusement.

"You see what you're doing to the rest of us?" Zoro hissed. "Now everyone is gonna think you have some crazy-assed disease."

"The only disease I have is of the heart," Sanji sighed, still drooling over Madam Sharley's form.

"Hey, Big Mermaid Lady!" memory Luffy called, poking at a crystal ball in a giant clam. "What's this thing?"

"Luffy-chin!" Camie cried. "She is 'Madam Sharley'!"

But the two memory selves ignored her as they continued looking at the pearl, trying to figure out what it was. Madam Sharley warned them not to touch it as Camie explained that it was a crystal ball and that Madam Sharley was famous around here for being able to see the future. At least until Sharley confessed that she gave up fortunetelling, feeling that the future was better left unknown.

"Where's the fun in that anyway?" current Luffy asked with a laugh.

However, this calm scene was ruined when memory Luffy was bold enough to ask if mermaids pooped, which caused her to tower over him with a dark and angry aura as she snarled what a vulgar child he was. Naturally, past Luffy didn't even flinch as memory Usopp shrieked in fear.

"You are so rude," Nami asked, rolling her eyes as current Usopp hissed that Luffy needed to learn when you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.

"Apologize to her, Luffy-chin!" Camie cried at once.

Memory Usopp then forced his head down as they bowed and apologized. Once madam Sharley regained her collected appearance she then addressed Camie, letting her know that she could take the rest of the day off and that she could give her friends a tour of the island.

"Huh? Really?" asked Camie in great surprise.

"You always work so hard," Madam Sharley answered back. "And besides…" she added as memory Luffy and Usopp both looked up as she finished, "We haven't had any human pirate guests these days and my business is drying up."

"Oh, I get it," Zoro nodded. "So she doesn't want to pay her for today and is letting her go early."

"The girls from the cove will be arriving soon so we'll have enough stars on hand," Madam Sharley finished up, but at the mention of the word 'star', seemed to get Camie thinking.

"Stars…?" she whispered softly before she gasped dramatically. "Oh no! I should've delivered those clams to Pappug by now!"

As she began to worry about Pappug, Madam Sharley reassured her that he was at the café right now and was having a good time with an old friend of his.

"Yes! Yohohoho! ME!" Brook cried out excitedly, glad to see that he would soon be back in the memory again. Camie slowly led them from the building and guided them to the café, she was sitting on a bubble as she guided them through the town, but there was a seriousness in her face.

"I couldn't mention this in front of her," she began slowly. "But when Madam Sharley was young…" she then turned around to look at them, "She said many pirates would come to the island. That was the year before the Great Pirate Era began."

"What?!" memory Luffy and Usopp asked in shock.

"That could have meant anything," Zoro said with a roll of his eyes. "That's not proof that she saw it in a vision or anything."

"Among a host of other things, she recently predicted the war of Marineford and Whitebeard's death," Camie went on.

"Ok, wise guy, explain that," Nami challenged as Zoro turned his head away pointedly.

"Actually, there is some truth of that," Robin stated. "Predictions are often vague and are like puzzles. They could mean just about anything if you interpret them the right way."

"I still don't like it," current Usopp said firmly. "They sound creepy as hell."

"WHAT?!" the two memory Straw Hats cried again as Camie sighed and turned around.

"She can't stand knowing what bad things will happen," she told them as they continued onwards.

"That all sounds pretty scary," memory Usopp said as they followed after her.

"Yeah, and apparently it was because of her prediction that we were in so much trouble up at the palace!" the present-day Usopp said suddenly. Nothing but trouble… "I mean… it's stupid! They couldn't punish us for something we didn't do yet!"

"What was that prediction anyway?" Franky asked curiously and Nami shrugged.

"Something about us being enemies," she answered, "I think that it was something about us destroying the island."

"Well, that didn't happen, did it?" Chopper spoke up. "So nothing to worry about, right?"

"Let's just say that she was wrong with whatever it was she predicted," Zoro shrugged. "Not like we can worry about something that hasn't happened yet, anyway."

But before he went any further, memory Luffy suddenly stopped and looked around curiously before he asked about Chopper.

"You just noticed now?" the present-day Chopper asked in surprise.

"I guess I forgot," present-day Luffy laughed as memory Usopp reminded him that he was still taking care of Sanji. For now, Camie was more than happy to show them all around the town as she led them straight to the café.

"This is the main street of Coral Hill," she said happily, "Oh! We're here!"

She pointed up the street to where there was a brightly colored building with several levels and spelled out the name of the café, and Camie cheerfully showed them the entrance.

"You think that they could have picked a better name for it," current Usopp couldn't help but point out. "At least it delivers what it says."

"If they're this flashy on the outside, it makes one wonder just what kind of coffee they have," Robin couldn't help but wonder.

"Oh, I'm getting hungry!" memory Luffy said.

"I could think of several other things I rather be doing," Sanji sighed.

"Like what?" Luffy asked at once, wondering what someone would rather be doing at a café that didn't involve eating.

"Luffy, we are in a café where the most beautiful creatures in the world are the waitresses, and you can't think of anything else you rather be doing than stuffing your face?" Sanji asked, shaking his head as if disappointed. He opened his mouth to speak, at least until he caught sight of Robin.

"Don't you dare…" she warned darkly and Sanji immediately felt his answer die as he cleared his throat. Luffy didn't pay too much attention to that as Camie began discussing food.

"We have food here," she answered, "And cakes and sea fruit too!"

"What about meat?" memory Luffy asked already starting to drool.

"We Merfolk don't eat meat or fish," she answered.

"It would be hard to eat your own friends," Franky nodded.

"Our menu has things like Kelp Brulee, Seaweed Tart, and Kelp Soufflé," she recited off and Luffy lowered his head sadly.

"Are they edible?" memory Usopp asked nervously.

"Well, for mermaid's I guess," Zoro said, shivering at the thought of eating such foods. "I can't say for humans."

"Sounds healthy if nothing else," Robin offered.

"Oh, we have meat to!" Camie added quickly when she saw memory Luffy's depression.

"Really?!" he asked eagerly, at least until she started to name off all kinds of food made of shellfish and then he barked out, "THAT ISN'T MEAT! DON'T RUIN MEAT'S REPUTATION!"

"It's just disgraceful!" current Luffy cried out, his hand over his stomach as it growled annoyingly loud.

"It's meat!" Nami retorted. "It's nothing to cry about!"

"Luffy, come on!" memory Usopp called. "Let's just go inside!"

"Yeah," Camie agreed. "Pappug should be there already!"

So she happily showed them the front door, but before they could go in, four ended up coming out… and two of them they knew. What were the odds of running into another crewmate so quickly? Memory Brook, covered with lipstick and had two mermaids hanging off each arm, and Pappug who was sitting up on his shoulder.

"Resting my bones! Resting my bones…" memory Brook sang.

"Oh, what a wonderful experience that was!" the present-day Brook sang out, "I know how you feel, Sanji-san! For I had been in heaven myself! And its name is the Mermaid Café!"

"You lucky idiot," Sanji whimpered, wishing that he could've had a chance to go to the café himself.

"Well, maybe next time you won't be spending all your time in a bed trying to recover and actually enjoy yourself," current Usopp pointed out.

"I'm so happy for you, Bones!" Pappug said as the mermaids reached up to kiss them both as memory Brook laughed.

"Thank you very much for stopping by!" the mermaids chanted together.

"Brook!" memory Luffy cried, getting their attention.

"Oh! Luffy-san! Usopp-san!" past Brook said happily at the sight of them there. "And good heavens! It's been awhile Camie-san! Could I look at your panties?"

"Do you always have to be so rude?" Nami demanded, giving their Brook a good hit to the head.

"Ow! Sorry, Nami-san! I just can't help myself when I'm around such beautiful ladies," their Brook whimpered before he said, clearly without thinking, "Speaking of which, could you be so kind as to show me yours?"

"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!" she yelled out and smacked him so hard that there was a swollen bump on his head and he was now lying on the ground, whimpering in pain.

"You think he would learn by now?" current Usopp muttered, but still, he had to admire his bravery.

"She's a mermaid!" Pappug shouted, giving him a kick in the skull before looking to Luffy and Usopp, calling out for them joyfully, tears in his eyes. "Straw Hat! Long Nose!" Pappug was still wearing his old hat, but also had a new pair of sunglasses and even a scarf. Otherwise he looked pretty much the same as he was two years ago. He happily jumped into memory Luffy's arms as he cried out, "I missed you guys! I didn't know you were here!"

"Long time no see," memory Luffy answered back with a big smile.

"So you were with Pappug?" past Usopp asked Brook, just sounding glad that he made it out alright.

"Yes," memory Brook answered, "I must say, I didn't expect to be rescued by Pappug-san." He shrugged his shoulders and added, "I was so lucky."

"I agree with myself," current Brook nodded. "Of all the people who could have fished me out, just happened to be a friend! I couldn't ask for better luck! And after I thanked him for saving me, he was more than happy to escort me to the café and introduce me to some of the lovely mermaids there, Yohohoho!"

"Some people get all the luck," Sanji sighed.

"Yeah, that was just as surprising for me!" Pappug explained, "While I was polishing off a new idea for a design at the cove, I found some bones drifting towards me…" And he told them how he had spotted Brook draped over a passing log and he drew it closer to get a shock to find them still moving.

"Yohohoho!" memory Brook laughed as he began saying his goodbyes to his fans.

"Soul King," one of the mermaids said sweetly as she reached up to give him another kiss. "Come see us again soon."

"I had a wonderful time!" the other said as she reached up to kiss him again too.

"Damn you, Brook…" Sanji hissed, wishing that he could have gone in there at least once.

"Yohohoho!" memory Brook declared in bliss. "I'll certainly be back, my beautiful mermaids!"

"WHAT?!" memory Usopp cried out before memory Brook added that he was going boneless… and then fell into a large pile of tangled bones.

"Oh, I can't exist without bones!" he cried out as he pulled himself back together. "Oh, I don't care if I die! Ah! Of course, I'm already dead!"

"Yohohoho! That was great!" present-day Brook laughed as he clapped.

"I don't get it," Chopper muttered as both mermaids clapped and laughed at his antics.

"Really, I'm going to kill you, Brook," Sanji sighed out, actually reaching out, as if he could magically trade places with the memory Brook.

"Jeez, what happened to you in there, Brook?" past Usopp asked.

"Yeah, what's going on in there?" past Luffy asked curiously, trying to look passed him to get a glimpse of the café.

"Yeah, what is happening?" present-day Chopper asked as he looked up at their Brook with curious eyes.

"It sure seems like you guys were having a lot of fun in there," current Luffy added.

"Oh, I did, and how I wished that it was more than just a simple café. You see, what I wanted to do was…" current Brook began, at least until he caught sight of Robin, who was standing behind Luffy and Chopper, and giving him a deadly look. As if daring him to say anything.

"Ah… ah… I…" present-day Brook staggered, twitching horribly before he turned around and pretended that he didn't hear them as he said, "H-How about I-I-I just sing us a song, instead?"

As he started to sing awkwardly into his microphone as Luffy and Chopper both looked at each other in confusion.

"What's with him?" Luffy asked in bafflement.

"Oh, I wouldn't pay any attention to him," Robin told them both kindly. "Nothing to be worried about. I doubt that anything too exciting was happening in there."

"Really? Alright," Luffy said with a shrug.

Perhaps Pappug was worried too for he jumped down, landing right in front of the two boys and cried out, "Hold on a minute! You're not leaving today, are you? I know you're interested in the café, but you can come back with everyone later. I was just about to take Bones back to my place!" Moving his sunglasses up, he turned around and asked, "Come with me! Do you like Sea King meat?"

"Why am I suddenly thinking of someone trying to convince you to buy something on the black market?" Sanji couldn't help but ask.

"Note to self," current Usopp whispered, "keep a close watch on Luffy." Knowing that idiot, he'd sell off everything they had for some meat.

"Do you have meat?!" memory Luffy asked excitedly, a puddle of drool forming from his mouth

"I'm wild, Straw Hat!" Pappug declared. "I don't wanna eat seaweed or shellfish! What I mainly eat is savage Sea King meat!"

"Oh! Pappug!" called Camie before she reached into her backpack and pulled out a bag of clams. "I almost forgot! I brought you your favorite clams for the day!"

Just like that, he seemed to have completely forgotten all about his 'tough guy' attitude and jumped up excitedly.

"Yay!" he sang out as he cheered. "Camie's clams are the best!"

"YOU'RE EATING SHELLFISH, YOU IDIOT!" memory Usopp barked, giving him a bonk on the head as Luffy groaned out miserably.

"Besides, I don't see how a starfish would want to eat Sea King meat, anyway," Robin stated.

"I guess he was just trying to impress Luffy-san," present-day Brook suggested, remembering back to when Pappug had bragged about being good friends with the Mermaid Princess, while in reality, had never even seen her.

Once Pappug snapped out of it and cleared his throat, he explained that unlike merfolk, Fishman eat meat and fish, so Luffy didn't need to worry about not getting anything good on the island. As Luffy cheered at the thought of some food, a giant fish taxi wearing a bubble on its back and a cab driver's cap on its head was floating by. Once Pappug saw it, he waved the fish down, telling everyone to get on.

But as memory Brook was starting to climb up a rope ladder to get on, he suddenly noticed the wanted poster on the wall of the café and jumped down to get a look of the name there. Vander Decken.

"It's Vander Decken!" memory Brook cried. "But he's a ghost! Why would they put up a wanted poster of him?!"

"Wait, isn't that the guy from the ghost ship we saw?" past Usopp asked in surprise.

"What? Did you guys see him?" Pappug asked, climbing up the ladder, still holding onto the bag of clams as Luffy scrambled up the side of the fish with his hands.

"Unfortunately," Nami sighed as she shook her head. "Though he was hardly dangerous."

"He scared the crap outta you guys, though," Franky poked fun at and she glared up at him.

"It was the ship that scared me!" she snapped back, "But I have to admit that his face was nearly as scary as the skull out front."

"Skull?" current Brook asked. "Did someone mention me?"

"No," she answered back with a roll of her eyes again.

"The whole nation's been looking for him for years!" Pappug answered back, "That guy's the bandit of the seas! I'll tell you about it later. Get on!"

"You know, maybe he wasn't as pathetic as we first thought," current Usopp muttered, "I mean, if he's been on the run from Neptune's army all that time?"

"I say it was dumb luck," Sanji shrugged. "And the ocean's a big place. Not exactly hard to hide in it, right?"

Once everyone was on, the memory Straw Hats began bouncing and stretching out on the soft cushion seats as Camie watched in amusement.

"Anyway," Pappug began, "Vander Decken started sending love letters to the Mermaid Princess of Ryugu Kingdom almost every week!" He took a bite of a clam before adding, "Before long, the letters became packages, then threats to marry him."

"That jerk," Nami said angrily, "Because of him, Shirahoshi was forced to lock herself up in that tower all that time."

"That must've been so boring!" current Luffy cried out with a yawn, bored just thinking about being in one place for ten years.

Meanwhile, their past selves were barely listening to what Pappug was saying, just loving the seat until Pappug snapped at them to pay attention.

"His eccentric behavior made the princess afraid," he said after he cleared his throat again. "And soon it became a national concern."

"Right," Camie cut in. "The Mermaid Princess's father, King Neptune, got really mad and those three princes we met earlier have been looking for him with the whole army, but can't find him."

"Camie, Camie… I was just about to tell them that…" Pappug whined as he began to sulk.

"King Neptune," she went on as if she hadn't heard him. "The God of the Sea, who is the ruler of Fishman Island, has four children including the Mermaid Princess. The princess is the youngest and the three princes are her older brothers."

Pappug, who was leaning up against the bubble with his glasses off, was crying softly at the thought of everyone ignoring him.

"Hey, Camie…" he whimpered.

"Wow, and I thought that Usopp had attention issues," Sanji said.

"Yeah, you think that he would show a little more… HEY!" current Usopp shouted out.

Memory Brook then leaned over until he was resting his head against the soft seat. "But what I can't understand," he said as the other three were looking out the bubble to stare down at the bright colors and daily life going on in the town below them, "Is that Vander Decken is a cursed pirate from hundreds of years ago…"

"Well, those legends are always exaggerated," Pappug said, looking up eagerly, glad to have a chance to talk again, "He truly existed in fact, I heard that the legendary captain Vander Decken reached Fishman Island and died here. The ship that you saw was the legendary Flying Dutchman, wasn't it? It's his descendant who is on that ship! He is…"

"Vander Decken IX!" Camie cut in again, taking Pappug by surprise and he fell over in depression once again.

"Why not change the names for crying out loud," Franky asked. "Doesn't that get annoying as hell to just keep naming your kid the same thing generation after generation?"

"What?!" memory Brook gasped out, "His descendant?!" he then thought it all over and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, is that so? That means he's not a ghost? I thought it was a real ghost and felt more dead than alive, thought that is not a problem for me since I am a skeleton. That's good, what a relief."

"Camie…" Pappug cried out in despair. "Camie… Camie…"

Memory Luffy then started to point out the people they were passing. That was when they realized how different that they all look from each other and Pappug explained about how when a mermaid and a Fishman marry and have children, then they could have merfolk or Fishman and either boy or girl. It was all very interesting, but Pappug then suggested they take the highway, heading to a near Water Road and travelling along it at high speeds.

It was like they were on an amusement park ride and soon they were laughing and joking with each other as they continued sight-seeking around the beautiful island of coral.

"It's so fast!" memory Luffy cheered before he looked ahead and noticed the building they were coming up against. "What's that?"

"That's the Candy Factory," Pappug answered.

"No, I mean what's that pirate flag on it?" past Luffy asked, pointing to the Jolly Roger which hung over the entrance. The flag was of a normal skull and crossbones, however, this skull had thick red lips and was wearing a pirate tricorne on a fluffy background with the bones replaced with several candy canes and even a tree coming out of the cane on the bottom right.

"That?" Pappug asked, "You can see the same flag at the entrance of the island at the harbor."

"Yeah well, we didn't get a chance to see that," Chopper laughed a little.

"No, we didn't see that flag until we were leaving, Yohohoho!" current Brook laughed out.

"That flag is protecting Fishman Island," Pappug answered, "That mark belongs to the pirate called Charlotte Linlin of the New World. Also known as Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors!"

"WAHHHHHH!" current Usopp and Chopper both cried out in terror at the reminder that there was an Emperor who wanted them dead.

"I wonder why she's called Big Mom?" current Luffy asked.

"Maybe she's got a lot of kids?" Brook suggested.

"Or maybe she just wants everyone to know that she's in charge," Robin offered with a shrug. "You should be sure to ask her if you ever see her, Luffy."

"Good idea," Luffy said as Usopp and Chopper both wailed out even louder at that.

"Before the war of Marineford," Pappug explained, "Fishman Island was one of the many islands under Whitebeard's protection, and the others pirates didn't even dare to attack us, but now, Big Mom has taken over since Whitebeard's death. All she asks for in return for her services is at least ten tons of sweets, every month. That's what the factory is for."

"Man, after seeing Whitebeard before, anyone else seems kinda disappointing after that," Sanji stated, thinking back to the power and raw strength that man had during those Marineford memories. "Then again, Big Mom must be strong to have been able to fight with him over territory."

"Sweets?" memory Luffy repeated in confusion.

"Hard to believe that she let them use her flag in exchange for deserts," Nami said. "I mean, couldn't she think of something more valuable than cakes?" Now if it had been her, she would have demanded a reasonable sum of treasure.

"Did you not have any of the sweets there?!" Chopper demanded, "I'd protect the island if I got paid with those cakes!"

"It just goes to show you how dangerous this place truly is," said Pappug. "With so many pirates coming and going so frequently."

"But if she's protecting the island after old man Whitebeard," past Luffy asked in puzzlement, "So doesn't that make Big Mom a good person?"

"That's hard to say," Pappug answered with a shrug. "Whitebeard never demanded anything. So Big Mom views this as just business."

"Big Mom," memory Luffy repeated leaning back and thinking about it all. "She's one of the Four Emperors, like Shanks. I wonder if we'll ever get to meet her."

"Well, we're bound to meet up with her eventually," current Luffy laughed a little bit. "I did promise to fight her once we made it to the New World."

"NO!" Usopp, Nami, and Chopper all cried out at once.

"Big babies, the bunch of you," Zoro said.

"Hey, guys! Look!" Pappug suddenly called. "Up ahead!" He pointed up ahead to where there was a huge coral mansion with 'Criminal' brand on the front. And they explained that they were in Fisherly Hills, where all the rich folks live, and that huge coral mansion was where Pappug lived.

"That's way too much for a starfish!" the three memory Straw Hats cried out at the size of it.

"Like I said," Nami stated. "For a starfish, he sure has style."

They took their time in getting to the mansion where Pappug was only too proud to show them, or show _off_ , his home as they were greeted by a ton of servants of mermaids and a pair of Fishman butlers. Even a few mermaids that were passing by, pointed him out with awe and respect. The memory Straw Hats were surprised to see how popular Pappug was and he started to brag about his Brand… at least until memory Luffy pointed out to another spot and was asking what it was.

After Camie explained that the Criminal Brand Store was on the first floor, they went off to check it out, leaving Pappug to sulk behind them.

"I almost feel bad for the guy," Franky said, wondering how random strangers know him, but Pappug's friends kept leaving him behind. Still, they didn't pay too much attention to that as they followed after their memory selves, with Camie stating that it seemed to be a bit noisier than usual in there. It seemed like she was right, for they could hear the cries of someone trying to please a very difficult customer by the sounds of it.

"Wait, dear customer, you're being unreasonable!" they heard a voice plead imploringly. "This is a very high brand we're selling here.

"What's going on?" memory Luffy asked as they drew near the front doors.

"I don't know," Camie answered back with a slight frown. "It sounds like the shopkeeper's having a hard time."

"Why do I have a feeling that it's not just any customer we're dealing with here?" Robin asked Nami, who smiled back innocently.

"Like I said!" snapped a familiar voice. "Your prices are too high! I don't care if these are cute, they're way too expensive!"

"Now I've heard that voice before," Zoro sighed, knowing that harpy's sharp tongue anywhere.

"Don't tell me," memory Usopp moaned out as they all peeked into the store to see memory Nami there arguing with the shopkeeper.

"Alright," past Nami said reasonably, "Drop the price down for 10,000 beri!"

"Please, miss! I can't do that!" the clerk pleaded, "That's less than half the original price!"

"I see that your bargaining has improved," Robin said conversationally. "Normally you would go for just half the price… or at the least, a third of it."

"Yes, and thinking back, I can't believe that I let them get away with that," current Nami said haughtily. "They were ripping me off! Well, I promise that it won't happen again!"

"It was her," memory Usopp sighed, "Why am I not surprised?"

"OI! NAMI!" memory Luffy called happily, getting her attention.

"Luffy?" she called in surprise and then a big smile appeared on her face when Camie came out from behind the group.

"Nami-chin!" she cried out joyfully.

Memory Nami gasped ecstatically. "CAMIE!" she cried out, forgetting all about her haggling with the clerk, she went running to Camie, squealing happily as they took hold of their hands like long-lost sisters.

"It's been so long!" she cried out excitedly, "How have you been?!"

"Great!" Camie answered back.

"Hey, hey!" Pappug asked as he just stepped in. "What's going on here?"

At the sight of his boss, the clerk sighed in relief, telling him that they had a rather difficult customer to deal with… and when Nami discovered that this was Pappug's store, she reached down and pinched his cheek as she pulled him up painfully, telling him that the prices here were outrageous. When he tried to explain that this was a premium for designer labels and his happened to be very popular, she was demanding a discount.

But he insisted that they didn't need a discount here, saying that he still owed them big time for helping them two years ago and said that they could take whatever they wanted and as much for free.

"He's so generous," current Nami stated happily.

"I think he's going to regret it," Zoro smirked back, knowing that there was nothing in the world that a pirate loved more than 'free' stuff. Even if the clothes they took back were terrible and didn't even fit, they would still take it.

"That explains how we suddenly got so many new clothes while on the island," Robin said, thinking back to how the girl's closets had been amazingly filled. "I've been wondering about that."

"Hey, he's got enough money," Nami shrugged back.

And it was hilarious to watch when the four Straw Hats finished with their 'shopping' and were standing in front of Pappug, each with giant sacks on their backs.

"Thanks, Pappug!" they all said, gratefully.

"Monsieur," the clerk cried out. "They cleaned out the entire store!"

"YOU GUYS ARE MERCILESS!" Pappug cried out, his eyes bulging out.

"Of course, what did he think was going to happen?" current Usopp laughed out.

"I'm so happy for you," Camie told them brightly, as if Pappug losing all of his merchandise faster than blinking, didn't mean a thing. But then they all started to hear the excited cries from the people outside, getting all of their attentions.

"My word," memory Brook said in surprise. "There seems to be an awful lot of noise going on outside. I wonder what that could be?"

"Usually, it's bad news for us," current Usopp said, "Who would have thought that it was something good?"

"Really?" Chopper asked in surprise. "What was it?"

But at that moment, one of Pappug's servants came bolting straight into the store, shouting out that there was big news. And when Pappug asked what the matter was, once the servant caught his breath, all he could say was, "H-H-He's here!"

"He?" Pappug questioned in confusion and they all went out to see what this was about, with servant pointing up to the sky.

"Look! Up there in the sky!" he cried out, "He's come all the way from Ryugu Castle!"

Almost directly above them was a massive form, though thanks to all the bright light, it was difficult to make out who it was at first.

"Hey," memory Luffy said. "What's that? A whale?"

He was half right, for there was an enormous black whale with a golden crown on his massive head, yet there was another figure who was riding on his back. A giant of a merman with an orange beard so thick that you couldn't see his mouth, and long, curly orange hair. His body was hair all over with spiral black tattoos on his arms, and there was a long red nose sticking out over his beard… and a large petal-shaped crown on his head.

Pappug gasped, his eyes wide as he choked out, "Why would he come all the way down to these lowly waters?"

"This is the first time I've ever seen him in person!" Camie also gasped out in amazement.

"I never really got how royalty could stand to live in those palaces and expect to rule over a nation," Franky said with a shake of his head. "I mean, what could they possibly know what their people are going through when they get to live in the lap of luxury all their lives?"

"Maybe," Robin said, "And most kingdoms are like that. The highborn never want for anything, so they would have little to relate to their own people. But given how much the people here love their royal family so much that they rather see the island destroyed than see them killed, I think that they must be doing something right."

All around them, they could hear the whispers of the people, all of them just as stunned as Camie and Pappug to see their king all the way here. Worrying that there was some kind of national crisis.

"Well, they're not that far off," Sanji sighed. Why was it that trouble just seemed to follow them everywhere they go? Well, at least they never had to worry about a dull day.

The whale slowly began to descend towards them, gliding down until he was right in front of them all, the golden light slowly dying behind him.

"Neat effect," current Brook said. "Wish I thought of that while I was still performing on stage."

"Who's the old guy?" memory Luffy asked bluntly.

"What the…? You don't even know?!" Pappug cried out in shock. "That's the great king of Fishman Island, or rather, Ryuuguu Kingdom! King Neptune!"

"Neptune," the king repeated as Hoe sang out his own name like an echo.

 **(Sorry for the long wait. But I've only had a chance to work on this story because it was spring break. I go back to school tomorrow, and I don't have the faintest idea when the next chapter will come out. Either way, I hope you can enjoy this chapter until then.)**


	5. Floor 4: The Underwater Palace

**Chapter 4: The Underwater Palace**

"Wow," memory Usopp said in an impressed way. "That's one huge merman."

"Personally, I prefer mermaids," memory Brook stated.

"I agree with myself," the current Brook nodded in full agreement. "They just lack the… ah… assets that I like."

"Like what?" Chopper asked innocently before Brook frozen, glancing over at Robin, who was giving him a dark look and he gulped down nervously before he gave Chopper a friendly pat on the head.

"Don't mind me," he laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'd go for a mermaid any day," Sanji sighed, more interested in all the mermaids that were watching the king with wide eyes.

"Hey! You guys!" Pappug cried out in panic like he couldn't believe that they were talking so casually about the king.

"What a hairy old man," memory Luffy went on just as calmly.

"I'm telling you, you're being rude!" Pappug cried as he jumped up and began to pull at memory Luffy's face, causing it to stretch. "Be respectful and kneel already!"

"But it's true," current Luffy pointed out, "He really is a hairy old man!"

"Yeah, I think you could hide a zoo in that beard of his and you'd never know," Zoro added as he watched, wondering why Pappug was telling them to kneel to someone they never met before.

"That whale is so cute!" memory Nami spoke up as if she hadn't heard a word that the starfish had said, and not even giving Neptune a second glance.

"He really is," current Brook sighed as he thought of Laboon when he was still just a baby. He was so cute… he wanted to see him… he hoped that Laboon would be patient just a little bit longer.

Meanwhile, all the Fishmen and Merpeople around them were watching with wide, nervous eyes.

"What does his majesty want with those humans?" they heard one of the Fishmen ask his friend quietly.

"Why would he come here to see them in person?" a mermaid asked, never taking her eyes off Neptune, who had just turned to the shark that floated up right next to him… the same shark that had been wearing the t-shirt when he escaped the Kraken.

"Megalo," Neptune said to the shark. "Are you sure that it was these people-jamon?"

Megalo nodded enthusiastically.

"You know, I wish all sharks were as cute as Megalo," Robin said as Megalo reminded her of a faithful puppy.

"But that would take away their image," Zoro reminded her. "Who would be afraid of a shark that looks like that?"

"Huh?" memory Nami asked in surprise. "Didn't we see that shark on our way down here?"

"Oh yeah!" past Usopp said, pointing at it, "The one wearing that shirt!"

"The guy who was almost eaten by Surume!" memory Luffy said brightly.

"So the Mermaid Princess's pet was almost eaten by your pet," Robin stated as she thought it all over.

"Boy, glad that didn't happen, that would have been awkward to explain," Franky spoke up sarcastically before he put on a phony winning voice and said loudly, " _'Hi, we haven't even met yet, but my newly tamed Kraken just happened to have eaten your shark. Hope you can understand!'_ Yeah, she would have taken that well."

"I see," said Neptune before he looked at the memory Straw Hats, who stared back at him.

When he didn't say anything for a moment, past Usopp asked him what it was that he wanted. King Neptune stayed silent for another moment before he finally said, "I have come… to take you…" and suddenly he flung his arms open wide as he declared, "to Ryuuguu Palace-jamon!"

There was stunned silence all around.

Camie, Pappug, and all the civilians who were watching gasped in shock and surprise, while the memory Straw Hats glanced at each other, confused.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Camie and Pappug cried. "R-R-R-R-RYUUGUU PALACE?!"

It was funny that the only ones who didn't react at all were the memory Straw Hats, who just looked on confused.

"Funny guy, he's the king and comes down from the palace all on his own just to invite complete strangers back with him," Franky smirked. "I like him."

"He's definitely not afraid to stand out," Sanji added. "You think that he would have brought his guard with him, at least."

"Oh, he got told off for it when he got back," current Nami smirked as their memory selves were allowed to jump onto Megalo's back. Camie and Pappug both hesitated, feeling that it wasn't their place to join them, until the Straw Hats asked Neptune if their friends could come with them, which he allowed. Soon, all of them were on the shark's back as they took off, leaving the people staring up after them in shock, unsure if what they saw had really just happened.

Not that anyone complained as they were soon flying up right next to them. Current Luffy was ecstatic about this, being able to actually fly through the sky. He, Chopper and Usopp were soon doing flips and rolls in the air as the others rode up on Megalo's back, content to just watching the scene.

Memory Luffy was up front on Megalo's head, and letting out excited cries as they flew over the city, whose colors were so bright that it was almost blinding. His enthusiasm caused Neptune to laugh and stated that he should be careful not to fall off. But soon enough, the king, along with Megalo and his pet whale named Hoe, all joined in a song as he continued to chant Neptune's name and the word 'Jamon' over and over again.

"Must be nice to be king," current Brook stated lightly.

"Yeah, you can do whatever you want and people can't say anything about it," Franky nodded with a snort of laughter.

In fact, some of their past selves were looking up at the king like they were a little worried that he may not be as sane as they first thought. But, they soon turned their attention to the passing scenery, passing by giant floating bubbles full of houses and even people waving back at them when they drifted by.

At last, memory Luffy then had the balls to ask, "What's with that stupid chant, old guy?"

Pappug shrieked in panic and went running up to him, jumping up onto his shoulder as he scolded him once more, "Would you quit being so rude?! Straw, you're honestly scaring me here!"

"What? It's not like that he's going to be executed just for speaking his mind, will he?" current Brook asked.

"Believe it or not, some kings had done worse for less," Robin sighed a little. "Thankfully, King Neptune isn't like that. You can tell that much when the whole of Fishman Island would rather see the island destroyed then see the royal family executed."

"It is nice to see a kind-hearted royal family," current Nami nodded in agreement. "Reminds me of Vivi."

"Ahh… my dear Vivi…" Sanji sighed lovingly. "How do I long for thee…?"

King Neptune, meanwhile, didn't seem to take offense at Luffy's comment and merely chortled.

"That shark there, you're riding on is named Megalo," he informed them all, "He's my daughter's pet and she cares a lot about him-jamon." His eyes then turned sad as he explained, "When Megalo didn't come back, she wouldn't stop crying. You Straw Hats have our gratitude for saving him from the Kraken-jamon!"

Megalo hissed happily, and memory Luffy just laughed, kicking his feet up as he smiled down at the shark.

"That was just a coincidence," he admitted, "but I'm glad it worked out in the end!"

"It really is amazing how one little coincidence ended up leading us on one big adventure," Robin stated.

"What do you mean?" Chopper asked curiously.

"If we never saved Megalo, you all wouldn't have been invited to the palace… and look at what happened while you were there?" Robin said, having heard their versions of what happened when they were there.

"You know, you're right… that's funny," present-day Nami stated as she thought it all over.

"I wonder what kind of adventure we would have had otherwise," current Luffy stated as he thought it over. Well, he doubted that they would've had such a big feast if it turned out any other way.

"So he's the Mermaid Princess's pet?" Pappug asked as he looked down at Megalo's smiling face in great surprise.

Memory Brook, who was sitting up on Megalo's fin, suddenly swung down until he was hanging upside down and asked in polite puzzlement, "Oh? Pappug-san, did you not say that you were on very good terms with the princess?"

Pappug suddenly turned purple in the face before he turned to look at him jerkily, trying to shush him from talking.

"Oh, so it was a lie?" memory Brook asked, figuring it out at once.

"I don't know the point in telling such a big lie," Chopper said lightly. "If we really wanted to meet the princess, he wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"He was just trying to show off in front of us," Zoro shrugged, though he couldn't see the big deal with meeting the princess. Luffy called her crybaby all the time and he had to admit that he had a point. He could barely think of a time he'd seen her and she wasn't crying.

With a sigh, memory Brook suddenly turned upright again and stood up as he added, "Either way, it sure is a shame about Sanji-san… he wanted to meet the mermaid princess more than any of us."

Memory Sanji cringed at the thought of those two creatures who were treating him. How could he be stuck there attached to blood bags while his crew was allowed to go and meet the Mermaid Princess before he could?!

"Need I remind you that it's your fault that you were in that bed?" current Nami added as she poked Sanji in the head.

"I didn't say anything!" he answered back quickly.

"You didn't need to! I knew what you were thinking," she responded coldly.

"He was just born under an unlucky star…" past Usopp stated as he stood up with him. "I think…" And maybe it was a tick of the light, but there seemed to be a glint of tears in the corner of their eyes… though Brook didn't have eyes.

"Is it unlucky or lucky? I'm not sure anymore…" Chopper said quietly.

"Either way, it's a very interesting star," Robin added. "It really makes you wonder what kind of luck is waiting for him next."

"Still," memory Usopp went on, "If the princess has a shark for a pet…" And suddenly he began to shiver as he became lost in thought.

"I don't even want to know what you are picturing," present-day Nami hissed to him.

"I-is is all right?" asked Camie suddenly, sounding nervous. When they all looked at her she went on, "For us to come along to Ryuuguu Palace?"

"She worries too much!" current Luffy responded as he continued to fly alongside everyone.

"Yeah, besides the king said it was alright," Zoro stated as he jerked his thumb over at Neptune. "If the king, himself, said that it was alright, why worry about it?"

Just then, memory Usopp went over and crouched down at Camie's side as he asked, "He did say 'Your friends are quite welcomed too-jamon,' so what's the problem?"

"Most people never go there, right?" memory Nami added, the wind blowing her hair about. "Since you have the chance, you should enjoy it!"

Again, King Neptune chortled before he explained, "To tell you the truth. I sent my sons out to fetch you, but they still haven't returned-jamon! So I decided to go myself. After all, I too, am looking forward to the feast, and wish to start eating soon-jamon!"

"I knew I liked him!" current Luffy laughed out.

"Yeah, you two would be good friends," present-day Usopp laughed as the king was even starting to drool. He wasn't the only one, either. Luffy—both Luffy's—were also drooling, almost looking like he was foaming at the mouth as he was clearly imagining all the wonderful plates of food that were waiting for them.

"I'm looking forward to it to!" past Luffy cried out.

"Hey! Wipe that drool off your faces!" memory Nami shouted as the current Luffy moaned out longingly at the thought of food, his fun of flying fading as his stomach began to roar.

"I forgot to mention," King Neptune added as he wiped his own arm over his bushy beard to where his mouth was to get rid of the drool, "But another of your friends has already been taken there!" When the others looked at him in surprise, he went on, "He's a swordsman. And he started drinking as soon as he arrived. These feasts are more fun if everyone's there. What a selfish man."

"We're pirates. What did he expect?" Zoro asked as he shrugged. Damn, that was some really good booze too.

"I believe his name was…" the King began as he thought about it.

"It's Zoro," present-day Usopp muttered.

"Definitely Zoro," Chopper agreed under his breath.

"Zori!" Neptune said.

"IT'S ZORO!" Zoro shouted out as Sanji burst out laughing.

"We should so make that your official name!" he roared as he slapped his knee at the thought.

"At least I'm not the one who's being treated by drag queens!" Zoro snapped back, getting Sanji's laughing face to be replaced at once by a very stormy one. Soon the two were glaring death-glares at the other, knowing that it was only going to be a matter of time before one, or both, snap and they give in to their deepest desire to kill the other.

"Boys, please behave," current Brook said soothingly.

"HIS NAME IS ZORO!" memory Usopp and Nami shouted in unison, but a great gust of wind came by, nearly knocking them off Megalo's back. But as they tumbled to the ground, they reached out and grabbed hold of Megalo's tail in the nick of time.

"No! Nami!" Sanji cried out in panic when he saw them hanging on.

"I was in danger too, you know!" current Usopp shouted out, not liking how no one else in the memory seemed to be reacting to this.

"My men are still looking for the rest of your crew," Neptune went on as if nothing happened, "and will invite them to the palace as well, so there's no need to worry-jamon!"

As the memory versions of Nami and Usopp pulled themselves back up to safety, past Luffy suddenly turned back to them and asked, "By the way, Nami. Do you know where the others, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah…" current Luffy said, having just realized that. "If we're looking at everyone's memories, why didn't we see that?"

"Ah…" current Nami began before she froze, unable to find an answer for that. If they really were seeing memories from everyone this time, then how come they skipped over parts? She glanced at Robin and the others, trying to see if any of them had the answer, but they looked just as lost as she did.

Meanwhile, memory Nami looked surprised, as if she completely forgot about them. But she then explained that she arrived on the island alone, but was almost immediately found by Franky, who had rescued Robin from drowning. They went exploring the town together, but soon, Franky explained that there was someone on the island that he wanted to meet, and Robin said that there was an important matter she wanted to look into.

"What were you guys up to?" current Usopp asked.

"Well, the man who taught me everything I know about building ships, had a brother who lived here on the island and I wanted to meet up with him," Franky confessed. He wanted to meet a living, breathing, member of Tom's family and let him know more about his brother. He was glad that he got the chance, for meeting him, he could see a lot of Tom in him.

"Oh, Den, right?" Chopper asked brightly, remembering the nice Merman who helped them with the Sunny.

"Yeah," Franky shrugged.

"And what about you?" Sanji asked Robin.

"I discovered there was another poneglyph here," she answered.

"Did you find it?" Nami asked her in wonder and when she saw Robin smile back, she knew that she did.

"So we split up again," past Nami finished. "You guys haven't had much trouble have you?"

"Well, you could say that we have, and you can say we haven't…" current Usopp sighed before giving Sanji a dirty look, who went a little red in the face as he rubbed the back of his head, unable to come up with a good excuse for that.

"By the way, Gramps," memory Nami added suddenly.

"That's the Sea God, King Neptune, you're addressing!" Pappug cried out as he bit down on Nami's head. The Straw Hats all winced in pity, knowing that Pappug could have possibly written his own death warrant here. For a moment, memory Nami didn't look like she felt anything as she looked on at the king in bright interest… and the next thing that any of them knew was that Pappug was beaten to a pulp and was groaning out miserably in pain as he lay on Megalo's back.

"Nami that's harsh," Chopper gulped down. Nami was really scary, wasn't she? Why was it that out of all the enemies they faced up till now, she was the one who was able to strike fear into the heart of any? Even the Monster Trio feared her as much as they respected her… and look at all the things they faced up till now?

"He had it coming," current Nami said coldly as her past self went on asking the king, "We're ten thousand meters under the sea, right? So how can it be so bright and sunny here on Fishman Island?"

There was no doubt that they were at the bottom of the ocean, for as she spoke, they could see the faint shadows of underwater fish in the sky off in the distance, showing them that they were always surrounded by dark eyes…

King Neptune chuckled at her question and explained that it wasn't really bright in a normal way. This was the only place in the world where light could reach the ocean floor and was the reason why their ancestors chose to build their home here. It was thanks to the roots of the Great Sun Tree, Eve, that reach all the way down here from the surface. No one was quite sure how it worked, but the roots emanated sunlight from the surface and thus shine the light from the roots like it was day. Not only that, but the roots also brought air from the surface for them as well. When memory Usopp asked if it was just like a bigger version of the Yarukiman Mangrove trees on the Sabaody Archipelago, King Neptune agreed, letting him know that when the sun shines in the day, the seafloor is illuminated as well. When night falls, then it grows dark here, too. So even though they were at the bottom of the ocean, they were able to enjoy the blessings of the sun.

But memory Luffy didn't pay much attention as he kept his hand on his stomach, moaning that he was hungry, ignoring Pappug's frightened scolding's once again as Neptune laughed, letting them know that they were almost there.

They then reached an enormous bubble hanging right above their heads. They largest they had seen yet, second only to the one surrounding the island itself. It was full of bright coral, but that was all they could tell from this angle. As the others stared up at it, they went to some kind of metal gate that was position directly at the top of the bubble. Neptune explained that this was actually the entrance and had Hoe take him up to where there was a tiny button there. When he pushed it, they heard the sound of a bell.

"You know, most people don't have door bells for the entrance to a palace," current Usopp shrugged, personally thinking it was stupid.

"Yes?" said a voice on the intercom.

"It is I-jamon," Neptune answered.

"Oh! Your Highness!" the voice answered at once, "H-hang on! I'll open the pathway for you immediately!"

Soon, a Water Road appeared and connected to the entrance above them, stretching all the way upwards to the floating bubble above their heads. But before they followed, Neptune actually reached into his beard and offered the Straw Hats some coral.

"Who keeps things in their beard?" Sanji asked exasperatedly.

"I don't know," current Brook said as he fondly petted his afro. "Big hair can be useful if you know how to use it."

Current Usopp suddenly looked at him and asked worriedly, "In that case, what do you hide in yours?"

"Yohohoho, you'll never know," he laughed as Camie explained that the coral was called Bubbly Coral, and that they were tools that they used to create bubbles for them to breathe.

"The castle is mostly filled with water," King Neptune added. "Make sure that you activate those bubbles before we enter."

Both memory Luffy and Nami both pressed down on the tops of the coral and large bubbles began to blow up like balloons at the bottom. They grew bigger and bigger until the two bubbles reached the other and merged, only go grow even larger. Until there was just one enormous bubble that covered over them and left plenty of room and air.

"That sure is convenient!" memory Usopp said happily.

"Now, let us go," King Neptune said as he led the way into the water road, and they followed behind. They went through the bubble and almost immediately they were carried along the road, with both Luffy's laughing at how fast it was. Their excitement was growing as they continued to follow the pathway in front of them, though Camie and Pappug were both still anxious—with Pappug sweating up a storm.

"I can't wait to see the palace!" Camie exclaimed, who was finally starting to look more excited than scared.

"If word gets out that I came here, my clothing brand will become even more famous!" Pappug muttered under his breath as he continued to sweat.

"Your face is twitching," memory Brook pointed out helpfully just when they saw a bright light at the end of the water road and when they came through, they got their first glimpse of the palace.

"Here we are-jamon," Neptune said.

"Oh wow, I almost forgot how amazing it was!" present-day Nami gasped, her eyes shining as she stared ahead. The entire bubble was almost completely filled up with water, surrounding an enormous palace made up of coral, with the form of a golden dragon statue that was twisting about like a snake.

"WOW!" memory Luffy cried, their eyes shining as they stared around them in shock, "THIS IS AMAZING!"

"It really is!" current Luffy laughed as there were entire schools of fish swimming about, hiding in the tall plants or colorful coral. "Next time we come here, I wanna run around the halls again! It was so cool!"

"There are rooms that can kill you if you step foot in them without a bubble," Sanji reminded him.

"I know! That's what makes it so exciting!" current Luffy beamed.

"It makes Pappug's manor look like a dog house," memory Brook added in awe.

"Don't compare them!" Pappug barked up, like he was afraid that he would get told off by the king for even daring to compare his mansion to the palace.

As they approached the front doors, they could hear voices going on inside the closer they got and the king was seen.

"Open the gates! King Neptune has returned!"

"I was wondering where he went."

"Don't they keep track on their own king?" current Zoro asked with a yawn. Not that it really said much, for Luffy was their captain and they couldn't keep an eye on him at all hours of the day even though they do try.

"Kings can do what they want," current Brook offered with a shrug. "If he wanted to go outside on his own, then that's his decision."

"It's strange that he would go out on his own," Robin stated as she thought it over. "Even though the king is much loved by the people of this island, you think he would have had some guards insist that they accompany him."

"Just wait for it," current Nami sighed.

"Open up the doors!" the voices called and soon the palace gates opened, and the group soon entered a huge corridor, lined with guards at both sides. Good thing the memory Straw Hats are in bubbles, for Neptune was right and that the whole palace was filled with water and swimming fish.

"WELCOME BACK, YOUR MAJESTY!" the rows of guards all recited when they saw him. As their past selves got off Megalo's back, they began staring around in amazement, looking like the opposite of the aquarium back on the Sunny… with them being inside a giant, life-size version of it.

"Feel free to make yourselves at home, Straw Hats-jamon!" Neptune exclaimed.

But just then, they heard a furious voice spoke up, "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! YOU DID IT AGAIN!"

Neptune suddenly flinched upon hearing that voice, like how a child would do when caught with their hand inside the cookie jar by their parents. Two more mermen came into the room, one of them a seahorse fishman, having ridges along his back and the sides of his face as well large funnel-like mouth much like Hachi's. And he also had a curly orange tail on like a seahorse, unlike most mermen that had fish tails.

Meanwhile the second merman was shorter and seemed to be some kind of catfish merman with light blond waist-length hair. He had a long beard and had two whiskers on his face for a mustache as he wore a large monocle on his left eye and an oversized top hat as he carried around a long wooden cane with horns.

"You went into the kingdom on your own without considering your position, again!" the seahorse merman, the Minister of the Right, yelled out at him as the king lowered his head as if in great shame.

"Guess we know who wears the pants here," Sanji said as he watched on in interest.

"They can't wear pants though?" Chopper pointed out in confusion.

"It's just a figure of speech, Chopper-san," Brook spoke up. "It just means that even though Neptune is the king, he's not immune to getting told off."

"That's nothing," Zoro yawned out, "I saw him getting yelled at before he went to get you. I thought he was going to be sent to his room without dinner… but I later heard he went to go look for everyone else because he was tired of waiting."

"Really? Why was he being told off then?" Robin asked in interest.

"Dunno," Zoro shrugged disinterestedly. "Something about being 'irresponsible' or something like that."

"Man, wish we could've seen that," Franky laughed.

"You can't just go down to the surface without even bringing an escort!" the Minister of the Right went on yelling.

"What are we going to do with you?" the Minister of the Left sighed with a shake of his head as the memory Straw Hats, minus Luffy, stared at the scene in shock.

"He's getting scolded," Camie whispered, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"If something had happened to you, it'd be too late for apologizes!" the Minister of the Right continued barking up at him as the king twitched a little in shame. "Do you even realize the situation our country is in?!"

As the king continued to get told off, memory Luffy was looking around with his hand over his stomach, which was making almost as much noise as the yelling… not that anyone was really paying attention to him at the moment.

"Can't we get started with the feast already?" he whined out. But then his nose suddenly picked up some new scents and he began drooling. At that moment, Neptune tried to distract the Minster of the Right by informing him that he found the Straw Hats, who saved Megalo and brought them here. Once the others turned to look, Neptune cleared his throat and added for them to welcome their guests. But that was when he began looking around and asked, "Where is the princess? What is Princess Shirahoshi doing?"

"You mean she's here?!" Sanji gasped, staring around wildly, hoping to find his beautiful angel hiding behind a pillar or something.

But instead, the Minister of the Left whispered quietly up at him, "About the Princess, Your Majesty… a little while ago, it started happening again."

"That bastard throwing things again, I bet," current Luffy yawned out, thinking about how annoying it was to throw away all those axes that guy had been throwing at Crybaby.

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Neptune boomed angrily and visibly shaking with rage. "This is what happens when you don't guard her properly and keep her reassured that she'll be safe, you imbeciles!"

"And while that was going on…" the Minister of the Right chastised back just as angry, "You just disappeared without a trace in the first place! Can't you see that you make everybody here worry, your majesty?!"

Once again, he was scolding the king, who was keeping his head down as he let him yell.

"I promise to be more careful in the future-jamon," Neptune said sulking again.

"He got scolded again," the memory Straw Hats whispered in shock again as they stared.

"Yohohoho! I never realized it, but it's funny after seeing it the second time!" current Brook laughed out.

"I sincerely apologize for bringing this up when you just brought the guests," the Minister of the Right added, sounding calmer, "but we have important business to discuss."

"Yes," the Minister of the Left added, "Prince Fukaboshi contacted us a moment ago. What are we to do?"

"Oh no," current Nami sighed, already able to see where this was going. This was the part where they told Neptune about the prediction that Madam Sharkly saw and they would soon panic, thus attacking them all. She sighed, feeling like she was watching a play, but she already knew the ending. It seemed to take the suspense out… she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Hmm?" Neptune asked in surprise. "Fukaboshi you say? What happened?"

"Well, you see…?" the Minister of the Left said, and then he began to whisper so quietly that they couldn't make out what he was saying.

"I wonder how long they're going to ignore us," memory Brook suddenly spoke up as they waited.

Memory Nami sighed as she looked around, but that was when she realized that there was someone missing.

"Huh? Where'd Luffy go?" she asked.

"Oh, no…" Zoro sighed as he turned to see that she was right. "Luffy? Where did you wander off to?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked as he looked around. "Oh, I didn't notice. I smelled some really yummy food and went to go see where it was coming from."

Just then, memory Usopp cried out, "He was just here! He can't sit still for even a minute, can he?"

"What's he thinking?" Pappug asked nervously, "Running around this divine sanctuary on his own?"

"You can smell food underwater and through a bubble?" Robin asked curiously.

"Yeah?" Luffy asked, wondering what the problem was.

"Nothing," she shrugged with a smile. "Just that it's amazing."

"Freaky, more like," Sanji sighed, knowing all too well that Luffy always knew just when a meal was about to be served just by smelling the air on the Sunny. It was a problem for him because the rubber-brained idiot always came running in, asking for a snack before Sanji would toss him out.

"Let's go and look!" Luffy said as he jumped to his feet and went running off, leaving the rest of the crew to either cry out after him, or sighed in reservation as they followed.

They left the room as Neptune continued to get told off, and they soon found memory Luffy, sitting cross-legged in a small bubble that kept him out of the water as he drifted about, bouncing off the walls as he continued down corridors and through doorways and even scaring the fish that swam about. He wasn't even paying attention to where it was that he was going, not worrying about how he was going to find his way back, just letting his nose, which was pressed to the side of the bubble, guide him as he continued to sniff about excitedly.

"There's no doubt about it!" he proclaimed, drooling a little as he continued to sniff. "I can smell food coming from that way!" His eyes turned to stars as he added, "It smells so yummy!"

He continued floating about on his own until there was a bubble pressed over one doorway and he went for it. He pressed hard against it, causing the bubble to pop once he made it through and he dropped down to the floor, the water not passing beyond this point.

Memory Luffy looked around in mild surprise that he wasn't flying anymore.

"No water in here?" he asked as he stood up and began to sniff the air eagerly.

"Yeah, it's a lot easier when you're not in a bubble," the current Luffy added brightly. Up ahead, they saw a guard coming out of a room with a couple empty carts. He didn't notice memory Luffy there as he shut the doors quietly began to push the two empty carts.

Memory Luffy sniffed the air again. "The smell disappeared," he said happily, "So it must be behind that door!"

"Wait… isn't that…?" Zoro began, having seen the tower before after the feast and Luffy kicked that stupid pirate… 'Muddy'? whatever, away from the princess. Before he could continue asking, however, the guard, who was so large that he towered over Luffy, was coming towards them, pushing the two carts. Just then, the cover of one of the carts softly blew up and distracted the guard for a moment when he looked down at it, not noticing how Luffy stepped to the side as the guard walked by.

"What a lousy guard," Usopp spoke up with a shake of his head.

"If moving cloth is enough to distract him… I have to agree," Franky stated as they followed after memory Luffy, who went walking up to the door that the guard just closed and looked up at it. It was a huge steel-framed door, littered with all sorts of weapons, like swords, axes, and maces—leaving some massive scars and dents into the doors and walls.

"Damn, what was this place for?" Franky asked in surprise, moving up his sunglasses to get a good look at it. "What happened here?"

"Is this the treasure vault or something?" Nami asked, her eyes bright and beri marks appeared. For what else but treasure could possibly need such thick doors?

"Maybe this is where they're holding the feast!" memory Luffy offered to himself.

"If so, then I wouldn't want to go into a place that has the front looking like that," Usopp said worriedly as Chopper nodded his head. It looked more like an army tried to tear the doors open before… it was creepy.

"Do you often talk to yourself when you're alone?" Usopp suddenly asked their Luffy, who was watching his past self look up at the doors curiously.

"It's not that uncommon," Brook added with a shrug. "I did that all the time when I'm alone."

"Ok… that's a little… sad," Usopp said, looking at the skeleton in worry. Maybe they shouldn't leave Brook alone for too long.

"They said Zoro was already here, didn't they?" memory Luffy went on speaking to himself as he looked for a way in.

"Did you cause any problems for them?" Robin suddenly asked Zoro curiously.

"Nah, I was stuck wandering around a stupid coral forest when the guards found me, told me there was going to be a feast and you all took so long to get there I helped myself to a drink," he shrugged. "It was a good time until I heard that there was some trouble going upstairs so I decided to come and check it out."

"I'm not sure I want to know what you're talking about," Chopper sighed, not liking where this was going.

"Still, that is one huge door," memory Luffy went on. "Really thick, like the walls at Impel Down."

Some of the Straw Hats flinched at the reminder of Impel Down and what a horrible place that it was. The memory of some of the horrors that both Luffy and Ace suffered there, were playing themselves clearly in their minds. Nami, in fact, went over and hugged Luffy tightly, who returned the hug in confusion, wondering what was going on as he patted her on the head.

"In a way, it is," Robin added grimly, staring at the cold steel doors and having guessed just what, or rather who, was inside. "It really is a prison."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chopper asked curiously but she just waved her hand down at him gently, letting him know that it was probably better to watch.

"What kind of delicious food are they keeping in there?" memory Luffy gasped out excitedly. He then stretched his arms out and grabbed hold of one of the massive handles and pulled. After a few seconds, the door slowly creaked open, squeaking so loudly that it was clear that it wasn't opened much.

They followed Luffy as he stepped around, having been expecting some kind of party going on. But instead, all that he saw was darkness.

"It's pitch black in here," he said obviously, reminding them all of déjà vu when they first stepped into the tower and started this little journey through their memories. "So this isn't where they're holding the feast?"

Memory Luffy tried to look around, and from the light of the open doorway, he could just see the form of several plates of food at the other side of the room, all still pipping hot from the stove… and the current Luffy was starting to drool at the sight of it all

"You do know that there's no point?" Usopp reminded him with a sigh. "You can't eat anything."

Present-day Luffy, who had forgotten that, suddenly started to sulk, his stomach starting to act up again.

"So, is this the food storage, then?" his past self asked himself.

"If it was, then you should get out, it's not yours!" Nami stated, having let go of Luffy and looked down at him with a roll of her eyes. But why would they leave so much food just out in the open like this without at least trying to store it away. Wait… was this…?

"Well, whatever! I'll have some anyway!" memory Luffy said happily. "My hunger is at its limit!"

He then stretched his arms out again, jumping over until he was about halfway across the room when he suddenly stepped on something soft and bouncy.

"Hey, what's this?" memory Luffy asked. "This feels too soft to be coral."

He began walking around, walking straight into more of this strange coral and bouncing off. He then began touching it curiously trying to figure out why it was so soft. It seemed logical… for there was coral all around the palace, and from the weak light of the open door, they could see there were tiny traces of coral about them… but since when was it soft? Memory Luffy was walking around like it was island cloud from Skypiea.

But soon enough, they heard a sleepy moan, which got everyone's attention and memory Luffy called out, "Huh? Is somebody there?"

"Oh no…" Robin said, understanding at once what was going on. This wasn't going to end well, was it? Memory Luffy climbed up onto a large mound of the coral to look around, but soon it turned into a game as he began jumping.

"Wahoo!" past Luffy cheered. "This is fun! This coral is like pudding!"

"Like… pudding?" Chopper asked, liking his lips as he thought about some yummy pudding right now. But Sanji was already starting to put two and two together and anger was quickly building up inside him.

Robin just had to hold back her laughter, not answering when some of the others were asking her what was so funny… at least until they heard a sweet, child-like voice cry out through the dark, "Is somebody there?!"

"Huh?" memory Luffy asked, who stopped bouncing and a bright light from a chandelier flashed on above them, momentarily blinding them all as they tried to see through it after all the dark. The bouncy 'coral' that Luffy had been jumping on was actually a yellow halter top that was covered in pearls… Princess Shrahoshi was staring down at him, tears already appearing in her eyes as she sat up, causing Luffy to fall off her breasts and landing on the soft mattress. A large mermaid, as large as King Neptune, with long strawberry-blond hair and a fish-shaped hair grip to keep it out of her face. The light from the chandelier shone off her pink scales on her tale as her eyes watered up, bringing out the pink in her cheeks.

"You mean you were bouncing around on her chest?" Usopp said before tears appeared. "I'm so jealous."

"Wow… Luffy-san, you are my hero…" Brook whispered.

"Luffy…?" Sanji said quietly, his bangs covering his darkened eyes, his shoulders shaking violently. "Is that really how it happened?"

"Yeah," current Luffy laughed a little. "I thought it was all bouncy coral. It was a surprise."

"A surprise…? Bouncy…?" Sanji choked out before flames burned at his body as he roared out, "TO HELL WITH YOU!"

And the only reason he didn't go charging at Luffy, ready to kill him, was when he heard Shirahoshi speak up in a timid voice. She was shaking as she asked, "What is it? Why are you stepping on me?!" Memory Luffy, who was lying flat on his back was staring up at her in great surprise as she asked, "Who might you be?!"

Memory Luffy stood back up. "Whoa!" he said. "That's one big lady! I mean, one big mermaid!"

"BIG LADY?!" Sanji roared out, now making his way at Luffy, ready to throttle him… at least until Robin caused arms to sprout all over his body and hold him in place.

"Robin, why are you stopping me?!" Sanji asked, feeling betrayed.

"While I cannot approve, Luffy," Robin said to their captain, who continued to look confused, "I know that you didn't have any perverted intensions in mind."

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Luffy asked her in confusion. "I didn't know it was a person until the lights went on."

"And that's the only reason why I'm not killing you myself," Nami sighed.

"Y-you've come to try and take my life too, haven't you?!" Shirahoshi questioned past Luffy, trying to look angry in spite of her tears. "I-I'll have you know that I'm not scared of you! I'm the daughter of King Neptune! I-I'm not scared of anyone!"

"She sure looks scared," Franky said, wondering why such a big pin-up girl would be so scared of one tiny human.

Shirahoshi's tears fell from her eyes, and they were so huge, memory Luffy had to try and dodge them. Before long, Shirahoshi began to sob, wail, and scream so loud, that they were sure that everyone in the palace could hear her.

"WAAAAAAAAAHH!" Shirahoshi sobbed. "FATHER! BROTHERS! GUARDS! HEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"H-Hey, hey!" past Luffy called up, trying to quiet her down. "I didn't do anything!"

But she just continued to cry.

"H-Hey! What's wrong?!" memory Luffy cried out as he continued to dodge her tears. "I'm just a pirate who came in here to get some food!"

"Right Luffy," Usopp said as he shook his head, "that'll calm her down."

Like he thought, she started to howl even louder, ignoring all of Luffy's attempts to calm her.

"DAMMIT LUFFY!" Sanji roared out. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE A LADY CRY LIKE THIS?! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'M GONNA…?!"

"What's the big deal? She's always crying," Zoro spoke up unconcerned.

"AND AFTER LUFFY, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS, MOSS-HEAD!" Sanji added with a yell.

"WHAT?!" Zoro yelled back.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Nami yelled, covering her own ears in pain as the yelling went on all around them. From the three idiots to Shirahoshi, who's cries grew louder and louder with every second.

"Oh shut up!" memory Luffy finally yelled, sticking his fingers in his ears. "What a pain!"

"LUFFY!" Sanji began before Robin grew an extra arm out of his back and covered his mouth to keep him from making the noise any worse.

"A human made it into my room!" Shirahoshi continued to cry. "He's here to kill me!"

Memory Luffy heard that.

"Huh? No!" he cried, pulling his fingers out so that he could continue to try and talk, "Hey, that's not it! I was just hungry! I didn't know it was your food!"

As the yelling went on, Zoro looked behind them all—and Sanji would have done so as well, but was still restrained… but he stopped fighting and his eyes moved as they both heard it before seeing it coming. The whoosh of a sharp blade coming towards them. They turned to see the glint of something sharp flying towards them, spinning over and over. When it came closer, they saw that it was a giant axe. Memory Luffy clearly heard it too for he turned his head around towards the sound

Shirahoshi stopped crying long enough to notice the axe and stared at it as it aimed straight for her chest, right above her heart. She froze, too scared or maybe too surprised to even move. But memory Luffy jumped up midair, positioning himself between the two before he slammed his fists together to crush the blade and prevent it from moving as Shirahoshi gasped in surprise.

However it took a great deal of effort for even memory Luffy to hold on, for it seemed like it was still trying to continue forward. With a grunt and then a roar, Luffy could no longer hold it, but he was able to redirect away from Shirahoshi, causing it to fly off and breaking through some railing that was built up around her bed and crashed into the wall where it remained still.

Memory Luffy landed back on the bed slightly out of breath as he asked, "Where the hell did that axe come from?!"

"Well, that was one hell of a way to wake up," Franky said with a long whistle. "Hopefully, she won't think you're trying to kill her anymore."

"Nah, she was pretty cool about it," current Luffy shrugged. "Good thing too. She gave me her food. Oh, I'm so hungry now…"

Sanji glared at him, torn between the fact that Luffy dared to touch Shirahoshi—in a way that he could only dream of—and the fact that he had saved her life here.

But then they could hear the sounds of worried voices coming from outside.

"Princess Shirahoshi! We're coming!"

Shirahoshi looked up and gasped when she heard the voices, recognizing them at once.

"Huh? Someone's coming," memory Luffy said, looking to the door.

Shirahoshi looked back down at him before a serious look came her those big eyes. "Forgive me," she said and she grabbed hold of him with her hand, holding him before he could cry out.

"Oh, Luffy… you're so lucky…" Sanji moaned out as Robin felt that it was safe to let go of him and let him fall back to the floor in envy. Why couldn't it ever been him being held by such beautiful women?

His misery was interrupted when a half a dozen guards and the Minister of the Right came running up into the room.

"Princess! Are you alright?" the Minister of the Right at once.

"You're not hurt or anything, are you?" another of the guards asked.

"Why did she do that?" Chopper asked curiously as she clenched Luffy in her giant hand like he was a doll. "He just saved her so she sees he's not a bad person. He shouldn't have gotten into trouble."

"Yeah, that was annoying," current Luffy muttered, not appreciating being held down like that.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Usopp said with a sight. "They were probably trying to arrest us there."

"I think she wanted to keep them from taking him so that she could talk to him," Robin guessed. After all, if it had been her, she would have liked the chance to talk to someone after being locked up in her room for ten years.

"Huh?" Shirahoshi asked the guards, hiding her hand with Luffy behind her back. "N-No!"

"We heard you screaming, louder than usual, so we were worried," the Minister of the Right said worriedly.

At that moment, memory Luffy chose at that moment to kick up a fuss… at least until Shirahoshi covered his mouth with her pinky to silence him. Thankfully, one of the guards was looking up at the open door and asked who it was who opened it, having spoken almost at the same time that Luffy tried to, so Luffy's complaint went unnoticed.

But whether the Minister of the Right heard his voice or just suspected something was wrong he asked, holding his trident high, "Is there an intruder in here?!"

"You think they would have noticed the giant axe over there," Zoro sighed.

"I-I'm sorry to make you all worry," Shirahoshi said quickly, putting on a sweet smile. "I must have had a nightmare."

Meanwhile, memory Luffy was still struggling behind her back, forcing her finger away from his mouth to try and talk again, but she kept her pinky down hard to keep him from saying anything as the Minister of the Right added, "Oh, I could've sworn I heard another voice in here."

"She's trying to protect you here, Luffy-san, don't be so willing to throw away such a golden opportunity to get to speak the Mermaid Princess," Brook sighed, wishing that he had been keeping watch over Luffy so that he could have tagged along. Maybe he should make a habit of always following Luffy just in case he was able to meet up with more cute girls.

"Oh, um… ah…" the princess said, trying to come up with an excuse to the others, "I-It was the sound of my stomach."

"I think that excuse might have worked for you, Luffy, but I think that Shirahoshi might have been able to come up with a more realistic lie," Nami stated with a shake of her head.

"I don't know, she's pretty big so she might just have been able to pass it off," Franky offered. "I mean, if she gets hungry enough, then her stomach has to make some noise, right?"

"Oh, why couldn't I be able to cook for her?" Sanji whimpered again.

"Is that so?" the Minister of the Right asked, not sounding like he believed her. But before he could dwell on it, a shadow fell over them and the guards all turned around, striking at it and sticking the intruder with their tridents until they realized that it was Megalo.

"Oh!" Shirahoshi gasped in joy. "Megalo! You're safe!"

At the sight of the princess, the shark happily floated over and nuzzled her side affectionately, which she was only too happy to pet him back.

"Oh, speaking of which," the Minister of the Right added, "There is something I must tell you. It's about Straw Hat Luffy, who apparently rescued Megalo earlier." Both of them looked up, and at the sound of his voice, past Luffy finally stopped struggling to listen as the Minister of the Right went on, "Some mermaids have gone missing and we suspect he has kidnapped him. Also, due to a prediction of Madam Sharley, we've decided to confine the Straw Hats to the dungeon, as there is a good chance they will cause trouble in the future."

"Right, that was what got us into so much trouble," Usopp muttered bitterly.

"How could they blame us for destroying the island if we hadn't done it!?" current Luffy demanded angrily. "They can't arrest us just because of some prediction, could they?"

"No, they took it far too seriously," Sanji said in annoyance.

"Did anyone ever figure out who it was who was kidnapping those mermaids?" Usopp asked.

"In the end, they did find the kidnapped girls," Nami said as she struggled to think back. "But I can't remember if they ever found out who it was who was responsible."

"Just our luck," Franky shrugged. "Just as there's some prediction that we're gonna destroy the island, a bunch of girls go missing. Typical."

"At least they were all found and were safe," Brook said kindly. "That's all that matters in the end. And they were all lovely ladies who were able to dance for us at the feast! Yohohoho!"

"Oh, it was heaven," Sanji sighed longingly, wanting to go back to Fishman Island after he found the All Blue and open up a restaurant there. If he could do all that, the he would have nothing left to wish for.

Shirahoshi stared at him as the Minister of the Right added, "The swordsman who came to Ryuuguu Palace a little while ago fell asleep after drinking too much, and we have already placed him under arrest."

"They got you that easily, Moss-Head?" Sanji smirked smugly at him.

"Hey, they only got me because I was sleeping!" Zoro answered coldly. "If they really wanted to keep me in prison they would have thought to take my swords away."

"They didn't disarm you? They were just begging for you to escape then," Robin said in surprise.

"I guess they didn't think a group of human pirates were to be considered much of a threat to them," Franky offered with a shrug. "Hopefully, this is a lesson learned."

"The three members of Straw Hat's crew who just arrived have probably been captured too," the Minister of the Right explained, "However, their captain, Straw Hat, who came here with them must have realized what was going on and somehow, he disappeared."

"Really? He figured it out? First of all, that requires a brain," Sanji said with a roll of his eyes. "Second of all, they didn't even know to arrest us until after you all got here, right?"

"Luffy was just letting his stomach do all the thinking," Usopp said as their own Luffy was still looking longingly at the food, hardly paying any attention to what was going on.

Shirahoshi gasped and it was clear from her expression, and the way her eyes drifted that she had already figured out who memory Luffy was.

"We believe he may be lurking somewhere in the palace, so please be careful," the Minister of the Right told her. "We will also make sure we capture the rest of his crewmates on the island. We will protect this island's peace at all costs!"

"You know, if we were any other type of pirates and were attacked in such a way, we probably would have destroyed the island for the way they were treating us," Robin offered.

"I hate your gruesome thinking," Usopp hissed at her, wondering if she secretly enjoyed scaring them like this.

"But she's right," Zoro offered. "And that would have been a prophecy fulfilled or whatever."

At that moment memory Luffy's stomach began to let out a loud whine and Shirahoshi gasped.

"Dammit Luffy, that stomach of yours will get you killed one day," Usopp sighed, shaking his head.

"Sorry," current Luffy answered back as he put his own hands over his stomach, which also let out a similar roar. "But I'm hungry."

"You're always hungy," Chopper responded.

"I think I heard something," the Minister of the Right stated at once.

"Oh?" Shirahoshi asked nervously, "You must have imagined it!" She moved her other hand behind her back to try and block any other sounds just as Megalo looked and saw what she was hiding. "No, I'm sure it was your imagination!"

"I see…" the Minister of the Right said as he looked around the room, but saw nothing. "Well, in any case, it's a shame we must now restrain Megalo's saviors."

Megalo was suddenly thrashing around at the sight of seeing Luffy in Shirahoshi's hands, looking so shocked that he seemed unable to put it into words what was going on… not that he could. Shirahoshi looked pleadingly up at him, putting a finger to her lips to shush him.

"Princess?" the Minister of the Right asked as Megalo covered up his massive mouth with his fins. "You're acting very strange. What are you hid…?" but before he could finish asking the question, one of the guards held up a pocket watch and told him that they had to go.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what did they mean that time was up?" Brook asked as he scratched his head in confusion.

Without another word, the guards left and the Minister of the Right ordered the door shut and locked tight. Shirahoshi didn't say anything else as she watched, but there was sadness in her face as she watched the doors slowly creak shut and locked, leaving them alone. It wasn't until she heard the loud clanging of the lock did she finally let out a sigh of relief and carefully pulled Luffy out from behind her.

Soon, he was sitting in the palm of her hand as she held him up to talk to him.

"Thank you so much," she told him as she lifted him up to look at him. "I was really quite rude to you earlier… please, forgive me."

"You've done nothing to apologize for!" Nami said with a wave of her hand. "A strange pirate comes into your room while you were sleeping and was touching you. I would've killed him if it were me."

She then gave the boys a sharp look—Sanji and Brook especially—and added, "And given them a huge fine."

The boys all gulped hard, knowing that she wasn't kidding here. She would bleed them dry… a bigger shark than even Megalo.

"I didn't know you were the one who saved Megalo's life," Shirahoshi told him sincerely as Megalo came drifting over happily and memory Luffy reached up to pet him. "May I call you Master Luffy?" she asked sweetly.

"Master?" Sanji hissed furiously.

"She sure is polite isn't she?" Nami smiled brightly. "She's so sweet. Though a bit too sheltered for her own good."

"That could get her into trouble someday," Robin said with a shrug. "But she's got her brothers there to take care of her if she needs them. She'll be fine."

"Sure," memory Luffy said unconcerned.

"Master Luffy," Shirahoshi began curiously, "you are a pirate, aren't you? Does that make you a bad person?"

Past Luffy thought it over for a moment.

"I dunno," he answered simply, "You decide that for yourself."

"That's really the best way to answer," Zoro answered. They honestly didn't care what the rest of the world thought of them, whether they saw them as good or bad was their opinion. It wasn't going to stop them going forward, was it? After all, if they stopped whenever someone told them that they couldn't go anywhere, they would have been in the same place all their lives like Shirahoshi here.

"Okay," Shirahoshi said slowly before remembering what the Minister of the Right had said. "B-But what about your crewmates?" she asked worriedly. "They've been captured by our guards."

"Oh, it's alright," memory Luffy answered back. "There's no way you guys could actually catch them."

"Yeah, I'd be really surprised if you guys couldn't get yourselves out of that," the current Luffy laughed out.

"They underestimated us," Usopp smiled, pretending not to see Zoro roll his eye in annoyance. "No problem at all."

"Is that so?" Shirahoshi asked, lowering her hands as memory Luffy looked up at her curiously.

"Well, never mind that," he said as he stood up. "What was with that axe? Who's strong enough to throw something as big as that?"

"I can name a few people," Franky said proudly as he flexed his own arms. "Though an axe? That's it? You think he would've come up with something a little more interesting after all this."

"He threw a wooden ship half the size of the island in case you forgot?" Chopper yelled up at him angrily.

"Riiiiiight, good point," he agreed as he thought that all over.

"I know… who did it," Shirahoshi answered softly before she turned around to look at it. As they followed her gaze, they could see the insignia of a rose on the blade. "It's a man named Lord Vander Decken. He's trying to kill me because I refuse to marry him. That man… he has a curse known as the Mark-Mark on him."

"Mark-Mark?" Chopper asked. "A Devil Fruit."

"Right," Robin said. "I believe that means that he's able to hit a certain target no matter where they are."

"Ha! That's it? I don't need it," Usopp boasted proudly. He had yet to meet a sniper who could outshoot him.

"Because of this, he's capable of targeting my life from anywhere at any time, since he has me set as his target," Shirahoshi said fearfully. "That's why it's dangerous for me to go outside. I'm not even allowed to take one step outside the Hard-Shell Tower…"

But then memory Luffy's stomach started asking up, and he began to whine about being hungry again. It was then that Shirahoshi had found a way to thank him for saving her, she carried him over to where her meal was and at the sight of the food, still steaming, his eyes lit up.

"This all looks yummy! Can I really eat it?!" he asked as the current Luffy cried out mournfully.

"I want some!" he cried out, his stomach roaring even louder.

"Oh, grow up," Zoro sighed, refusing to even think of the fact that he was aching for a drink right about now.

"Go ahead," the princess told him and with a happy cry, memory Luffy jumped down from her hands and onto a loaf of bread that was larger than the Mini Merry.

"Just one of those loaves could keep a crew fed for a week," Sanji said, looking at the enormous loaves… but then he looked at Luffy before adding with a sigh, "Or at least a _normal_ crew."

Memory Luffy buried his head into the soft bread as Shirahoshi watched with a giggle. Almost like how a girl would when she was watching her pet eat.

"By the way," Luffy asked with his mouth full of bread, "If that guy wants to marry you, why's he trying to kill you?" After he made a good start on the bread, he turned around to look at her as he added, "He's not making any sense."

"For once, we are in agreement," Franky said as he thought that over. "I mean, I can get him being persistent, but if he kills her then…?"

"It's all a matter of pride," Brook stated. "Being rejected so often, I think that he rather that she never marry anyone else if she won't marry him."

"Jerk," Nami said in annoyance.

"He's been doing it for ten years," Shirahoshi answered back simply.

"Wait… how old is she? Sixteen at least?" Usopp said, suddenly realizing something. "That means he was trying to marry her since she was six years old? That is sick!"

"Ten years?!" memory Luffy repeated in shock. "Must be really boring!"

"You wouldn't think so if there was a psycho out there who was trying to marry/kill you," Franky offered. "You would think that there was never a dull moment here."

"Who needs that kind of excitement?" Nami sighed bitterly.

"And on top of that, my Father has decided that the guards can only be in here for five minutes at a time," she explained a little sadly.

"What?" Nami barked out in anger on behalf of Shirahoshi. "Why would he do that?! I mean, I get wanting to keep her safe, but why cut her off from all contact? Couldn't he allow people in there to talk to her and just have them remember to keep the doors closed or something?"

"Maybe he was afraid that one of the guards would try something?" Usopp offered. "But still, that's a bit harsh. Poor girl."

Robin's eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, but if you could see them, you would have been able to see the sorrow that was there. She knew the feeling of being alone for years on end. While she understood this was for the girl's protection, but all those years of loneliness that the princess must have suffered… it must have been so painful for her.

"Really?" memory Luffy asked, his belly already big.

Shirahoshi looked fondly at Megalo as she added, "So Megalo is the only one I can talk to. He's my best friend in the whole world."

"I get it now," Chopper said brightly. "So that's why they were all so happy that we saved him!"

"If something happened to him, if she lost her best friend, who knows what would have happened," Brook said, his heart going out to the Mermaid Princess, if he had one anyway. He knew the feeling. After all, he remembered how when he had sailed around the West Blue with a little Laboon, and how he worried when Sea Kings would go for the little guy. No wonder she was so upset…?

"Oh, so that's why they wanted to hold a feast just for saving him," memory Luffy said in understand as he ran over to the steamed oysters and digging into them. "That kinda got ruined though."

"Imprisoning people we're indebted to," Shirahoshi said as she thought it over, "What are they thinking?"

"I agree with you completely, my dear!" Sanji sighed lovingly. "Smart and beautiful…? She's perfect."

Megalo nodded along with her words as she added, "I've heard rumors that Madam Sharley's predictions are frighteningly accurate…? Perhaps it's unavoidable that everyone's afraid?" she suggested.

"I never thought of that, though that is an interesting theory," Robin said in great interest. "That's something to think about…"

As she thought it over, memory Luffy was slurping up noodles, only causing his belly to grow ever larger, and Shirahoshi to stare down at him in amazing.

"You humans may be small," Shirahoshi started, "but you certainly do eat quite a lot for your size."

"Dammit Luffy! You're ruining the image of men again!" Sanji snapped at their captain, thinking of the memories he had seen when Luffy was surrounded by all those beautiful maidens of Amazon Lily… the thought of Luffy there on the dream island of women only caused flames of anger and envy to burn inside him.

"That hairy old guy said that he was gonna throw us a banquet," said Luffy as he was shoving so much food into his mouth it was a wonder he remembered to breathe, "but he kept getting yelled at. I couldn't wait anymore, so I followed the smell of food here. Oh! By the way, didn't those guys call you 'Princess'?"

"That's right," Shirahoshi answered.

"So you're the Mermaid Princess?" asked past Luffy he reached for a giant straw and was able to drink the entire glass, his belly growing ever bigger and reminding them all of 'Water Luffy' during his fight with Crocodile.

"Yes," Shirahoshi answered. "I am the daughter of King Neptune. My name is Shirahoshi."

"Shira-what?" past Luffy repeated, questioningly.

"Shirahoshi," the princess repeated.

"Oh," he answered back. "That's really hard to pronounce."

"I see, so that's why you've never called her by her name," Brook answered, unable to think of a time where Luffy spoke her name.

"It's a long name," current Luffy offered with a shrug.

"How dare you get the princess's name wrong?!" Sanji snapped. That idiot didn't deserve to be treated so fondly by Shirahoshi!

"Ooh! I wanna eat those, too!" memory Luffy cried out as he ran over to some more of her food, having the present-day Luffy whine even louder, soon he was kicking the floor in a silent tantrum.

Shirahoshi, however, giggled as she watched Luffy continue his gorging.

"You don't seem like a bad person to me at all," she said, watching him with great interest. "Say, Master Luffy, if you're a pirate, does that mean that you have many adventures?"

"Yep!" memory Luffy answered, his arms full of oysters.

"Have you ever seen the sun?" asked Shirahoshi at once, her eyes lightening up as she began to ask all sort of questions. "When night falls one can see stars floating in the sky, right? There are supposed to be many different types of flowers and furry little creatures called animals, right?"

"You know, it's sad that she never had a chance to see any of those things," Nami said sadly, feeling really bad for Shirahoshi. Sure she was a princess, so her experiences out in the real world would be greatly limited, but she hadn't even been allowed outside her own room for fear of her life for so long. Was that really better though? To spend your whole life in just one room? Just wait until that Decken character was finally caught? Who knows how much longer that would have took?

"Oh!" Shirahoshi added, her eyes lighting up, "Have you ever been to a green place called a 'forest'?"

"She really hasn't seen any of that?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"She hadn't even been allowed to see her own home island outside the palace wall for most of her life," Robin said quietly. "Being able to go to the surface and see all those things with her own eyes seem to be her dream."

"A simple one, but a beautiful one nonetheless," Brook said softly. "But we did promise to take her one day."

"Yeah," current Luffy nodded as his past self was telling her to wait because he was still eating and she was asking too many questions. "She promised that she wouldn't be a crybaby anymore and we'll take her up to the surface!"

"Yes, I'm sure that she's eagerly waiting for us to come back someday soon," Robin chuckled. "Now that Hody and Decken have been dealt with, she has no reason to be locked up in the tower anymore. So I hope that she's making up for those ten years of just seeing her own kingdom."

"So she should be busy," Franky laughed. "Good for her."

Shirahoshi agreed to wait until he was done eating. But as she watched him continue to stuff food into his mouth, she curiously poked one of his overstuffed cheeks, causing him to spit out some food in surprise.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP THAT!" he yelled.

"LUFFY! DON'T YELL AT HER!" Sanji yelled at their Luffy.

"You really don't like people touching you when you're eating, do you?" Chopper asked and Luffy shrugged. He really didn't like it when people would poke and prod him when he was trying to eat. It was hard to swallow when they were doing that.

"That's because if their hands get too close he might accidently eat them," Nami offered darkly.

Past Luffy might as well have stuck Shirahoshi for she gasped and shrank back, her eyes welling up with tears. She turned away as she fought back the sobs.

"P… please don't shout at me…!" Shirahoshi whimpered. "Master Luffy, you're really scary after all."

"He just snapped at her, that can't be the worst thing anyone's ever said to her," Zoro said as he shook his head, watching how she was actually trembling before she started to cry openly.

"She may not be as weak as I first thought," current Luffy said with a nod, "But she's definitely a crybaby."

"Reminds me of you and Ace," Robin teased lightly and Luffy actually laughed at the fond memories of how Ace used to be so hard on him… making fun of him and calling him a crybaby himself. He smiled a little, a little sad as he thought about his big brother and a tiny part of him was sad at the thought of him never having a strong big brother to call him names anymore.

Memory Luffy stood up, one hand still holding onto a noodle as he called, "Hey! Why are you crying?! Cut it out!"

"N-Nobody has ever… scolded me before!" she sobbed out, tears falling faster.

"Even though you're so huge, you're still just a weakling and a crybaby," memory Luffy said bluntly through a mouthful of food. "I hate people like you!"

"Do you have to be so mean to her?" Nami snapped at their Luffy.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE HER CRY, YOU JERK?!" Sanji demanded furiously as he glared at Luffy, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shook him.

"This is good for her," Zoro said as Franky nodded. "She's a little spoiled if someone saying he didn't like her is a terrible thing."

Shirahoshi and Megalo both gasped in horror… it was as if Luffy told her that no one loved her anymore. As Megalo began hissing furiously at Luffy, who still continued to eat, Shirahoshi ducked under her covers, covering her head, with only her tail sticking out.

"What an awful thing to say," she whimpered. "Nobody has ever said such mean things to me. You're so mean! Please go away, Master Luffy! I can't take anymore!"

"Really?" Zoro asked as he raised his eyebrows. She was never going to make it in the world if she was as fragile as glass. Memory Luffy, meanwhile, had just finished clearing each plate and Sanji couldn't believe that he was being this rude to the princess of angels herself! He wanted to just bash Luffy's head in.

"I'm stuffed!" memory Luffy sighed in satisfaction. "Thanks for the food!" He then looked around the bright pink walls and added, "So, you've been stuck in this room for ten years, huh? Anyone would get sick of that."

"Please leave, Master Luffy," repeated Shirahoshi miserably, her head still hiding under the covers.

"Say…" past Luffy said as he suddenly had an idea. "Isn't there anywhere you wanna go?"

At the question, Shirahoshi's tail suddenly perked up for a moment and she froze.

"Of course…" she replied, her tail drooping in a sheepish manner before she cautiously stuck her head out from under her blanket. "There are plenty of places I would like to go."

"Oh, I see where this is going," Franky laughed.

"I'd bet there are," memory Luffy said brightly. "Then let's get outta here and go for a walk!"

"You went and took the princess for a 'walk'?" Nami asked their Luffy with her eyebrows raised. "Really?"

Luffy laughed as he moved his straw hat back up to his head and answered, "I wanted to thank her for the food and I couldn't think of a better way! If I was stuck in a room for that long, I'd go nuts."

"Well, your heart is in the right place, but I don't think you thought it all the way through," Nami sighed, but she was smiling a little as she turned back to see Shirahoshi gasp and sit up, her blanket falling to her shoulders as she stared at Luffy.

"Let's go for a walk!" he repeated, about to jump down, but she held up her hands to stop him from going anywhere.

"No wait! I can't do that!" she gasped fearfully.

"I don't see why she couldn't," the current Luffy shrugged. "Wasn't she the princess so didn't that mean she do whatever she wanted?"

"I'm afraid that it's not that simple, Luffy-san," Brook said, wondering how he could explain. But Luffy lost his attention as he watched his past self ask her what the problem was. He made to run around her hands, at least until Megalo appeared this time to block him.

Memory Luffy frowned a little more at that before he looked up to Shirahoshi and told her confidently, "It'll be alright! If anything comes flying at you, I'll just blow it all away!"

"What?!" Shirahoshi asked, still staring at him. But just then, to everyone's surprise, the memory faded, seemingly shifting until they were back in the hall where they first entered the palace. To shock them all even more, they saw the guards lying about at their feet as the memory versions of Nami, Usopp, and Brook stood back to back with their weapons drawn.

"What happened?!" Luffy asked at once, staring around.

"Yeah! Where'd my beloved Shirahoshi go?!" Sanji demanded, looking around, with the only comfort for him was the fact that there were two Nami's again.

"It's changing memories again," Brook said at once in awe. "I know this place! This is where they tried to attack us!"

"Usopp-chin! Nami-chin! Brook-chin!" Camie cried out in a pleading voice.

"Can't you even restrain them?!" the Minister of the Left yelled angrily. "They're just three humans!"

"If it's so easy, why don't you jump in and fight?" Zoro called in annoyance. "They make it sound like it's the easiest thing in the world when they just sit back and not do anything."

"Wouldn't matter, they didn't stand a chance," Franky nodded as he looked at all the knocked-out men.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Pappug cried out, clinging to Camie's shoulders as he watched in terror.

"Everyone! If you keep fighting them, you really will be considered criminals!" Camie cried out, trying to talk some sense into them.

"Be that as it may," memory Brook began seriously, "We can't just quietly accept this either, Camie-san!"

"I was really looking forward to a feast at Ryuuguu Palace, too," memory Nami sighed, not sounding the least bit concerned here.

"If we don't fight back, we'll get captured," past Usopp remarked, having moved his goggles down over his eyes, a new confidence in him that hadn't been there before the two years of training. "They are the ones who turned against us for some incomprehensible excuse!" He glared at the guards, their reflection in those goggles.

"To be fair, it was their fault that it turned out like this," the present-day Usopp stated with a shrug.

"Yeah, they brought this on themselves," Luffy nodded as he sat down on the floor to watch, already cheering for them to continue fighting and kick ass.

"I can take on as many of you as you like!" memory Brook declared, holding his blade up, drawing it, the reflection of the Minister of the Left shining in it. "If you so desire."

"They're pirates are famous for all the trouble they've caused!" said one of the guards. "Even without their captain, they'll still plenty strong!"

"Of course, we didn't all get bounties by not doing anything," Franky laughed as Nami, Sanji, and Chopper all sulked at the mention of their bounties—or in Sanji's case—bounty poster.

But they watched how the guards were starting to back away, fear in their eyes as they realized that they were out of their league.

"T-They're too powerful…" another guard whispered.

"Whatever we may or may not do in the future…" memory Usopp said, lifting up his goggles enough so that one of his eyes could be seen as he grinned, "Do you really think we'll let you arrest us for it now?"

"Was the guy with the nose always this reliable?!" Pappug questioned in shock.

"Of course you jerks!" current Usopp snapped out angrily.

"Brook-chin and Nami-chin have gotten a lot tougher than they were two years ago, too!" Camie whispered in awe.

"See?!" the Minister of the Left yelled out, "This is just the prologue to the future that was foretold!"

"Oh, come on…" Zoro hissed out with a roll of his eye. None of this would've been happening if they didn't jump to the idea that they were enemies.

"Look who's talking!" past Usopp retorted. "If you hadn't had attacked us, we'd have no reason to fight you!"

"That is why most prophecies come true," Robin said with a shake of her head, "Because people are so determined to prevent them from happening, they end up doing the very things that they shouldn't."

"Man, so the entire kingdom almost fell because they thought that they were trying to protect it," Chopper said as he thought it all over. "Sounds really complicated."

"Not really, they over-complicated the whole thing," Sanji shrugged.

The king was the only one who hadn't moved as he listened to both sides of the argument.

"Though, these guys aren't anywhere near as tough as the giant insects on the Bowin Archipelago!" memory Usopp added smugly as he held up his new weapon and Brook and Nami prepared to back him up as they held up their respected weapons. "Behold the power of my new weapon! The Black Kabuto!" He then pulled out a little projectile, ready to load it and fire back. "Come at me whenever you want!"

The Minister of the Left gasped before he turned to Neptune and added quickly, "King Neptune! We need your assistance!"

But despite the plea, Neptune didn't move right away.

"Is it really alright to arrest someone due to a prophecy?" he asked at last, even as his servants all looked pleadingly up at him.

"Good thing the king isn't nearly as quick to jump to conclusions as his subjects," Franky sighed with a shrug. Not that it did them much good here for Neptune finally went for his trident.

"I would like time to think about it-jamon," he answered at last, "Therefore, I would like you to allow yourselves to be captured for the time being!"

"That's stupid too!" Luffy snapped out.

"Maybe if they offered for us to have the feast and then keep a close watch on us, it would have been better and spared them a lot of pain in a long run," Robin offered.

"Too bad you weren't here to talk some reason into their thick heads then," current Nami said as she looked around at all the guards, still looking ready to fight.

Neptune raised his golden trident, prepared to strike the three Straw Hats, the force he was creating was enough for the beginnings of a whirlpool. The Straw Hat's bubble threatening to pop just from just the effects of the force. But as he brought his trident down at them, piercing through the bubble, a blur came flying at them, there was a glint of a blade… ending with a loud clang when Neptune's attack was stopped.

"Zoro?!" memory Nami cried out in surprise, as they stared up at memory Zoro hovering in the air, holding back the attack.

"About time you showed up," Sanji hissed. "What would have happened if Nami-swan got hurt because you were drunk?!"

"I don't see you there to help," current Zoro retorted coldly, wishing that the cook would make himself useful for once.

"But I thought you were locked up in a prison cell!" memory Usopp began.

"I heard you guys having fun," memory Zoro said with a toothy grin, "so I let myself out!"

"Like I'd miss all the excitement," the current Zoro said as he shrugged. Really, the only way that they were able to deal with him was after he drank so much booze. It was their own fault for not thinking it through.

"What is this?!" the Minister of the Right cried out in shock when he saw Zoro there. "How did that swordsman get out of his cell?!"

"I cut my way out," current Zoro shrugged. "It wasn't hard. Piece of advice, if you want someone to stay in prison, at least make sure the bars out of something a lot stronger than iron."

"Really? They did that and took your swords away?" Robin asked in amusement as she shook her head. "And they were still surprised to see you out of your cell?"

Memory Zoro and Neptune clashed together until the attack knocked them both back just about a foot each, with that Zoro still grinning wickedly like a shark who spotted his prey. The guards were staring at the scene in shock.

"Unbelievable! He blocked the great King Neptune's attack like it was nothing!" the Minister of the Left cried out as he stared ahead.

"I think that he would've been a real force to have been reckoned with in his youth," current Zoro admitted as he looked up at Neptune. "I think it would've been great fun to have been able to fight him then." He sighed before he added sourly, "Instead of ending like how it did."

"Really?" Luffy asked, looking at him, "What happened?"

Zoro just waved his hand away like he was getting rid of a fly and they watched as the king told them, "If you resist, even more people are going to get hurt!"

"And who's fault is that?" current Nami couldn't help but speak up.

"Just come along quietly-jamon, Zori!" King Neptune added.

"My name is Zoro!" both Zoro's shouted out as Sanji continued to laugh.

"It could be worse," Robin said consolingly to their Zoro. "It could have been changed to Zolo."

Zoro thought it over for a moment. "I guess," he said. But really, what was wrong with people getting his name wrong? It's not like it's a hard name to remember.

Neptune's guard then decided to play dirty by popping the bubble, forcing them to fight underwater… but as they moved in, their tridents ready to pop the fragile shell… memory Nami found herself an enormous Bubby Coral, and caused several giant bubbles to appear, eventually merging together until all the water in the hall had been pushed out, leaving them all with a lot more room and solid ground.

"We're pirates. We're supposed to fight dirty," the current Nami laughed. "We just got there before they did."

"Now then," memory Zoro smiled, holding his sword over his shoulder. "Shall we continue?"

The Minister of the Right readied himself, at least until King Neptune stopped him. "Wait. I will fight him myself," he said firmly.

"Your highness!" the Minister of the Right spoke up at once, "You shouldn't need to dirty your hands fighting them!"

"No," King Neptune said firmly. "This man is strong! I do not want anyone else to get hurt."

"He's got good eyes," current Zoro smirked as his memory self and the king both began to size the other up. In a flash, they went straight at the other… but before their weapons could even strike…

"Not how I wanted to win," the current Zoro sighed in annoyance as Neptune threw his back out and dropped his trident.

"That was… anticlimactic," Franky said in disappointment. He was looking forward to seeing some action, and instead, this…? Really? Still, it was interesting to watch Zoro take care of the king, both ministers, and the rest of the guards by having them all beaten up and tied up with ropes—leaving the king in chains.

"Wow, talk about a little extreme," Sanji whistled out.

"What would you have done?" present-day Zoro asked with a shrug as Pappug was crying out, "What have you guys done?!"

"And how was this helpful?" the current Usopp demanded. "We all but took over their government in one fell swoop! This wasn't helping to prove that we were innocent."

"It was their own fault," Sanji said coldly with a shrug. "But hey, at least we didn't kill anyone here. That's something."

"True," Robin nodded as she thought it over. "All in all, it could have ended a lot worse."

"I don't see how," Nami sighed as memory Usopp looked torn between yelling at Zoro or smacking him. In the end, he decided on yelling.

"You went too far!" he barked at him.

"Indeed!" memory Brook cried out, "Apologize for your actions!"

"Like that's gonna make everything better," Luffy laughed out.

"You were the ones who started this fight!" memory Zoro shot back, "We're all in this together, you idiots!"

"We just wanted to scare them off and then run away!" past Usopp shouted.

"Not very manly," the current Zoro said.

"Shut up!" current Usopp yelled out. Really, why do all the powerhouses in this crew never seem to understand the word 'restraint'?

"And all I wanted to do was shopping and sightseeing," memory Nami sighed in disappointment, as Camie and Pappug only watched in horror at the trouble they were in.

"It didn't turn out to be all bad," current Nami stated as she thought fondly back to all the clothes that she managed to get once they left the island. The people were all just happy to give her all the clothes that she could ask for, as well as new equipment, books, and tools that she had been needing for her map-making. There were some advantages to being heroes… if only the boys could grow up.

"Well, it's in the past now, so what can we do?" memory Zoro asked. "Quit complaining!"

"Why must we try and think about what may have been?" current Brook asked poetically. "Life is vexing enough as it is. But that's what makes it so exciting! Yohohoho!"

"' _What can we do?'_ You think that excuse is good enough?!" memory Usopp demanded. "We dropped by Fishman Island, and now we're occupying the palace?! What kind of pirates are we?!"

"The awesome, butt-kicking kind!" Franky cheered as he posed, "Never a dull moment with us around, boys and girls! Just hang on and enjoy the ride!"

"I give up with you!" current Usopp sighed as Luffy cheered, though Usopp would have been lying if he wasn't trying to smile. That was a good point… you were never bored.

"Ow, ow, ow…!" Neptune moaned, his back still causing him pain.

"I wish I was there to treat him," Chopper spoke up regrettably. "A bad back can get worse if not treated. He shouldn't try to push himself."

"Well, he was almost executed by Hody later on, so I'm afraid that advice won't mean much," Robin shrugged.

"You mean we should've just let them arrest us?!" memory Zoro snapped.

"I keep telling you!" past Usopp yelled back, "We should've just scared them and run!"

"Run where? We were stuck in the middle of a bubble at the bottom of the ocean with no ship, no coating on said ship, and we didn't know where the rest of the crew was?" the current Zoro stated. "Looks like you guys were the ones who weren't thinking things through here."

"And how is what you did any better?" current Usopp demanded angrily. "At least my way they would see that we didn't want to hurt anyone!"

"Too late for that," Zoro answered back as his past self demanded, "First off, we don't know how to escape from here, and second, where's Luffy?!"

"You really should let someone know when you're about to run off and play, Luffy," Robin said, as if telling her son that it was ok for him to go outside with his friends so long as he took the time and consideration to let her know he was going.

"I was hungry," Luffy answered back with a smile. "I wasn't thinking."

"You never think," current Nami offered.

"Hey, you're right!" memory Usopp agreed when he realized that past Zoro was telling the truth. He then looked over at memory Brook, like he thought that he might know the answer and asked, "Where'd he run off to?!"

"Where indeed?" memory Brook said, scratching his afro wonderingly.

Just then, past Nami approached one of the guards, who looked away from her as she asked sweetly, "We're really in a hurry here. So don't be mean and just tell us."

"Yeah, we need to find Luffy right away," memory Usopp added.

"Naïve me," the current Usopp sighed. "To think that she was worried about Luffy for even a moment… what was I thinking?"

"I was worried, but I also know he can take care of himself," current Nami covered up.

But when her past self turned the guard's head to look at her, she instead asked, "Where is the treasure chamber?"

"KNOCK THAT OFF!" memory Usopp shouted.

"Huh?" memory Nami said with a cute look in her eyes. "But why?"

"Oh, Nami-swan!" Sanji cried out, love-struck all over again at the innocent look in her eyes. "You are truly more beautiful than all the treasure in the sea! I can't take it!"

"DON'T YOU GO START ACTING ALL INNOCENT!" memory Usopp yelled. "DON'T YOU REALIZE THE SITUATION WE'RE IN?!"

At once, Sanji turned to glare at Usopp… though since he couldn't yell at past Usopp, he yelled at the current one by barking, "HOW DARE YOU YELL AT HER LIKE THAT?! A REAL MAN NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT!"

"Her stealing all of their treasure wasn't going to help them see that we didn't mean them any harm!" Usopp retorted angrily. "We didn't need anymore reason for them to hate us!"

"Not that it matters," current Nami said before she glared at Luffy, Zoro and Sanji as she snarled, "Since you idiots gave all the treasure away in the end!"

"Big Mom was going to destroy the island because she couldn't get her sweets!" Luffy retorted. "What else were we going to do?"

"And I really didn't want to go to the bother of saving the island all over again," current Zoro added with a shrug. "I mean, it's bad enough that they were treating us like heroes. Waste of time."

"Couldn't you at least keep some of the treasure?!" Nami demanded. She understood their reasons, of course, she did. After all, she spent years trying to steal a hundred million beris to buy her village's freedom back, so she couldn't blame them for their decision. But who knew how much treasure was just given away like that? Did they have to give up _all_ of it?

"Now everyone!" memory Brook called out suddenly as he pulled out his guitar and began to strum it up. "In this difficult time let us all sing and be merry! COME ON!"

" _It'll work out! It'll work out!_

 _And even if it's not okay,_

 _We'll die someday anyway!_

 _Oh, yeah!"_

"YOU SHUT UP TOO, SOUL KING!" memory Usopp barked.

"Too bad," Franky commented as he started dancing. "That song was really catchy."

"Yohohoho, one of my best works!" Brook said proudly. "And the best part of it is that it's all true! Yohohoho!"

"Your Majesty," said the Minister of the Right, gazing up at him in worry, "are you all right? I can't believe that the champion of the Sea has been reduced to this!"

"It's not your fault," said Neptune with a hiss of pain. "My bad back acted up all of a sudden and I couldn't fight. I-I've really gotten old- _jamon_. This was a terrible blunder! I'm sorry- _jamon_!"

"I'm starting to feel really bad for him," current Nami sighed. "Everyone here had such a bad day, huh?"

"Yep," Sanji said, making a little popping sound with his lips. "But, at least it worked out in the end. Weren't you listening to Brook's song?"

"Of course!" memory Brook laughed again.

"We should have moved more quickly and popped their bubble when we had the chance!" the Minister of the Right stated bitterly. "But instead, they got rid of the water!"

"Well, here's another piece of advice," current Zoro called, "Don't broadcast what you're planning on doing in a fight! Not that it would have helped you!"

"What do we do?" bemoaned the Minister of the Left.

"You know, if they just promised to let us go, we would have left," present-day Nami sighed.

"Our ransom was pretty reasonable if you think about it," Zoro stated as he thought back to what their 'demands' were.

"Ransom?" Robin, Luffy, Franky, and Chopper all asked at once in confusion.

"You'll see," current Zoro answered. "I just wanted a few things from them. Nothing big, mind you. And I think that it was a fair exchange."

"Listen up, you scum!" the Minister of the Right barked, turning back to glare at them. "When the three brothers of Neptune's Army, Prince Manboshi, Prince Ryuboshi, and Prince Fukaboshi get back to the palace, you're going to regret this!"

"Yohohoho… YEAH!" memory Brook continued to sing as if he hadn't even heard a word he said.

"Oh yeah, Brohoshi!" Luffy said happily before he realized what was going on and said, "Oh, but they won't like this."

"I don't know, having met with them, I think they would have understood if we explained ourselves," Robin shrugged. "While you all did get a bit carried away here, no one was killed, and you all acted in self-defense."

"Had they had time to follow through with our demands, we could have left the island pretty peacefully," current Zoro said. Though he knew that he was thinking optimistically at most. For since when anything they ever did was considered to be 'peaceful'? Nothing ever seems to work out as well as you planned it, didn't it?

"In any case, we can't stay on Fishman Island any longer," memory Zoro sighed, making the choice for all of them. "Where is the Sunny? We need to gather up everyone and set sail."

"But the Sunny's coating was ripped off when we entered the island," memory Usopp reminded him.

"The Log Pose has been acting strangely too," memory Nami added as she looked down at her arm to see the old pose they got from Crocus, and the needle was spinning around wildly. "Ever since we got here, it hasn't shown any signs of stabilizing."

"It's funny how little we knew here," current Nami said, still a little surprised to find out that they needed a new pose to enter the New World. You think that would have been the first thing she learned while she studied up everything she could find on the New World.

"You're hopeless," the Minister of the Left spoke up, voicing what the current Nami was thinking, while getting her past selves' attention. "You can't navigate the New World with such a simple pose. You ignorant pirates."

"Huh?" she asked, "This won't work anymore? What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you if you untie me," the Minister of the Left offered. Memory Nami looked like she was torn between hitting him and untying him… but before she could do either, a Transponder Snail that was in the room suddenly woke up and began to chime like the doorbell outside, getting them all to turn around and look at it.

"That must be Prince Fukaboshi!" the Minister of the Right cried out at once as he stared at the snail like it was the answer to all their prayers. The memory Straw Hats all looked at each other, wondering what to do. Finally, after a few rings, memory Zoro went over and picked it up.

"Hello? Who is this?" he asked rudely.

"Hey!" past Usopp suddenly yelled. "Why are you answering?!"

"YOU CAN'T ANSWER THAT!" shouted the Minister of the Right before bellowing out so that the one on the other end of the Transponder Snail could hear, "PRINCE FUKABOSHI! HELP!"

"PLEASE HELP US!" the Minister of the Left also began to yell.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" memory Zoro barked but soon the other guards were all starting to cry out for help.

"Really, they were making it very difficult to have a civil conversation," current Zoro said. "It's not like they were in any danger."

"Not from us anyway," current Brook added as he thought about the fact that they weren't going to be alone for much longer.

" _Brother!_ " the brother called Ryuboshi called from the other end. " _There must be an incident at hand,_ _la ti do!_ "

" _I agree!_ " Manboshi's voice exclaimed, also sounding worried. " _Are Father and Shirahoshi all right?!_ "

" _This is Prince Fukaboshi!_ " shouted Fukaboshi in all seriousness. " _What's going on in there? Bring down the connecting hallway and open the gates of the palace to let us in!_ "

"And what will happen if we do that?" memory Zoro asked calmly. When Fukaboshi didn't answer right away, he went on, "No can do."

"H-Hey!" memory Usopp stuttered, "What are you saying?! Just explain the situation to them!"

"That's right!" Pappug added at once, standing on top of Camie's head, who was looking scared, "In that case, tie me and Camie up too!"

"Zoro-chin," Camie added fretfully, "You're scaring me!"

"How dare you, Moss Head?!" Sanji snarled, hating that an idiot like Zoro was scaring someone as sweet and innocent as Camie.

"I'm just doing what has to be done for the good of the crew," current Zoro said firmly. Which was true. Even as all the guards were crying for the princes to help them, Zoro would stand by his decision. No helping it. Whenever Luffy wasn't around, he had to act the roll of decision maker and leader to do what was best for them all. In all honesty, he wasn't completely sure if he could have taken all three of the princes on at once. If Luffy was here, he was confident that they could have, but someone could have gotten hurt if they let the princes come in that easily. This was to show that they meant business, but were capable of working it all out without resorting to violence.

" _Are you, by any chance, one of Straw Hats Companions?_ " Fukaboshi finally asked.

"Fukaboshi!" King Neptune suddenly called, "He's the swordsman with the three swords from the Straw Hat Crew! Pirate Hunter Zori!"

"It's Zoro!" memory Zoro barked at him.

" _Father?!_ " Fukaboshi asked at once, recognizing the voice and sounding stunned. " _You've even got father there?!_ " he then demanded.

"You hear that?" memory Zoro asked coldly, most likely still upset that his name kept getting wrong. "We've got plenty of hostages here! Including Neptune! If you want them all to live, then start making preparations for us to set sail!"

"You didn't have to threaten them like that!" Chopper yelled up at him. "You weren't really going to go that far, were you?"

"Just showing that we weren't pushovers," current Zoro shrugged.

"What we need is our ship, the Sunny, recoated," memory Zoro went on calmly, "We don't know where it is, so you guys go find it. Also, the rest of our crew. One gloomy woman, one robot, one raccoon dog, and one pervy water imp."

"A gloomy woman?" Robin asked in amusement, a smile playing on her lips. "That's how you see me as?"

"I should have said 'morbid'," he offered with a grin and she chuckled back.

"Why is everyone, even my own crew, calling me a raccoon dog?!" Chopper demanded furiously. "I'm a reindeer!"

"Oh, maybe you should just start calling yourself a raccoon dog and see if anyone calls you a reindeer instead?" current Brook offered helpfully.

"HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HELP?!" Chopper demanded with a shout.

"A pervy water imp?" Sanji snarled at Zoro. "At least I don't have a brain so rotten that it's growing mold on top of my head!"

"I'LL SLICE YOU TO PIECES!" current Zoro yelled, his hands at his swords as Sanji readied himself for a kick.

"Oh, Zoro!" memory Nami added, "One billion beri, too!"

"Cut it out, damn it!" past Usopp snapped at her. "I thought that you didn't like those kind of pirates!"

"A pervy water imp! How fitting!" memory Brook laughed. "That fits him perfectly!"

"And after Moss Head is dead, I'm coming for you, Brook!" Sanji yelled at their friendly neighborhood skeleton.

"But… I'm already dead," current Brook offered as he thought it over.

"Then I'll kill you again!" Sanji retorted.

"This is no time to be laughing!" memory Usopp yelled and soon was bickering with both Nami and Brook. The only one who remained quiet was memory Zoro, who was waiting for an answer. But there was no need to worry, for they knew that they had won this round. The guards and the king were all here, their voices just confirming that they were all alive and safe, and Zoro was offering a way to end this easily. They weren't going to be getting a better offer than this from anyone else.

At last, Fukaboshi answered, speaking firmly but calmly, " _I understand your conditions. I will make arrangements for you and your crew to leave this kingdom safely. However, you must return all the hostages unharmed!_ "

"This has got to be the most reasonable ransom I've ever heard in history," Robin said as she thought that over. Maybe she should write that down for the history books.

"Sure," memory Zoro said, sounding glad that they found some common ground.

" _But brother_!" both Ryuboshi and Manboshi's voices spoke up against doing whatever these pirates asked of them.

" _We have no other choice_ ," they heard Fukaboshi answer them. " _This connecting channel is the only way inside Ryuuguu Palace. Everywhere else is protected by a thick layer of bubbles that we can't break through._ "

Memory Zoro made to hang up but then Fukaboshi added, " _One more thing, Zoro._ "

"Yeah?" he asked back, pausing in the way that he held the receiver up, waiting to see what it was that he had to say. "What is it?"

" _I'm a bit reluctant to do this, now, but I must keep a promise I made to Jimbei,_ " Fukaboshi explained with a sigh.

"Wow, honorable, reasonable, and a pacifist," Franky said as he thought it all over.

"You can tell that Fishman Island is in good hands," current Nami smiled.

"Wait, Jimbei left a message for me?" Luffy asked in surprise. "I didn't know that!"

"Didn't have time to tell you," current Nami told him. "Not that it matters. It all worked out in the end."

" _The former Warlord of the Sea, Jimbei. He left two messages for Straw Hat Luffy, your captain. He wanted me to tell you this once you reached the island_ ," Fukaboshi added evenly.

"Jimbei?!" Neptune repeated in great surprise.

"Jimbei…" the Minister of the Left muttered.

"Big Boss Jimbei?" the Minister of the Right questioned as the guards all began to talk to each other in surprise that the captain of the crew who took them hostage, was on speaking terms with Jimbei.

"Oh, yeah!" memory Usopp exclaimed. "Luffy did say he was friends with Jimbei, didn't he?!"

"You make the strangest friends when you run off on your own, you know that, right, Luffy?" Franky offered.

"Really?" Luffy asked as he tilted his head.

"Not that I'm complaining," Franky added with a grin. "You make a lot of good friends too."

"I do hope that Jimbei joins us soon!" Chopper added excitedly, though he would be lying if he didn't also think that it might be easier to keep Luffy safe with a former Warlord on their crew.

"Ah, the man who was in the newspaper together with Luffy-san?" memory Brook asked as he was thinking back, to like he had read a story a long time ago and was trying to remember how it went.

"Despite being a pirate, Jimbei is still trusted and respected around the whole island!" Camie added from behind them, speaking for the first time in a while.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"Luffy's not here right now," memory Zoro spoke up at last. "But I'll pass along the messages to him. What are they?"

"Not that it did much good," the current Zoro shrugged. "Hope you don't mind if we never had a time to let you know, Luffy."

"Sure," Luffy answered, wondering what it was that Jimbei had to say.

" _The first message is, 'Don't fight Hody Jones'_ ," Fukaboshi stated. " _The second one is 'I will be waiting for you in the Sea Forest'. That is all._ "

The Transponder went back to sleep when the princes left, and memory Zoro hung up.

"The Sea Forest… Hody…" he stated slowly, clearly wondering what this was about.

"Not that you needed to know them, did you?" Robin asked since you ended up meeting up with Jimbei at the Sea Forest, and ended up defeating Hody Jones."

Just then, the memory began to shift around them once again.

"Why do the memories keep changing?!" Chopper asked quickly as he looked about the shifting memory.

"Well, at least we're not bored," Sanji offered, his eyes returning to hearts when he saw that they were back with Shirahoshi. "Oh, my love! How I always long to see your beautiful face, your sweet eyes and…?"

The others all ignored him as memory Luffy raised his head and was looking up at her nervous face.

"Hey, are you done thinking yet?" he whined out. "Let's go outside."

"Luffy," Nami sighed, "You can't just decide things like that on your own. You can't just expect her to jump up and go running off with you on an adventure."

"Why not?" Luffy asked curiously, "If it were me, I'd be happy for a chance to go! And she didn't like being in that room either."

"I'm not saying that she was, but you need to try and think about the consequences of your actions," she sighed back.

Shirahoshi looked away as she muttered, "I so sorry. I really… can't."

"Why not?" memory Luffy asked, sitting up on the bed, "You said that there were places you wanted to go, right?""

"But if I do something so selfish," she began anxiously, "I'll be causing trouble for everyone in the palace."

"Aww, her concern for everyone is so touching!" Brook gasped out. "It reaches out and touches my heart, if I had one, Yohohoho!"

Memory Luffy stood up as he said, "If I'd been locked up here for ten years, I'd have gone crazy."

"You are crazy, captain," Franky laughed. "But I say, go for it! She deserved a chance to go out and have fun!"

"I hate to admit it, but I agree with Franky," Robin said as Nami sighed, hating the fact that she knew it was all true. "Even if it's just for one day, I think that she should do what she wants."

"This is to thank you for the food," memory Luffy went on confidently. "I'll be there with you, so where do you want to go?"

Shirahoshi gave a sharp intact of breath before she turned red and looked away, like she was embarrassed. She seemed to be having a lot of trouble trying to speak, just opening her mouth a few times, but unable to make a sound until…

"Uh… Well…" she said awkwardly. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked back at him with tears in her eyes as she finally blurted out, "The Sea Forest!"

No sooner were the words out of her mouth did tears start to fall again, but they were quiet tears as she added, "No, but… that's just a dream. I couldn't possibly do something as selfish as breaking out of here."

"Why are you starting to cry just for saying where you want to go?" memory Luffy demanded in annoyance.

"Really, it's starting to get real old," Zoro sighed.

"I-I'm sorry," she choked out. "It took all my courage to say it. Please don't be mad at me! You're scary, Master Luffy!"

And suddenly, she started bawling loudly again.

"You're such a pain!" memory Luffy complained before there was a loud bang coming from outside that shook the room.

"What's happening now?!" Name cried out, staring about.

"What?!" memory Luffy shouted out as Shirahoshi covered her head and cowered. "What was that loud noise!? Is he throwing something else again? Damn, he's so annoying!"

"That would get really annoying," Franky nodded, wondering if this guy was throwing more axes. "What's he shooting this time? Cannons?"

But before anyone could answer him, the memory shifted until they were back in the main hall with the other group and their hostages. They could hear the sounds of the bombarding coming here, but it was not as loud since it was far away from the tower.

"What's that?" memory Usopp asked as the entire palace seemed to shake.

"W-What is that sound-jamon?!" Neptune questioned at once, and for the first time, he sounded truly alarmed. He looked around wildly as he asked, "Could it be Decken's doing again? It's coming from the Hardshell Tower! S-S-Shirahoshi's in danger! A-Are there guards with her?!"

"No, Your Majesty!" answered a guard. "We're all here!"

"Not that it helps since guards aren't allowed to be with her for longer than five minutes," current Nami stated darkly, hoping that they see that his rule backfired in the end.

"How can this be?!" Neptune asked in panic before looking at the Straw Hats and pleaded, "Hey! Pirates! Go and ensure the princess's safety in place of the guards!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, old man?" memory Zoro asked grumpily.

"He's giving you permission to go look after the princess?!" Sani gasped out. "And I missed this?!"

"And who's fault is that?!" Chopper demanded.

"But what a golden opportunity?!" Sani cried out mournfully.

"But Your Majesty!" shouted another guard in horror. "That means letting them know about the princess!"

"What choice do we have now?!" Neptune demanded before he looked back to the Straw Hats. "The Hardshell Tower is on the northeast side of the palace! All of you! Go, quickly, Straw Hats!"

"And why should we be taking orders from our hostages?" memory Zoro questioned.

"Don't complain! This is a dream come true! Why is it that everyone in the crew gets to live out my dreams?!" Sanji cried out in pain.

"SILENCE!" Neptune boomed down at past Zoro. "SHIRAHOSHI IS MY ONLY DAUGHTER! FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, SOMEONE HAS BEEN TRYING TO KILL HER! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HER, THEN I'LL CHASE YOU ALL TO THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN!"

"Love to see him try that," current Zoro stated. It was just almost sad to see him struggling against his chains as he struggled to break free as he threatened them. Memory Brook, meanwhile, was looking up eagerly… in fact, you could almost see his ears perk up… if he had any.

"The Mermaid Princess?!" memory Brook questioned before he excitedly began to run in place. "YOHOHOHO! I MUST have a look at her! I shall go and protect her, forthwith! I wonder if she will show me her panties?!"

"DON'T ASK THE PRINCESS THAT!" current Nami yelled at him.

"Then why don't you show me yours, then?" current Brook asked harmlessly.

"HELL NO!" she shouted and soon present-day Brook was on the ground with a swollen bump on his head… though no one knew how bone could swell. Memory Brook however was already running across the room, leaving a trail of dust behind him even as memory Usopp called for him to wait.

"Oh, what are we to do?!" the Minister of the Left cried out worriedly. "He has ulterior motives! Now the Princess is in danger for an entirely different reason!"

"You're telling me," current Nami sighed.

"WAIT! SKELETON!" the Minister of the Right called desperately. "You can leave me tied up if you must, but please take me with you! The Hardshell Tower is under my jurisdiction! If anything were to befall the Princess… then I will never be at peace! Even in death!"

At that, past Brook stopped in his tracks. The Minister of the Right's jaw fell open and he was staring in shock that his words seemed to have reached him. At least until...

"You…" Brook began slowly as he turned around, "You must…" He then ran back, grabbing hold of the Minister of the Right and hoisted him up and over his shoulder as he carried him away. "Want to see her too, don't you?"

"DON'T BE ABSURD!" shouted the Minister of the Right in outrage.

"YOU FIENDS!" the Minister of the Left shouted after them as they ran out of the room.

"Sanji-san! I'll be going on ahead of you if you don't mind!" memory Brook cried, not sounding the least bit sorry. "YOHOHOHOHO!"

"Damn you, Brook," Sanji snarled, wishing that he had skin which he could shred off with a grater. But he didn't dwell on that for long because the memory shifted back to Shirahoshi's bedroom. It seemed that Shirahoshi had calmed down and the sounds of something bombarding the front doors finally died out, so though her eyes were red and there were tear tracks on her face. She seemed to have recovered and was now picking Luffy back up in her hands and raised him up to her face so that they could talk at eye level.

"I've always wanted to go to the Sea Forest," Shirahoshi confessed softly, "all this time, for ten years. But… everyone told me that it was far too dangerous for me to leave the tower. So I'm afraid to go outside. Master Luffy, will you really take me there?"

"Sure," memory Luffy promised her.

"And… will you really protect me?" Shirahoshi asked hesitantly. It was clear that she really wanted to go outside, but the thought of doing so scared her.

"Leave it to me!" memory Luffy promised her confidently. "It'll be fine!"

She smiled, probably sensing the sincerity in his voice to keep her safe. He was giving her a chance to go outside to the place she wanted to go to most in the world right now… even if it was just for an afternoon. Her eyes lighting up for a moment before she began to cry once again, but these were happy tears this time.

"Hey," memory Luffy said at once, looking slightly annoyed by the constant tears. "If you're gonna cry I'm not gonna take you anywhere. Besides, to be honest, it'll be more like you'll be taking me there since I can't swim."

"Then why did you offer?" current Usopp asked exasperatedly.

"I-I'm so sorry," Shirahoshi sniffled, "I'm just… so happy."

"You really are a crybaby, aren't you?" memory Luffy asked bluntly. "And a weakling," he added.

"Well, I was half right," current Luffy confessed. But just then, his past slef realized that they had a big problem, a very big problem…

"If we go outside, you'll get spotted right away because you're so big," he said.

"Right, I'm so sorry," she said, knowing that he was right.

"I wonder what that's like," Franky said suddenly, "She's got three older brothers, but they're all a heck of a lot smaller than she is. Wouldn't that be weird?"

"Doesn't seem strange to them," Usopp spoke up. Whatever works for them, he supposed.

Memory Luffy thought it all over for a moment when suddenly a big grin came on his face when his eyes found Megalo. "Wait! I just got a great idea!"

"What is going through your mind?" Zoro asked, his eyebrows raised at him, fear going through him for whenever Luffy had a 'great idea', it either meant something very dangerous or very stupid… usually both. But before they could see Luffy's 'plan' the memory was shifting again, and to be honest, everyone was starting to get really tired of jumping around all over the place. It was fun at first with all the action going on, but they just wanted to stick with one story and see what was going to happen instead of worrying and wondering all the time.

But they didn't have to go far this time, for now they were outside the tower again, and in the distance, they could see memory Brook running over here with him still carrying the Minister of the Right over his shoulder.

"Here I come, Mermaid Princess!" memory Brook cried out joyfully. "Are you alright?!"

"Hey! Skeleton!" the Minister of the Right shouted. "Look at the side of the tower!"

"Oh, I remember this!" current Brook gasped, remembering what he saw here. "It was terrifying to say the least!"

"Really?" Luffy asked, "What was it? What was that jerk throwing this time?"

"You'll see," Brook sighed as his past self was looking over to the tower and saw the damage that had been done over the years… and this time, there was something much more… fragile than weapons that had been flown. The forms of dozens of pirates were lying on the floor in front of the tower… some of them were even embedded, headfirst, in the walls, like arrows that had been aimed and shot towards a target. Each one of them were lying on the ground with bloody faces and broken bones… having clearly hit the tower hard.

"This is terrible!" Chopper gasped, his eyes wide with horror. "Do they not know the kind of damage that could have been done by that?! Who knows how far away they were flung… and then hitting the wall like that…?"

"They knew, it was Decken who didn't care, I'll bet," Nami said furiously, looking down at the bleeding pirates with pity in her eyes. That pirate really was crazy, wasn't he?

"Good heavens!" memory Brook cried in shock.

"This… this is unheard of!" the Minister of the Right cried, just horrified at what he was seeing. "He didn't hurl axes or knives or swords at the door, this time! That sound was human pirates crashing into the tower! How inhuman! That Vander Decken is insane!"

"You took the words outta my mouth, pal," Sanji spat in disgust as he shook his head. "That guy was sick."

"What?!" memory Brook asked in shock. "V-Vander Decken?!"

"You do know that he wasn't actually a ghost so you don't have to be so scared of him anymore," Usopp said.

"Big words coming from you," Sanji added until Usopp glared back.

"Just that after hearing so many stories of the ghost ship and Vander Decken, it's gonna take me a little while to remember that those stories were exaggerated," current Brook confessed. Suddenly, the pirates began to stand up, struggling to breath and barely able to stand, but it still showed that they were alive, at least.

"They're standing up?!" memory Brook asked. "Impossible!"

"This is bad!" said the Minister of the Right. "This means that the impregnable Ryuuguu Palace has been penetrated! This is a sneak attack! His Majesty is in grave danger! THE PRINCESS IS IN DANGER!"

"Thinking about it now, it's probably a good thing that you took her out when you did, Luffy," Usopp said as he thought it all over. "After all, they would have found her and she'd probably have been killed."

"Why do we always seem to have such lucky timing?" Franky asked in an impressed way.

"Hopefully, it won't be wearing out for us for awhile yet," Usopp said.

Just then, Zoro could hear Luffy's voice from inside the tower. "Sounds like all the noise has stopped!" he heard their captain's voice call. "Time to go, Weakling."

"A-alright," he then heard Shirahoshi's voice speak up. "I'm counting on you Megalo!"

The shark? What did that have to do with anything?

Suddenly there was a loud bang on the inside of the door, causing several of the Straw Hats to jump at the sudden noise. It was as if something very big was trying to fight its way out… and Zoro couldn't help but be reminded of that scene in Impel Down where Luffy was pounding on the door to be let out after he forced himself to recover from all that poison. He gave his head a hard shake to snap himself out of it. No, he did not want to think about that now.

Instead, he went back to watching how the giant doors were continued to be forced open until the lock finally broke and Megalo emerged from inside the tower. Sitting up on his nose was Luffy, who was now wearing a bubble over himself as he was beaming loudly… if you were to look into the shark's open mouth however…? They could just see a familiar face crammed inside.

"You didn't…" Franky asked, a big grin spreading on his face before he couldn't hold it in and broke out laughing.

"You did…?!" Nami gasped out as both Luffy's started to laugh. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"What? It got her out and no one noticed!" Luffy snorted. "I told her she could come out once we were away from the palace, but she didn't seem to mind!"

"You have such a crazy mind," Zoro couldn't help but mutter. Really? How did Luffy come up with an idea like this? He didn't even know what he could say to this… how could you possibly find anything to say to this?

"Well, no one can claim that you aren't creative," Usopp snorted out with Chopper, who had tears in his eyes and sides were hurting.

"Well, didn't see that coming," Robin laughed out. It was so ridiculous, yet so funny that she couldn't help herself.

"Let's go, Shark!" Luffy exclaimed as poor Megalo gagged.

"Oh, that poor thing, I thought it was bad enough to have a human being kicking around inside him after we had Luffy hiding inside his stomach!" Franky roared with laughter.

"I'm not even going to say anything," Nami finally decided on. Really, there were no words… Yet, surprisingly, maybe because no one could ever have thought that something like this was possible, no one seemed to have noticed what was going on.

"M…MEGALO?!" the Minister of the Right cried in shock.

"Good lord!" memory Brook exclaimed. "Is that you, Luffy-san?!"

But memory Luffy didn't even seem to notice them, too busy enjoying himself as he pointed ahead and called out excitedly, "To the Sea Forest!"

"W-W-Wait!" Brook called. "Luffy-san!"

"Hey! Wait, Megalo!" called the Minister of the Right. "Come back! Where are you going?!"

Megalo couldn't answer, he only gagged in a way that seemed to say 'help me' as he swam away, with memory Luffy continuing to cheer, "Let's go for a walk!"

With that, Megalo continued to swim away with both Luffy and Shirahoshi without ever once looking back.

"Well, yet again… another impressive exit," Usopp said lightly, which caused another round of laughter from everyone.

"Wait, Megalo!" the Minister of the Right continued to cry out even long after the shark was out of their sights. "What are you doing?! You left the doors of the Hardshell Tower wide open! What if something happens to the Princess?!" He then turned to memory Brook. "Quickly, skeleton!" he ordered. "Hurry up and make sure the Princess is safe!"

"You're certainly a real bone-driver!" past Brook said but he did as he was told and carried him to the front doors so that they could see inside the room. And so, Brook went into Shirahoshi's room, only to find what they all already knew.

"No!" the Minister of the Right cried. "She's gone! PRINCESS SHIRAHOSHI IS GONE!"

"What?!" memory Brook questioned. "The Mermaid Princess isn't here?!"

"Well, I don't see her, do you?" Zoro asked. "How could you not notice that something was off?! You saw the shark earlier and do you remember it looking that fat?"

"You mean to tell me that you would be expecting that?!" current Brook demanded.

"You could see her face in that fish's mouth!" Sanji stated, furious that a princess was being treated as live bait!

"That was the point!" Luffy answered proudly. "No one saw her and we got out!"

"Luffy-san, why didn't you at least take me along with you?" current Brook asked, sounding a little hurt.

"Sorry," Luffy smiled back. "I guess I was so excited that I didn't notice you all down there."

"This is awful!" the Minister of the Right wailed with tears in his eyes. "It's a national emergency! When did this happen?! Who could've done such a thing?! She's been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?!" memory Brook asked again as the Minister of the Right continued his lamenting. But their problems were far from over, for the pirates were starting to get back to their feet, their weapons raised. Past Brook suddenly sensed something from behind, and quick as a flash, he unsheathed his sword and blocked the saber of one of the pirates, whom fell back to the ground.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" memory Brook demanded before he finished him off and knocked him to the ground.

"Kinda hard for him to answer if he's on the ground like that?" Nami reminded him as all the other pirates began to stagger to their feet, bloodied and barely alive.

"The… the channel that connects Ruyuuguu Palace with Fishman Island… where is the switch to open it?" one of the pirates choked out.

"W…where is it?" another hissed weakly.

"Where's the switch?!" asked another.

"What?" past Brook asked. "What switch?!"

"Yeah, you boys are gonna have to be a little more specific if you want something," Franky added.

"Skeleton!" the Minister of the Right cried in panic. "Hurry and get me back to King Neptune, at once! We need to report this to him immediately!"

"We've got no choice," another pirate declared. "Following their orders is our only chance for survival!"

"Tell us already!" another barked.

"Who are 'they'?" memory Brook asked anxiously even as the pirates continued to advance towards them.

"If you don't, they'll kill us all!" a desperate pirate cried out.

"Who will?!" past Brook asked again just as they were swarmed with pirates on all sides. "What are you talking about?!" But there was no way they could get another sensible word outta them as they started to attack them. Brook was more than capable of dealing with them, but there were just too many to fight at once and he still had the Minister of the Right slung over his shoulder. He was left with no other choice but to turn and run back the way they came as the Minister of the Right yelled for him to get back to the king and warn him of what was happening.

"Wait!" one of the pirates pleaded. "We have to open the pathway!"

"Or Hody will kill us!" another cried out as another shift in the memory came until they were back on the main island, having recognized the street at once. They had sorta been expecting Luffy and Shirahoshi since they made it to the outside, but instead, they found the memory versions of Sanji and Chopper were standing among what looked like half of Neptune's army lying beaten and bleeding at their feet.

Memory Sanji was back on his feet, looking nearly back to full health, though still a bit pale, as he lit up a cigarette.

"Finally! I'm back!" current Sanji declared, hating having been left out for so long. Really, there wasn't anything interesting about being stuck in bed. Just thank god that they got to the memory where he had recovered enough that he didn't need to be attached to those blood bags anymore… or deal with those… creatures.

"What happened here?" Nami asked, though already guessing what was going on.

"Some guards found out where we were hiding and came bursting in, saying we were under arrest," Chopper told them. "I kicked them out because Sanji hadn't fully recovered yet, but then they started to get violent and then… one thing led to another and…?"

"It's ok, I think we can see what happened," Robin soothed him.

"Hey," memory Sanji said suddenly to the guards, "I'd like to ask you all something."

"Sanji," past Chopper called, who was in his Kung-Fu point, "You mustn't move around so much."

But that Sanji ignored him as he stepped on the head of one of the guards.

"So, she'll be at the Ryuuguu Place thing?" he asked. "The Mermaid Princess. She'll be there, right?!"

"You're being attacked and all you can think about is the princess?" Nami asked. "Sometimes I think that your stupidity should be applauded."

"Thank you, Nami-dear!" Sanji sighed happily.

"That was not a compliment, you idiot!" Nami snapped.

"S-She's there," one of the guard answered slowly, "What of it?"

"Then I'll go," memory Sanji answered calmly. "Even if it kills me."

"You're going?!" past Chopper demanded. "Haven't you learned anything yet?! If she's beautiful, then you'll die for sure!"

"She is beautiful, right?" memory Sanji demanded then, wanting an answer.

"I've never seen her myself," the guard confessed again, clearly wondering where this was going. "But I hear she's quite beautiful."

"So she really is a beauty!" past Sanji cried out joyfully, hearts back in his eyes as he danced around in such a way that you would never have believed that he almost bled to death mere hours ago. "I'm going! I'm definitely going! So lead the way! To Ryuuguu Palace, right?!"

"What's his problem?" the guard asked his friend nervously.

"I've been asking that question since day one," Zoro sighed, glad to see that there were others who understood.

"I don't know, but we'll have to restrain him," the guard answered back.

"Shame," Zoro added grimly, knowing that just by saying that, there was no chance that Sanji would be allowing himself to go. "Now we'll never get rid of him."

"Before we take you to Ryuuguu Palace, you'll have to put these handcuffs on," the guard as he held up a pair of cuffs.

"If it means I get to meet the Mermaid Princess, you can do whatever you like with me!" Sanji proclaimed happily.

Memory Chopper gasped in horror as he stared at him, so shocked that he returned to his normal point.

"Sanji!" he cried as he started to run towards him, looking ready to slap him awake. "No! Come to your senses!"

"Don't bother. If he wants to go, I say let him," Zoro shrugged. "Wouldn't be a loss would it? And he could die happy. A win-win solution."

"Just because they wouldn't miss you if something happened to you, doesn't mean they wouldn't miss me!" current Sanji retorted. "I had a chance to go to the palace and meet the Mermaid Princess that I had longed to see! I don't regret it!"

"Wouldn't have mattered since Luffy brought her to us," present-day Chopper added.

"One good thing," Sanji agreed with a sigh. He may still be furious with Luffy, but he had to be grateful that his selfish actions, that he never thinks about beforehand, did end up bringing Princess Shirahoshi to him.

But just as memory Chopper reached him, memory Sanji spun about, kicking wildly, even hitting Chopper—who went flying back.

"Why did you have to kick me to?" current Chopper whimpered, tears falling down his face.

"I didn't notice, sorry," Sanji answered lightly. "But come on, you wouldn't be our doctor if you couldn't take one little kick."

"Are you freakin' stupid?!" his past self demanded furiously. "If I'm wearing handcuffs, then I won't be able to cook for the Mermaid Princess!"

"That was what you were upset about?!" Usopp demanded furiously. "Not the fact that they wanted to imprison you for a crime that you hadn't even done, and most likely never would do?!"

"Simple men, have simple dreams," Robin said softly as she tried to remember where she heard that saying before.

"That's your problem?!" memory Chopper cried out as he went flying, and he was also crying, though it was hard to tell if it was from the pain of getting hit or exasperation of Sanji's actions.

"So you're going to resist after all?!" the guard demanded before he yelled out, "Restrain him by force!"

"You bastards!" memory Sanji barked. "Do you intend to shatter my dream of getting close to the Mermaid Princess?!"

They just sat back and watched as he charged in and began to kick the asses of each and every guard there, leaving a mountain of unconscious people around him.

"Hey, Sanji!" memory Chopper pleaded, but it was too late, for he had just finished dealing with the last of the guards. "We hadn't done anything wrong!"

"Well, they wanted to put me in handcuffs," memory Sanji reminded him as he straightened his tie. Meanwhile, all the people around them were staring coldly at them, as if they were suddenly the bane of their existence.

"Look! Look at how they're all looking at us!" past Chopper told him fretfully, "Their eyes are like the fish of the Deep Sea!"

"Nah, I think those fish didn't hate us nearly as much as this," Franky offered.

"Oh, quit whining," memory Sanji said in annoyance. "It's too late now."

Robin smiled as she shook her head. While she knew that they may never want to admit it, the fact was that a lot of the time, Sanji and Zoro both tend to think the same in certain situations.

"You should have thought of that before beating them up!" memory Chopper snapped.

"Sorry, no one in this crew is like that," Usopp sighed with Nami. It's always attack first and don't think about the hell that they'll have to pay until it's too late.

"You took out half of them too with your Kung-Fu, remember?" memory Sanji asked, cleverly getting him to forget about the trouble they were in for a second. "You were pretty strong."

It worked… for past Chopper gasped and looked away, turning red in the face.

"E-Even if you say that, it won't make me happy you jerk!" memory Chopper snapped back, looking away and grinning proudly before he began a little dance and clapped his hands together. Just then they heard a scream coming from down the street, which got Sanji's attention.

"Huh?!" memory Sanji cried out excitedly, "The voice of a lady?!" and without another word, he went running off towards the sound of the cry.

"Why is it that you can turn into an idiot at the slightest mention of a girl?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"I have a strong sense of chivalry and manners," Sanji responded back even as he watched his past self running happily away. "Two things that you don't have. You're just a rude savage."

"What?" Zoro snarled back. "At least I'm not the pervy imp!"

"Ohhh, one of these days… one of these days, I'm gonna shut you up permanently!" Sanji yelled.

"Yeah, and I'm going to shut you both up permanently right now if you don't stop fighting!" Nami yelled over the noise.

"Someone covered in blood had just washed up on shore!" the woman's voice screamed out again, causing the present-day Straw Hats to turn their attention back to the scene.

"Aren't you from the Fishman District?!" another voice asked urgently, "What the hell happened to you?! Someone, get a doctor!"

That got memory Chopper's attention.

"I'm a doctor!" he called and he went running off after Sanji to see what was going on. They all followed after him, not having to worry about going too far when they reached the shore and Sanji. Memory Sanji was standing there, his eyes wide and full of shock at what they saw and many of the present-day Straw Hats also gasped at the sight of it… Hachi was the one who washed up on the shore and was quickly bleeding to death before their eyes. He had patches of bandages that were torn and falling off, including a broken leg that was held together in a cast… but those were all old injuries… with the fresh ones coming from the arrows that were embedded in his back.

"Hachi?!" Luffy cried out in shock, having forgotten all about this.

"Don't worry, I took care of it all!" current Chopper declared proudly. "It's lucky that Hachi's tough… I was really scared that it may have been too late. Thank goodness we found him so quickly… those wounds couldn't have been more than a few minutes old."

He shivered horribly though, for seeing those arrow wounds reminded him of the arrows that had been in Luffy's own back when he was forced to confront the Baron in what felt like a lifetime ago. Seeing all that blood… and all the pain that Luffy was in had been mirrored in Hachi's own face. It hurt… it felt like Chopper's heart was about to crack in two just thinking about it.

"And our timing is perfect again," Robin said softly as she thought it all over. The Straw Hats accidently taking over the government here just before an attack was about to happen… Luffy taking Shirahoshi outside before any harm could befall her, Sanji and Chopper being left behind only to find Hachi…

This was almost like it was perfectly planned out by someone. But that was silly… right? Or were they all just playing the roles they were assigned in fate's game. She was never one to really think about destiny or fate… but after seeing all this, she wondered if there was some truth in there somewhere about events begin pre-determined.

"H-Hachi?!" memory Sanji gasped, his eyes wide when he stared at their friend. "What happened to you?!"

Hachi moaned a little when he heard his name.

"Hey, Hachi! It's us!" past Chopper cried out as they both drew nearer. "What happened?! Who did this to you?!"

Once Hachi forced his eyes open and looked up, he gasped in amazement when he saw them both there.

"Of all the people that he could've found…?" Franky said as he shook his head. "Lucky for him… but poor Hachi, he just seems to keep getting beaten half to death. I mean, Zoro half killed him at Arlong Park before, and then he was captured and beaten by the Flying Fish Riders, then he was shot at Sabaody, and then injured again as he tried to protect the Sunny…?"

"He's tough, I'll give him that," Zoro shrugged. "Good thing he is too, or he would've been made into an octopus snack a long time ago."

"Hopefully, he's getting a lot of rest and is back to working his snack stand," Nami answered lightly. "I think he's paid enough. I'm glad that he's turned his life around for the better."

"It's you guys!" Hachi croaked out, pushing himself up a little as memory Chopper ran to his side at once to begin treating him. "I'm so glad I found you," he wheezed, "Is Straw Hat here?" At the mention of Luffy, he began to look around as if he thought that he would come running, but he could hardly do that for his strength was fading fast.

"He's not," memory Chopper said, already reaching for his bag. "Wait, I'll can help you."

But Hachi was using a couple of his arms to bat their doctor's own hands away as he continued to struggle for breath.

"Gather your crew, quickly," Hachi wheezed out, reaching out an arm and grabbing hold of memory Sanji's front desperately. He forced his head up, his eyes wide and full of fear as he continued to tell them, "You're better off not getting involved in this island's affairs anymore… please leave Fishman Island. The New Fishman Pirates are going to attack the island! Ryuuguu Kingdom will be destroyed…!"

"Well, it's a little late for that," Zoro said lightly. "We're already involved. Hody made sure of that."

Hachi was growing weaker and weaker with every second, and once he finally choked out the last warning, it finally seemed to be too much for him and he finally collapsed and the memory faded around them until they were back with the other memory Straw Hats with their hostages. They seemed to be waiting anxiously for news, when the doors burst open and memory Brook came running in, still carrying the Minister of the Right, over his shoulder.

"K-King Neptune!" cried the Minister of the Right in panic. "She's been kidnapped! Someone has kidnapped Princess Shirahoshi!"

"Also a group of pirates came raining down on the tower!" memory Brook added quickly, "We are under attack!"

But the king didn't even seem to have heard what Brook said.

"Shirahoshi?! KIDNAPPED?!" Neptune cried, going white as a sheet and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. "WHO DID IT?!"

"You know, Luffy, next time you decide to take royalty out for a walk without telling anyone, maybe you should leave a note?" Robin suggested. "Just to make things easier next time."

"Oh, alright," Luffy said reasonably as memory Usopp was screaming in terror at the thought of an attack.

"An enemy attack now?" memory Zoro asked, "Now what?"

"WHY NOW?!" memory Usopp cried. "We're confined to this godforsaken palace in the middle of an enemy attack! What do we do?!" He suddenly realized who he was talking to and cried out, "Wait, no! Don't answer that!"

"Your answers scare me almost as much as Robin's do!" current Usopp cried out tearfully.

"I say let's cut 'em up," said memory Zoro darkly.

"I SAID DON'T ANSWER!" memory Usopp cried out

"Seriously, can't you ever think up a plan that doesn't involve blood?!" present-day Usopp demanded of their Zoro. And once he thought about it, he realized who he was talking to and sighed grimly. "You know what, never mind."

"I thought that you knew me better than that by now," present-day Zoro said lightly just as the pirates all came staggering into the room.

"If we're to survive, we have to open the gate to the palace…" a pirate gasped out, bleeding heavily.

"H-Here they come!" memory Usopp choked out as past Zoro reached for his blade, flicking it out with a flick of his wrist.

The memory shifted until they were outside, back with Luffy, Megalo, and Shirahoshi. This time they were sitting on Megalo's back with Luffy, having made out of the palace and down to Fishman Island in one piece until they were flying across the city from high above. Far enough so that no one would look twice at an abnormally fat shark, but low enough for them to get a good view of the city below.

"You know, you can come out of the shark's mouth now if you want," memory Luffy offered to Shirahoshi.

"N-No, I'd rather stay inside," Shirahoshi answered back shyly. But her eyes were bright as she stared through Megalo's teeth and down below at all the people and bright colors and light. There was a big smile on her face like a child at Christmas even as poor Megalo gagged a little as he forced himself to keep swimming.

"So, how does it feel be outside after ten years?" memory Luffy asked.

"I bet that it feels really good," Usopp laughed a little, feeling happy for Shirahoshi, for even just a little trip outside her room was such a big deal for her.

"My heart won't stop racing," Shirahoshi stated, her voice almost squeaky with excitement, "Like I'd done something awful."

"Huh?" memory Luffy asked. "Just going outside isn't bad. You're so weird."

"Yes, but you must remember Luffy is that she was told over and over that leaving the safety of the tower was a bad thing," Robin reminded their Luffy kindly. "It will take a long time for her to 'unlearn' that. Though, it is still dangerous for her to be out. Luckily, she has you here to protect her."

"Good for her," current Luffy laughed.

Shirahoshi didn't mind the name calling however as she continued to look on like a child seeing everything for the first time.

"Is this… what you might call… adventure?" she whispered out, her eyes sparkling.

Memory Luffy chuckled and said, "Yeah, if you're this excited and your heart's racing fast, then it's an adventure alright."

"Well said," Usopp laughed as well, wishing that he was with this group instead of being chained up and almost drowned by hanging up in a cage that was slowly filling with water.

"You said you wanted to go to the Sea Forest, right?" memory Luffy went on asking. "So what is it? Is it something fun?"

Shirahoshi didn't answer right away, but there was an innocent blush on her face as she looked forward, trying to find the right words to explain it.

"A grave," she said softly and memory Luffy looked down in surprise. "There's a grave there that I've never been able to visit, before. It's the place that I've always wanted to go to for the last ten years."

"Yeah," Nami said softly as the image of a humble wooden cross overlooking the ocean came into her mind. She wasn't the only one either… for several of the others were all thinking of visiting the graves of friends or loved ones. "Of course she would want to go to a place like that. We're only human after all…"

 **(Sorry for such a long wait. I do try to keep up with writing, but I'm going to classes where I have four lectures a day and a lab from 9 at night to 1 in the morning, so it's hard to be able to get anything done. But I do keep writing when I have the time and I hope that you all enjoy this long-awaited chapter.)**


	6. Floor 5: Rough Waters

**Floor 5: Rough Waters**

"So she wanted to go to her mother's grave? But because of Vander Decken, she wasn't able to for ten years?" Brook asked tearfully. "Oh, that is the most heart-breaking thing I've ever heard! Even though I don't have a heart… oh, it's just… the poor girl!"

"It really is sad for her," Robin agreed grimly. And for a moment, she wished that she could go to her own mother's grave… not that there was anything left of Ohara…

"That guy is sick," Usopp said bitterly. "To think that he had been trying to force her to marry him all that time… and she was only a little kid when it started!"

"He has no brains, why are you so surprised?" Nami asked darkly as the memory of being outside over the city faded and the next moment they were back at the palace with Neptune and his army still tied up, and they were surrounded by bleeding pirates. How they were still on their feet was a wonder, though it didn't look like they would be up for much longer.

"What's with these guys?" memory Usopp asked, standing beside memory Brook, who had his weapon in hand as well.

"They just keep coming," past Brook nodded.

Camie and Pappug were shaking behind memory Nami, who didn't seem to be the least bit worried as she ran her hand through her hair tiredly.

"Why do we always get mixed up in this kind of trouble?" she sighed.

"That is a good question," current Usopp muttered to himself.

"They must be really scared about what Hody would do to them if they ignored their injuries like that," the current Nami stated, feeling bad for these guys.

"Yeah, but they were safe inside the palace weren't they?" Chopper asked curiously. "They can explain what's going on and couldn't they have Neptune have his army take them back to their ships and let them go?"

No one could think of a good answer to that. In hindsight, it did seem to be a reasonable decision. Then again… they were pirates so it wasn't unreasonable that they thought the government here might have just chosen to have them all locked up… especially since they were force to 'invade' the palace.

Memory Zoro, who had his sword over his shoulder, was already grinning evilly as he stared down the pirates—almost aching for a chance to fight.

"Don't complain about that now, Nami," he informed her. "The fight has already started. Since they're coming straight at us, we've got no choice but to fight, don't we?"

"Makes sense to me," Luffy nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, but maybe you should go easy on them since they look half-dead anyway?" Franky offered.

Chopper shook his head before glaring up at Zoro. While he may not like these guys, it wasn't their fault that they were here. They never asked to be thrown at the tower like that and they were all hurt. While he knew that they had to be stopped, he couldn't help but feel so sorry for them being forced to fight just to survive… though judging by how badly injured they were, that was still up for debate. He wished that he was there so that he could at least try to treat them.

"Shut it, Zoro," memory Usopp snapped, pointing a finger at him. "Don't go and give them even more crimes to accuse us of."

"This… is a fight between pirates," past Zoro reasoned seriously. "Is that even considered a crime?"

"That is a very good point," current Brook said as he hit one of his bony hands into the other. "So we couldn't have gotten into trouble by fighting them?"

"I guess so," Robin said with a nod.

"Oh, not you too," present-day Nami sighed, wondering why Robin let them think this way. That was bad enough, but did she have to agree with them?

"You're not even gonna think about our situation even a little bit, are you?" memory Usopp demanded.

"Don't know why you would expect anything different," current Zoro added to their Usopp who sighed grimly, knowing that he was right. Why couldn't their crew ever think about the consequences of their actions? He almost felt like he was playing the part of the conscience of the crew.

"And you guys," memory Usopp asked, looking back to the pirates. "Why are you doing this when you're already on the verge of death? Why don't we try to find a peaceful solution to all this?"

"Do you think they're that dull?" memory Zoro asked in annoyance.

The pirates staggered over to them and it seemed like he had a point. Whatever the New Fishman Pirates did to them, it clearly frightened them to no end at the thought of what would happen if they failed to open the channel and let their bosses in. They were too far gone to be reasoned with at the moment.

"The switch to lower… the connecting channel," one gasped in hardly more than a rasp.

"If we can't open that passage, we'll be killed anyway," another panted.

Suddenly they started chanting 'Kill them' over and over and began to charge in. Soon, the memory versions of Nami, Usopp, Pappug, and Camie were screaming in terror.

The funny thing was when memory Brook stood behind them.

"I shall join in as well," past Brook said happily until all of them were screaming in terror.

"Stop screaming and get in and help!" the current Usopp yelled at both Brooks.

Memory Zoro then charged in and began to take them all on his own. But seeing how outnumbered they were, past Brook decided to lend a helping hand. Once they realized that there was no way out of it, both memory Nami and Usopp both joined in and they turned the battle against them.

But before they could see the battle play out, the memory faded until they were back with memory Luffy, Shirahoshi, and Megalo. Shirahoshi was still looking about happily from inside the shark and she gasped dramatically as she pointed out the clouds, telling Luffy about all the shapes they looked like. Zoro couldn't help but grind his teeth together at the sight of it… really? They missed the chance to watch a battle so that they could watch clouds instead? How was that fair?

The cloud right in front of them, Shirahoshi excitedly told Luffy that it was in the shape of a creature she had seen in her books, a raccoon dog. Looking up, they realized that she was right and memory Luffy started to laugh, saying that it looked just like Chopper.

"I'm a reindeer!" Chopper retorted angrily.

"Huh, you know, it does look a lot like you, Chopper," Nami stated as she looked at the cloud.

"It's a cloud, I don't see why anyone should be so excited over it," Zoro said in irritation.

"Why are you always such a buzzkill?" Sanji demanded. "Just having you around makes me feel sick! Oh, wait, sorry… that's just your face that's doing that."

"You better learn to sleep with one eye open, cook," Zoro retorted. "Because I'm gonna get you sooner or later.

"Not even in your dreams," Sanji mocked back.

"Chopper?" Shirahoshi repeated in polite puzzlement.

"Yeah," memory Luffy beamed happily. "He's one of my crewmates."

"Crewmates?" Shirahoshi repeated softly to herself, as if wondering what they were… or what it was like to have crewmates. That was when Luffy noticed something flying off in the distance, but he couldn't see what it was for they were so far away.

Frowning a little, Usopp looked through his goggles to get a better look and gasped out, "Wait! It's those giant sea monsters that tried to block our way here to the island! What are they doing here?"

"This must be Hody and the others about to arrive at the palace," Nami offered, as she followed the creature's movements and nodded, seeing that they were heading in the direction of the palace.

"What was that?" memory Luffy muttered after a few minutes. Shirahoshi noticed his sudden silence, but when Luffy seemed to decide that it wasn't anything worth worrying about. That was when she started to start asking questions again.

"Master Luffy?" she asked, "How did you get so strong?"

"I've been training myself since I was a kid," memory Luffy answered back honestly. "But there are still people out there who are much stronger."

"You could learn a thing or two about humility, Usopp," Franky whispered to their Usopp who glared back at him.

Shirahoshi's eyes were as wide as plates as she whispered in awe, "Even stronger than you, Master Luffy?"

"Maybe for now!" the current Luffy declared proudly. "But one day I'm going to be the strongest one out there! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! Just wait and see!"

The others just watched him with a smile before turning back to see Megalo starting to gag a little. Memory Luffy noticed and asked, "What's wrong, shark? You feeling alright?"

"He's got a princess in his mouth, of course he's not alright," Franky said, feeling so bad for the poor guy. That couldn't have felt good.

"Megalo?" Shirahoshi asked worriedly.

"Is your stomach hurting, shark?" memory Luffy asked as Megalo gagged and he finally almost spit Shirahoshi out. She let out a stuttered gasp, hanging halfway out of his mouth before Megalo swallowed her right back up.

"That was close!" memory Luffy yelled, "Be careful, shark!"

"Don't be too hard on him, not everyone has a rubber stomach," Robin reminded their Luffy. "That can't be comfortable for him."

"I told Crybaby that she could come out," Luffy answered back with a shrug. "But she didn't want to. And then he almost spits her out. I was just telling him to be more careful."

The memory shifted back until they were back at the palace. All the pirates had been dealt with and were lying bleeding on the ground. Memory Zoro was standing among the carnage, while the past versions of Nami and Usopp were huddled up and sulking at what just happened and memory Brook looked on in interest.

"Well, I can see that someone's been busy?" Robin said lightly as she looked about, like a mother who caught her son who had his toys all scattered around his room. "You certainly made a mess here."

"They started it," current Zoro replied childishly.

"Don't make it sound like I cut them down for the fun of it!" memory Zoro snapped at the Minister of the Left.

"You had a huge grin on your face while you were fighting!" the overgrown Catfish retorted. "You acted like a natural born killer!"

"He IS a natural born killer," Sanji said knowingly.

"Yeah, I can't remember the last time that he ever came up with a plan that didn't involve blood," current Usopp sighed without thinking.

"What was that?" current Zoro snarled, his face darkening and his one eye glowing dangerously… causing current Usopp to shriek in terror.

"Please! Don't kill meeeee!" he cried out before he went and hid behind Nami, knowing that he would never attack him if Nami was there to keep him in line.

"So if a bunch of pirates came running at you with their swords raised you'd just offer them cups of tea while they lop your heads off?" memory Zoro demanded hotly.

"That's right," the Minister of the Left said, "We should off them a cup of tea and try to settle our differences."

"That wouldn't have worked with these guys!" past Zoro yelled out.

"Normally, I'm one for talking it out peacefully, but I have to agree," Robin stated, looking piteously at the fallen pirates around them. "There really wasn't much choice… they would have just gone after all the guards tied up here until they found the switch. It is a sad task… but a necessary one."

"In any case," the Minister of the Left went on, "Now that you've taken them all out, now we have no way to find out what they were all after!"

"I thought it was clear," Chopper muttered sadly. "They wanted to open the door."

"Why should I care?" memory Zoro said coldly. "That's your problem."

"Zoro-san… that's just cold…" current Brook muttered.

"It's true though," present-day Zoro answered back. His job was to protect the crew and, in this case, the 'hostages' they took. And he couldn't do so if there were desperate pirates coming at them. He hated dealing with people who were desperate enough to do anything to try and save themselves. Give him a monster any day of the week.

"It feels like things are quickly going from bad to worse," memory Usopp sulked, still in his fetal position.

"Why is our crew filled with people like him?" memory Nami whimpered right next to him.

"I swear that we've got the worst luck," current Usopp moaned. "Things can't possibly get any worse for us."

"Don't say that, Usopp," current Nami muttered sadly. "With our luck, things will ALWAYS get worse."

"Well, look at our captain…" past Usopp went on with the conversation.

"Yeah," memory Nami reassigned. "There's no use thinking about it."

"That's just our fate, I suppose," Robin said in amusement as memory Brook just laughed so hard that there were tears in his eye sockets.

"I wonder if Luffy-san has met the Mermaid Princess?" that particular Brook asked, as if they were merely enjoying drinks at a café instead of holding an entire government hostage. "I would like to meet her as well."

"And so glad I am that I did!" current Brook sang out joyfully. "She is my newest muse! An inspiration to my work! I shall dedicate my newest song to her! Yohohoho!"

At that moment, King Neptune fell over, his head colliding with the floor as tears falling down his face and scaring them all.

"Don't say that," he cried mournfully. "Just release me from these chains. Give me my precious Shirahoshi back-jamon!"

"Seriously, why doesn't anyone listen to us?" current Usopp sighed out. "I don't know how many times we have to repeat ourselves."

"Well, it was because of us that Shirahoshi was missing so they weren't completely wrong here," Franky pointed out.

"I see your point," Sanji said. "Alright, from now on everyone, just assume that Luffy was responsible whenever something goes wrong. Because that's usually the case anyway."

"Hey!" current Luffy said.

"Again, why would we kidnap the princess in the first place?!" memory Usopp demanded.

"The culprit is Straw Hat Luffy-Jamon," the King insisted stubbornly. "Shirahoshi!"

"Well, I certainly did see Luffy-san and the shark coming out of that room," memory Brook admitted slowly. "But I don't recall seeing anyone resembling a Mermaid Princess."

"I can't believe you were fooled like that," current Zoro muttered, unable to believe that Luffy could get away with a stunt like that and no one notice that she was stuffed inside the shark.

Neptune forced himself to sit back up as he explained mournfully, "But she would never leave the palace on her own-jamon. Shirahoshi is as large as I am-jamon! There's no way she could leave without being seen."

"But that just makes her even more beautiful," Sanji swooned dreamily, thinking about Shirahoshi again and blood starting to drip from his nose.

"What?!" memory Brook gasped in shock, like this was the biggest thing he had learned. "The Mermaid Princess is huge?!" His face suddenly turned very dark and he fell to his knees. "That is absurd!"

"I don't even want to know what you were thinking of," current Nami snarled at their Brook.

"Let's just say that the imagination is as much a curse as it is a blessing," Brook answered back with a shrug.

"Wait!" Neptune exclaimed suddenly in a shocked tone. "I know! Straw Hat Luffy must have stuffed Shirahoshi inside Megalo's mouth before he spirited her away!"

"Wow! He guessed it right away!" Luffy said impressed.

"And yet no one else ever did," current Zoro asked, looking at their own Brook, who was laughing as he shrugged in a 'what can you do' sort of way.

"Well, to be fair, who expected someone to do something so stupid?" Sanji offered. In fact, just at the king's suggestion, all of the tied-up guards started to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"Don't joke around about this dire situation, Your Majesty!" one of the guards laughed.

"Even if he did come up with such an idea, how could he convince her to do it?" another snorted out, having a hard time breathing form how ridiculous it sounded.

"I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing anymore… since it worked and no one would ever have guessed otherwise…?" current Usopp began.

"But it's still stupid," Sanji nodded firmly as King Neptune continued to cry out his daughter's name mournfully.

Finally, memory Nami seemed to have had enough and stepped forward.

"Anyway, our captain would never kidnap anyone!" she retorted coldly and with a finality that really spoke that she believed that… something that caused her present-self to smile a little.

"Silly me. We all know that's not true," the current Nami smirked a little as she listened to herself.

"Hey, she wanted to go out!" Luffy reminded her.

"Yeah, but you do kidnap people," she reminded him teasingly. "Of course, they don't mind when you do, but you still do it. You just barge in and carry them off even if they do want you to take them somewhere. It's a bad habit of yours, you know that, right?"

Still, she was smiling as he laughed out, realizing that she was right.

"If you're gonna suspect someone, then pick on someone else!" memory Nami retorted angrily.

"No," Neptune responded stubbornly. "I can't think of anyone else!"

"He's as stubborn as you are," current Zoro couldn't help but speak up to Luffy.

"Yeah, once he makes up his mind, that's the end of it," present-day Usopp added.

"You think?" Luffy asked happily. "I knew I liked him."

"If you do not return Shirahoshi to me unharmed, I will not return to you your ship or your crew either!" he snapped before turning away like a teenager having a fight with his parents. "Keep that in mind-jamon!"

"Hey! I just take back what I said about him!" Luffy pouted.

"Not that he's in any position to be making threats," Sanji added in an undertone.

"No way! Why would you go that far?!" memory Nami demanded.

But out of the corner of the present-day Zoro's eye he saw that one of the pirates were moving. He turned his head to see that there was a three-switch up on a pillar, all three of them on 'Closed'.

The pirate struggled to his feet and managed to get to the switch, panting and bleeding as he collapsed, allowing his weight to pull all three switches to 'Open'. Now he got it… so that had to be the way to open the channel to get them in?

This confirmed his thoughts when barely ten minutes later, the front doors to the palace had opened up again, only this time it wasn't human pirates… but rather Fishmen. They came marching into the room as if this was their palace, and at the sight of them, there were gasps coming from Neptune's tied up army.

Most of the Fishmen were dressed lightly, all carrying swords and looking ready for a fight just like most other pirates. But it were the two out in front that really got their attention the most. All the past and present members of the Straw Hats watched as the two leaders of this rebellion marched into the room.

The one out in front was a grey-skinned great white shark Fishman with a large belly, and a tattoo of the mark of the New Fishman pirates on his right side… the outline of the sun but with a decapitated human in the middle. He had cold, glaring eyes and a mouth full of sharp shark teeth that was turned up into a grin as he walked through the front doors as if he was just crowned king. While he carried a blood-red trident in his hand, while on that arm there was the mark of the Arlong Pirates and several other designs that ended with two skulls.

The Fishman next to him was tall with a beige-colored skin and was rather on the slim and lanky side. He had four legs, which marched along like how a spider would walk, while his head was such that he had a hunch where his head was just about equal with his shoulders. As for his face, he had sharp teeth, a thin pointy nose, and a scraggly goatee with a wavy mustache that made him look like he had been chewed up and spit out after getting squashed together.

"How did you manage to make it all the way here?" the Minister of the Right demanded at once as they entered.

"I don't believe it," the Fishman with four legs said, his voice familiar. "We thought we'd have to fight our way in here, but Neptune and all of his soldiers are already tied up!"

"Hey, wait a second! I know him! It's his voice we heard when we were in the Deep Sea!" Chopper cried out in recognition.

"Vander Decken," Sanji said as he put another cigarette in his mouth. "Yeah, he was on the Flying Dutchman when they were trying to convince that overgrown blowfish to flatten us for our treasure."

Luffy's eyes narrowed. "I remember him too! He came after us and was the one throwing things at Crybaby! Jerk, I hate him."

"For once, you and I are in full agreement," Sanji nodded. "I heard that he was imprisoned after all that mess. Good. I hope he rots in that cell."

Current Nami nodded in agreement, but she remembered how the members of the New Fishman Pirates had looked when she last saw them. She couldn't remember seeing if Decken was there with them, but then again, she wasn't sure if he ever took those drugs. Either way, she hoped that he would never be able to cause anymore misery to Shirahoshi.

"I never would have expected a present like this waiting for us," Hody said suspiciously before he smirked. "Quite a surprise."

"That face!" the Minister of the Left cried as several other guards start gasping.

"What's he doing here?" a guard demanded.

"So you finally shown yourself, you accursed Vander Decken," the Minister of the Left went on furiously.

"Man, just one thing after another," Franky whistled out. "And this all happened while we were separated? You guys have the wildest time when you're on your own."

"Sad thing is, he's right," current Nami chuckled. "Makes me think that I might have to start hanging around Sunny a little more if I want to avoid trouble. Though I doubt that won't help much."

"Makes me wish I could've gone with you though," Franky went on with a laugh as well. "But then I never would've found the Sunny until a lot later. And where would we be without her?"

"Again, fate seems to have a hand in everything," Robin said thoughtfully, wondering if there was such a thing or it was purely by chance.

"And look!" cried the Minister of the Right, looking over at Hody. "It's Hody Jones of the Fishman District! What in the world is he doing back here?!"

"Hody?!" Neptune repeated in surprise. "Wasn't he…?"

"A bastard," Sanji hissed bitterly, still hating the overgrown fish for making Shirahoshi cry like that.

"He used to be a rather proficient soldier in our army," said the Minister of the Right in shock.

"Well, if he had still been part of the army at this point," current Usopp said, "I'd say he would have been fired."

"That would be one way to let one know that he thinks that his boss sucks," current Zoro shrugged.

Hody glared down at everyone. At the defeated human pirates with disgust… but almost with as much repugnance at Neptune and the soldiers. He folded his arms as he snarled out, "Is this some kind of trap? This seems too good to be true."

"He still had to deal with me," current Zoro stated with a rather smug smirk as he thought back to how he was able to cut him while they were underwater. That had been worth almost drowning just to see the shock on his face.

"Damn," memory Zoro cursed. "It's one thing after another. Even more guests?" He sighed. "It's a lively palace."

The Minister of the Left suddenly rounded on the Straw Hats. "You! Straw Hats!" he shouted out. "Are you collaborating with them?! You must've brought them here on purpose!"

"Oh, sure, blame us for that," Sanji stated sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Whenever something goes wrong, blame the pirates. "Though, it really was all Moss-Head's fault so I guess there's some truth in that."

"Shut it!" current Zoro retorted.

"Hey!" memory Usopp yelled back. "We wouldn't even be here if you guys didn't invite us!"

"Very true," current Brook nodded. "And if they didn't attack us, we never would have been forced to defend ourselves and tie them up. It really did look like Fishman Island would have been destroyed because we did all the work for Hody here."

"Which only happened because they were so determined to prevent the prophecy from coming true," Robin reminded him. "In their determination to put a stop to it, they almost ended up forcing it to happen."

"Yeah, if they didn't take it so seriously, none of this ever would've happened!" Chopper nodded, hating that they were always treating his friends like they were the bad guys when he knew that they weren't anything like that.

Memory Usopp then pointed to Hody and the others as he demanded, "Who the hell are those tough-looking goons anyway?!"

"Tough-looking? Really?" Luffy asked in confusion. "They don't look that tough."

"Yeah, it was only because of those stupid drugs that they were able to get away with doing so much," current Zoro nodded in agreement. Of course, even then, those guys were weak.

"Hey, that was before!" current Usopp retorted.

"Hey!" one of the guards called pleadingly to memory Zoro. "You got to give us our weapons back!"

"Please!" another cried. "Let us fight!"

But King Neptune seemed to have forgotten all about the Straw Hats, his entire focus now on Decken.

"Vander Decken!" Neptune boomed, fighting against the chains so that he could tear Decken apart with his bare hands. "Now I understand! _You're_ the culprit! Give me back my daughter! Give me back my Shirahoshi!"

Vander Decken just crossed his arms as he started to laugh loudly, unsurprisingly not having a clue as to what he was talking about.

"Give her back when I haven't even married her yet?" he asked smugly. "You're getting a little ahead of yourself, father."

"You know, I just can't see her marrying him," Robin said as she shook her head.

"She can do better than him, she's way too good for him," current Usopp nodded sagely.

"I rather jump off a cliff or drown myself than marry him," Nami hissed shivering at the thought of calling someone like him her husband.

"DON'T CALL ME FATHER!" Neptune roared out in fury. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE SHIRAHOSHI? SHE BETTER BE SAFE!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Decked questioned, and this time he sounded curious. "You make it sound like the princess isn't here."

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" Neptune roared. "WHY ELSE WOULD SHE SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR FROM HER ROOM- _JAMON_?!"

It seemed to take a few moments for that information to sink in.

"WHAT?" Decken gasped out in panic, staring wildly around like he didn't know what to do. "MY DEAR SHIRAHOSHI HAS DISAPPEARED?!"

"SHE'S MINE! SHE'S MY DAUGHTER-JAMON!" Neptune roared out as Decken continued to panic.

"I hate to see any future guy who tries to propose to her," current Usopp muttered to Chopper, who nodded. "He'd never survive."

"Your Majesty, don't get so worked up over his nonsense!" cried the Minister of the Right, trying to calm him down as Neptune continued to snarl down at them all.

But Hody got everyone's attention when he slammed his blood-red trident on the ground, causing everyone to look at him.

"Calm down, Decken!" Hody exclaimed as he picked up one of the pirates that Decken had thrown like he was a rag doll. "Look here. The humans that you threw at the Mermaid Princess are still here. That means, at the very least, that Princess Shirahoshi was still here when you threw them."

"Yeah, so if you didn't take Shirahoshi out when you did, Luffy… they would have found her asleep in her room," current Nami said as she thought that over.

"So it's really a good thing that he took her out when he did," Franky chuckled. "Our timing just never fails to amaze me!"

"Yeah, and that was when we met up with her too!" Chopper reminded them brightly.

"Oh, it's clear to me now," Sanji gasped out, his eyes wide. "Fate had a hand in bringing my dear Shirahoshi to me from the beginning! Oh, thank you fate! I will not turn away from you again!"

"Pathetic," Zoro sighed. Why couldn't he see that the crybaby princess wasn't interested in him?

"H-Help," the human pirate croaked out before Hody threw him aside like he was carrying some kind of disease.

"Besides," Hody went on, "it doesn't matter if what they say is true or not! You have a way to find out where she is, right?!"

"Right, that stupid ability of his," Luffy frowned as Hody grinned and the rest of them looked on in confusion.

"Finding out… where she is?" memory Nami repeated slowly, not understanding what they were talking about.

"That is a really dangerous ability to have," current Brook stated. "To be able to find and hit someone no matter where they are…?"

"Yeah, for some. But for others, it's just a cheap way to make a name," current Usopp said proudly. He was already the best sniper in the world and so he didn't need a power like that.

Once Decken calmed down, he seemed to think over what Hody said and that was when a rather wicked smile stretched across his ugly face.

"You're absolutely right!" Decken exclaimed with a laugh. "You're a sharp one, Hody! I think!"

He then turned around and began to head to the door.

"He's leaving?" memory Zoro asked with his eyebrows raised, but not liking this, even as Decken pulled out a Bubbly Coral.

"What's he gonna do?" memory Usopp asked quickly just as Decken suddenly sprinted with his four legs to the door, blowing a large bubble around him just before he jumped out into the water.

"So he went to go throw more stuff at Crybaby," Luffy said sourly. "Man, all those things he kept throwing became a real pain really quick."

"If that's his idea of loving someone, I hate to see what he would have done if he hated her," Franky muttered darkly. "I know that they say you always hurt the ones you love, but it really does look like he's trying to kill her."

"I don't get it," Chopper said curiously as he watched Decken run off with that bubble still around him. "He's a Fishman, right? So why does he need a bubble?"

"He ate a Devil Fruit," Robin reminded him.

"So… wait, does that mean that Fishmen can drown if they eat a Devil Fruit?" Nami asked in surprise. "How does that work?"

"Oh, I'm sure he can still breathe," Robin said with a nod of her head. "He has both gills and lungs so that he can breathe on land or underwater. That didn't go away after eating a Devil Fruit, but I would guess that he becomes weak in the water just like any other Devil Fruit eater. He probably becomes paralyzed and can't move. That's why he needs the bubble to move around."

"So a Fishman who can't move in the sea anymore…?" Brook said as he thought that over. "Does that still make him a Fishman?"

They all looked at each other, not sure how best to answer that.

"It's like one of those crazy riddles you're never supposed to figure out," present-day Usopp muttered as he quickly started to get a headache.

However, just then, with everyone starting to grow tired of the constant changing and wishing that they could stick to one story at a time, the memory faded until they were outside with Luffy and Shirahoshi. Still sitting up on Megalo's back, with the poor shark gagging worse than ever, now sounding like he was in terrible pain. Meanwhile, Shirahoshi was happily pointing out the clouds that passed them by, telling Luffy that they looked just like fish.

"That one's an octopus!" she gasped excitedly. "And that one's a pufferfish! Oh, and that one looks like a little killifish!"

"I don't see it," Zoro stated.

"Do you have to ruin everything every time you open your mouth?!" Sanji snapped at him. "It's a good thing that you were really here because if you ever made the princess cry, then I will have no choice but to kill you myself!"

"I'd love to see you try," Zoro hissed back, his hand on his sword hilt until Robin stepped between them, causing Sanji to forget that he was pissed off with Zoro for a moment.

"Be nice," Robin smiled. "Though, it is good to be able to see Shirahoshi having a good time."

"It's almost like she's seeing all this stuff for the first time," Chopper stated.

"Ten years, remember?" Nami asked, smiling widely at how much fun Shirahoshi was having just looking at the clouds. She wanted to take her to the surface one day and show her even bigger clouds one day.

"Actually, I can see the fish now, Yohohoho!" Brook laughed happily as he looked on and eventually saw a cloud that looked just like a pair of panties.

"Weakling, you only see fish, huh?" memory Luffy laughed before he looked to the clouds too and he started to point them out eagerly. "Look! A rice-ball and a donut!" And then on particularly shaped cloud came by and then both Luffy's began to drool, "MEAT!"

"But it does…" Usopp said, blinking hard. "Well, I'll be damned."

"It looked so good," the current Luffy drooled out. "I wanted to eat it."

"It was a cloud! You can't eat a cloud!" Usopp retorted, giving him a bonk on the head. It didn't help that memory Luffy looked like he wanted to stretch out and grab it until Shirahoshi began to laugh, telling him, "And you see only food, Master Luffy!"

"Really?" memory Luffy asked and then both of them were laughing… but just then, Shirahoshi started to sniffle again for no apparent reason.

"What? What happened?!" Sanji demanded at once, his eyes wide before he whipped around to glare at their own Luffy and demanded, "Dammit Luffy! What did you do?!"

"She really does cry a lot," Zoro said, wondering just what was wrong this time.

"What happened?" memory Luffy asked, noticing her sniffles.

"Oh, father…" she whimpered miserably, "He must be worried sick about me back at the palace by now!"

"Don't say that!" Franky called, though there was no point. "It's actually a good thing you're not home right now! You gotta toughen up there, sis!"

"Well, maybe a little bit," Nami said as she thought it over. She had thought that having three older brothers would help toughen her up… but still… she may cry a lot, but like Luffy said before, she's not as weak as they first thought.

Memory Luffy sighed, as he sat back onto Megalo's back.

"Oh jeez, you're so hopeless," he told her. But then, he jumped down so that he was in the shark's mouth too, and began to stretch out his face to cheer her up. It was working, for soon she was smiling again, and even started to giggle… the problem was that Megalo was also starting to laugh… though they weren't entirely sure how he could see Luffy when he was in his mouth.

The shark's eyes began to water—though it could also be from pain rather than laughter—and then he choked, almost spitting Shirahoshi out a second time.

"Why are you laughing?!" memory Luffy demanded as Shirahoshi was hanging out of his mouth and let out a startled cry. "Hurry up and close your mouth!"

"I think that shark's gonna blow pretty soon," Usopp winced. Maybe they could let her come out just for a little bit and let the shark recover.

"I'm getting a stomachache just looking at the poor guy," Franky sighed sadly at the sight of it. "And my stomach's made of scrap iron too! So that's saying a lot."

But then another memory change came almost right away, causing several annoyed groans from all over.

"Really? Why does this keep happening?" Franky asked, glaring around at the palace walls as they began to form around them. "Make up your mind already!"

"Don't ask me, I don't know how this crazy tower works," Usopp said as the images became clear again. The first thing they saw—or rather heard—was King Neptune hollering with misery, his tears so large that they were getting his subjects soaked where they fell. One might have worried about them drowning if they didn't already have gills.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried out at the top of his lungs. "VANDER DECKEN HAS GONE AFTER MY DEAR SHIRAHOSHI!"

"You know, I think I know where the princess gets her ability to cry from," current Zoro couldn't help but speak out as the king howled.

"Huh… that suddenly makes a lot of sense," current Usopp couldn't help but agree quietly.

Robin thought that over. She remembered hearing a saying like that once… boys tend to take after their mothers, and girls often resemble their fathers… or something along those lines.

"I'm begging you-jamon!" Neptune cried, now reduced to begging the memory Straw Hats to let him go as he fought the chains. "I'll give you whatever you want! Just let me go after Decken!"

Neptune was now fighting against the chains so much that it was a wonder he didn't break them to pieces… in fact, some of the current Straw Hats felt kinda bad for keeping him chained up while he was so close to having a panic attack.

"I'll give you all of our treasure!" Neptune declared as Camie and Pappaug were both lowering their heads in guilt and the soldiers were all starting to cry. Though current Nami didn't say anything, she glared at the Monster Trio with a dark look, still remembering how they just gave all that treasure away… while she did understand their reasons for it, couldn't they have kept some of it?!

"You can even take my soldiers' lives if you want!" Neptune offered, getting his soldiers attention. They all looked up, gasping in horror as the two Ministers cried out together, "Hey, Your Majesty!"

But Neptune kept crying, moaning out, "He'll catch Shirahoshi! My beloved Shirahoshi!"

Chopper was now feeling really bad despite the fact that he hadn't even been there. It was just that he could remember the feeling of having a father there to love you so much. He was glad that they were able to help out in the end.

But just then, Hody started to chuckle, causing everyone to look back at him.

"Weird, I forgot that he was there," current Brook said as he scratched his head.

"Nah, he just wasn't worth it," current Zoro reminded him.

"How pitiful, Neptune," Hody said as he strolled forward. "I never thought that my destined enemies the Straw Hat Pirates, would assist us in overthrowing Ryuuguu Palace!"

"That wasn't our fault," present-day Usopp muttered, thinking that they could have helped Neptune and his men in taking these guys down before it got so far out of hand. But they had to go and attack them for no good reason.

Memory Nami was staring in horror at him, having just realized that he had Arlong's mark on his arm. Her current self knew why all too well. For no matter how much time would pass, even if that mark was no longer on her arm, that symbol had been planted in her mind and even just the sight of it would leave her in fear and anger.

"Jimbei told me that there was unrest in the Fishman District…" the Minister of the Right suddenly declared. "But I never would have guessed that you, a former member of the Neptune Army, would be behind it! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED, HODY!"

Hody just looked on, not looking the least bit sorry about any of this as he confessed, "Ashamed?" He looked at his men, who sniggered and chuckled darkly before he confessed, "That would make sense, if I'd ever taken pride in being part of the Neptune Army. But the only reason I worked for you as a soldier was to gain combat experience. That's all."

"You wretch!" the Minister of the Right snarled as the Minister of the Left stared with his mouth wide open.

"It worked," Hody went on smugly. "I've become strong."

Current Zoro raised an eyebrow. "He became strong? Compared to what? Please… even I was able to beat him… and underwater too!"

"If he was so strong, why did he take drugs all the time?" current Nami demanded, shaking her head as she remembered what happed to Hody and his crew after the battle was over. Just pulling at those bars broke his wrist… she couldn't help but feel bad despite what a jerk he was.

"Don't question it," Sanji said as he puffed out a breath of smoke. "If he liked to believe he was strong by threatening everyone else around him who was weaker, then go ahead. Whatever made him feel better about himself. He got what was coming to him in the end."

"It's not like you bothered to watch over every part of Fishman Island," Hody went on, just rubbing it in everyone's faces that they never saw this coming. "Ever since I was a kid, I've seen fishermen being oppressed by humans. I looked up to Arlong's ambition, to knock those humans off their pedestals and teach them a lesson! We are the ones who will continue his plan…" And for a moment, their eyes seemed to glow red with hatred. "The New Fishman Pirates!"

"I wish I could've had the chance to kick him so hard that I'd break every single damn bone in his body!" Sanji snarled out threateningly, his hands curled into fists and were shaking. How dare that monster make Nami remember that beast Arlong?

"Yeah, you bastards!" Chopper yelled out furiously.

"Don't worry!" Luffy declared as he punched his fists together. "I took care of him!"

"Thanks you guys," current Nami smiled, her heart feeling lighter already. Even if there was a part of her that would always fear that mark… though she knew that no matter what anyone said or did, nothing could ever make her forgive Arlong, she had no reason to ever fear him again so long as she had her friends here to help protect her.

Luffy just smiled back at her as he answered, "Anytime."

Hody, meanwhile, was pacing the room, still talking.

"Ever since Arlong went to East Blue to conquer the world," he said, causing several snorts from the current Straw Hats, "I've been training so that I could become his right-hand man. But it never happened, thanks to a certain group of humans."

"Thank you!" present-day Usopp called proudly. The three memory Straw Hats who had met Arlong, just looked on, each with a dark expression. Nami with fear, Usopp with anger, and Zoro with a kind of disinterest… but some kind of resentment seemed to be boiling under the surface.

"These Fishmen are trying to carry out Arlong's plan?!" memory Usopp demanded as memory Nami just gulped down hard, looking like she wanted to run.

"What?!" memory Brook cried out in panic, backing away a few steps. "Along?!" But then he started to joke around by saying, "Just kidding. In fact, I've never eaten any Arlong before."

"Sorry about that, Nami-san," the current Brook said, truly feeling terrible for joking around here. "It was insensitive. If I had known then…?"

"It's alright, Brook," she answered without looking at him. "You didn't know. I know you didn't mean any harm by it."

"Still," Brook went on, feeling worse when his past self started to laugh. "It is no excuse. I really am sorry, Nami-san."

Nami turned to him at the apology, forcing a smile as she answered back, "I told you. It's no big deal. Just forget about it. It's not important anymore."

He nodded, though he had to admit that he still deserved that kick that memory Usopp gave him, sending him sprawling on the ground. It may have hurt, but it was better than continuing to laugh like that.

"That hurt! Usopp-san, why did you kick me?!" memory Brook demanded hotly.

"Look, just be quiet!" memory Usopp snarled back viciously, and his tone got Brook's anger to melt away to confusion.

Hody just grinned as he went on, "Enough talking. Let's get down to business." He placed his webbed hand on the wall next to the door. "Get out of my way."

At the sudden action, Hody's crew all backed away at once, fear on their faces.

"W-What?" memory Usopp began slowly before Hody went on with his attack.

"Rough Shark," he said, and then deep cracks appeared in the wall, spreading quickly to the rest of the wall as everyone watched in horror.

"I don't know what their problem is," current Zoro said as he looked to the Fishmen with annoyance. "It's not like it was poison or acid… it was water. They can breathe… they have no excuse to be afraid."

"I guess they were scared over Hody's strength," Robin offered with a shrug.

"He really wasn't that strong," Sanji said with a roll of his eyes, barely paying any attention to anything but if memory Nami was in danger.

"What insane power!" memory Usopp cried out as memory Brook's jaw fell open. "What is he doing?!"

More cracks continued to break apart and the wall wasn't going to hold on for long.

"This is bad! This is very bad!" Pappug cried out, running around in a panic as Camie seemed to be trying to hold herself together. But then memory Nami went straight over, getting her attention as she whispered something quickly to her. Everyone else eventually noticed this, though with so much noise going on, none of them could hear her words.

"What were you doing?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Asking for a favor," present-day Nami answered back coolly.

"You just up and left us," current Zoro interrupted.

"I had to meet with Jimbei," she answered back with a snap. "I just… he said he was waiting for Luffy in the Sea Forest. I had to meet him… I wanted answers. Besides, I knew you would all be fine."

"Yeah, Moss-head! I'm just grateful that Nami and Camie were safe," Sanji sighed lovingly as he remembered that he ended up meeting up with four of the most beautiful women in all the world later on at the forest. Nami, Robin, Camie, and Shirahoshi… all he needed was Vivi and Hancock there and he would have died happily.

"We nearly drowned back there!" current Usopp yelled out.

"And what could I have done to change that?" current Nami retorted.

"Alright, that's enough," Robin said soothingly. "No point in worrying about it. It's long over."

"That's his natural strength, right?" one of the Fishmen asked nervously as the whole palace began to shake.

"Yeah, and he hasn't even taken any Energy Steroids yet," another said anxiously. Hody let out a grunt of laughter as he finally crushed through the wall with his bare hands, causing cries of fear from all over his crew.

"Big deal," current Zoro said, unimpressed. "I could do more damage than that with a single stroke of my blade!"

"Yeah," Luffy added as he punched his fists together, "I could do that with one punch!"

"I'll say," Sanji nodded as well, "One kick would've been enough for me."

"Alright, we all know that you guys are superhuman," current Usopp sighed before anyone else decided to start up too.

As the water started to pour in, it was quickly flooding the floor and reaching their memory selves feet, causing memory Brook and Usopp start to panic.

"This is terrible!" past Brook cried out in panic. "Especially for me! We're going to drown!" He then jumped up onto memory Usopp's back and quivered there. Hody was just grinning as he turned back to face them, with his crew terrified when they saw that his hand was wet.

The current Nami cringed, for a moment she could swear that it was Arlong standing there when Hody shifted, getting ready to strike her for not following his orders. And it wasn't just him she saw there… she could hear his voice, his cold laughter that left shivers down her spine and brought back eight years' worth of nightmares as it echoed in her mind.

But then she blinked and Hody was back as he threw the drops of water off his arm and right at them. That was when the water changed in midair, becoming sharper, and pointed until they resembled arrows.

"Shark Archery!" Hody yelled with laughter. Memory Zoro used the handle of his sword to block them when they flew at him, while the past versions of Usopp and Brook were forced to dodge them despite the fact that Brook was hanging on him. But as for Neptune's army, who were all still tied up and unable to move or defend themselves, were hit and soon there was blood in the water.

"That's dirty! Attacking people who can't move!" Luffy yelled out angrily. And he wasn't the only one either.

Furious at the sight of his men being attacked like that, Neptune roared out, shaking with rage, "You filth! Attacking my men at random!"

But Hody wasn't listening as he wetted his arm again and the air was filled with more of those water arrows. For this next round, however, Neptune wasn't going to stand for it. Still tied up and unable to stop it from coming, he did the only thing he could… he bowed over low until his head was touching the floor and using his body as a shield for his own men.

His soldiers were shocked at such a thing and were shouting at him to stop it. But the king wouldn't hear of it.

"Never-jamon!" Neptune declared as the arrows hit the back of his head. "You are my vassals-jamon!"

"King Neptune!" the soldiers all shouted.

"Oh, wow!" Luffy cried out, "He's a really awesome guy!"

"Doing that for his own men… oh, I don't know what to say!" Franky cried out, now wishing that he was there so that he could kill Hody for this. Speaking of which, Hody seemed to be the only one in the room who wasn't impressed by Neptune's devotion to his own vassals. He just laughed as he sent more water flying at them.

"What a fool! A king shielding his underlings?" Hody cried out. "You really aren't fit to be a king!"

"Oh, yeah? And you are?!" Chopper demanded. If someone ever did that for him, then he would consider that person a friend forever. But Hody just continued to throw more water at them, more of them getting hurt as they continued to cry in worry for their king. At last, memory Zoro walked forward, side-stepping the water flying at him—having enough of Hody's behavior. Like he was a little kid who was throwing a tantrum for not getting what he wanted.

When Hody finally realized that his attacks weren't hitting him, he stopped as memory Zoro's hand went to his sword. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a flying blade attack directly at Hody. But in contrast to what the king did for his men, Hody merely grabbed one of his own men and held him up to act the part of a shield for him, even as the man cried out pleadingly for him to let him go. But the attack hit him and soon his entire front was covered with blood. Hody just grinned and dropped him, where he hit the floor hard, bleeding all over as the Straw Hats, past and present, watched in disgust.

"He just used his companion as a shield!" memory Usopp shouted out furiously. "He's the worst!"

"I agree with myself," the current Usopp stated as he raised his hand.

"Yeah! Me too!" Chopper added as he raised his little hoof into the air and even started jumping up and down like he thought that he would that would make a difference.

But even Nami nodded grimly. Whatever else Arlong was, he would never have done something like that. Not that it stopped him from being a murdering bastard of course. But this guy was a new kind of evil to her.

"Hey, you guys," memory Zoro said, getting memory Usopp and Brook's attention. "Untie the soldiers." When the others looked at him in surprise, he added, "Our negotiations with this country have broken down. We promised to return all the hostages unharmed, but we couldn't keep that promise."

"But that wasn't our fault!" Chopper tried to point out to their Zoro, who shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he answered back calmly. "We were responsible for them staying safe and we couldn't do it. As far as I was concerned, there was no reason to keep holding them hostage."

"Yeah, that's true," Luffy agreed. He didn't see why they should force them to sit there and hit without at least letting them be able to protect themselves. They wanted to help their friends and beat Hody down just like they did. He could understand that.

"How dutiful," the Minister of the Left whispered, staring at memory Zoro in awe.

"Right," memory Usopp nodded in understanding. "I got it."

Even the past version of Brook agreed, though he was sliding off Usopp's shoulders and his foot was in the water. The current Brook couldn't blame him for he was fighting the impulse to jump up and onto someone's shoulders by looking at the water around him. While he knew this wasn't real water, the thrill of fear went through his stomach at the sight of it… not that he had a stomach anymore. His past self then cried out for Nami's help, only to realize that she was nowhere to be seen… neither was Camie, leaving them to deal with this mess on their own. When the current Straw Hats looked at her, she sighed and admitted that she asked Camie to take her to the Sea Forest. With everyone focused on the attacks that Hody was throwing at them, they were able to slip away unnoticed. Sanji was just glad that she and Camie got away before either could be hurt, but the others had to admit that they weren't sure what she could have done otherwise to help them. Knowing her, she would have used lighting and shocked them all thanks to all the water… yeah, probably for the best she left.

Memory Usopp was muttering darkly to himself about Nami leaving as he began untying the soldiers, telling them to get away. Memory Brook was helping to cut a few free, but with the water quickly rising, his strength was fading fast.

The few soldiers they freed went to untying the rest of them and started to pick up their weapons, getting ready to start fighting back. But Hody seemed to have lost his patience as he called for his men to attack, ordering them to crush Neptune's Army and the Straw Hats. The guards were standing in front of Neptune, who was bleeding heavily, ready to protect their king.

Memory Usopp was already pulling one of his many projectiles out from his bag and loading it as the pirates began to charge at them.

"Certain Death Green Star…RAFFLESIA!" he shouted as he fired it, the projectile exploding and creating a massive red-and-orange flower right above their heads, taking them all by surprise. As the pirates stared at it, memory Usopp grinned as a horrendous smell began to fill the room, causing the Fishmen Pirates to gag and gasp for air.

"I don't even wanna know where you got that thing," Sanji said, hoping that he wouldn't grow one of those things on the Sunny.

Even Hody was forced to grab his nose as he snarled out how ridiculous it all was.

"Ridiculous… but effective," Robin smiled in amusement as Luffy and Chopper both laughed at how funny it was.

Memory Usopp just smirked, lowering his goggles as two soldiers came over, carrying memory Brook on their shoulders. But then, memory Zoro cut Neptune's chains with a single stroke of his blade, setting him free and making just one request.

"Please, let those two escape from the castle!" he asked the king, who was slowly raising his head, bleeding heavily, and looking down at him with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Oh, Zoro-san…" current Brook said a little tearfully. "I never had a chance to thank you."

"Don't make a big deal about it," Zoro answered back coldly, his face glowing a little pink at the gratitude.

"You just don't like it when someone thanks you, do you?" Robin asked with a knowing smile.

"What about you?" Neptune asked memory Zoro slowly.

"If he comes after you, nobody will be able to get away!" memory Zoro answered back as Hody sank beneath the rising water. The past version of Zoro then turned and dove himself, his swords already drawn and ready to go. Wanting to know what was going on, the rest of them followed until they were able to see Hody and Zoro squaring off underwater.

"Will you be alright, Zoro?" Chopper asked him worriedly.

"Yeah, the best thing about not eating a Devil Fruit is that you don't need to worry about being underwater," the current Zoro nodded.

"Heh, I could take him on easy," Sanji said with a shrug, thinking of his Blue Walk. It would be interesting to fight a Fishman underwater with that technique… it would certainly turn out better than the last time. He still felt his blood boil at the thought of that stupid Fishman at Arlong Park purposely keeping him under the water and how close he came to drowning.

"Don't get in my way," Hody said, holding up his trident. "This country will be mine."

With the muffled sounds of fighting going up on the surface, the two started to go at it.

"Earlier, you were the only one who managed to see my attack coming," Hody went on. "Did Arlong use it on you too?"

Unable to answer underwater, memory Zoro just held his blades up, letting his actions speak for him. Hody just grinned as he pointed his trident at him.

"Not bad, avoiding that attack the second time you encountered it," he said before he swam right at him, quick as an arrow. "But no matter how skilled you are, nothing can stand against a Fishman in an underwater battle!"

"Wanna bet?" current Zoro asked smugly as his past self was forced to spin about to face him whenever he came at him. He could admit that he would never be as fast as a Fishman in the sea, nor was the fact that he couldn't breathe water was a problem. But Hody got too cocky. Again and again, Hody went at him; finally throwing his trident at him, which his past self knocked away and into the wall. But then Hody began to throw more water arrows right at him, taunting him to dodge them underwater. Zoro's answer, was to use his swords to create an underwater tornado, creating a shield against him and the attack.

"SO COOL!" Luffy and Chopper both cried out with bright eyes as Hody just smirked again.

"Looks like I get to have some fun," he said evilly as memory Zoro held his blades up, ready for round two.

But just as it was getting good, the memory started to shift once more.

"Oh, come on!" Franky yelled out. "It was getting exciting! Don't change yet!"

"I don't think we have a choice, Franky!" Robin reminded him as the memory faded until they were back with Sanji and Chopper at Coral Hill. Memory Chopper had finished pulling out all the arrows that were in Hachi's body and was wrapping several layers of bandages around him, making him look like a mummy.

"Typical," Zoro sighed. "The cook ruins everything."

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled back. "I'm the real star of this crew and we all know it!"

"Hang in there!" memory Chopper reassured Hachi, "You'll be alright!"

Hachi, who had regained consciousness, was blinking weakly down at him as he muttered, "You have to get off the island!"

"He'd been saying that the whole time we were there," current Sanji sighed as memory Chopper snapped at him that now wasn't the time for him to worry about them. That he needed to just focus on his own injuries for now. "It was really starting to get annoying. Like one of those parrots who keep repeating the same things over and over again?"

"Yeah, that would be cool though, to get a pet parrot like that," Luffy suddenly thought.

Usopp suddenly laughed and patted his shoulder as he said, "A parrot? In a pirate crew? Really, Luffy. Who had ever heard of such a thing? I can't imagine you walking around with a bird on your shoulder all day."

But then, several of the townspeople appeared behind their past selves, all of them holding nets or weapons as they glared at them.

Memory Sanji looked back at them with annoyance clearly on his face as he asked, "Who are you guys?"

"Return the mermaids!" one of the citizens demanded.

"Damn humans, you only see us as mere objects!" another declared angrily.

"Oh, so because we're humans, we're automatically guilty?" Franky sighed. "Man, there was really a lot of animosity between humans and Fishmen wasn't there?"

"Yeah, and they really didn't like us either," Luffy added.

"That's what I…" Franky began before he sighed and agreed, just saving himself a headache. "Yeah. Exactly right."

"Huh?" memory Sanji asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, they were treating a wounded Fishman," Nami added, wishing that she could point this out to them. Now wasn't the time to start tearing at each other. Hachi needed help, and though he was in good hands with Chopper, he needed a better place to recover. "So isn't that a clue that maybe they aren't enemies?"

"Don't play dumb, pirates!" a citizen shouted out.

"Three young mermaids disappeared from the southern coast not too long ago!" a woman shouted.

"Where are the girls?!" another demanded furiously as the crowd slowly drew in closer.

"I never did get what happened," Zoro said suddenly. "Someone kidnapped them but then just let them go?"

"I was told that they were found inside the palace," Robin answered back. "The girls were found in the treasure room after the thief had stolen everything. They were groggy when they woke up, but otherwise unharmed."

"Well, that is good to hear," Brook said reasonably.

"Wait… so does that mean that the pirate that tried to attack us on the Sunny on our way here was the one responsible?" Chopper asked. "He was the one who stole all the treasure, right?" Everyone looked at him, trying to think of what he was talking about before they remembered that there was an extra barrel with them.

"Oh, right… Muddy. I forgot about him," Luffy said slowly.

"So he was the one who was kidnapping those girls? Typical, I knew that guy was nothing but trouble for us," Zoro sighed.

"Still, the girls are alright, and that's all that matters," Robin reminded them.

"Besides, I doubt that Muddy even counts as human, he was so gross," Nami added, "so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Whatever happened to him anyway?" Usopp asked curiously.

"Dunno, I guess he was hauled off to prison or something," Nami said with a shrug. "It doesn't matter. I'm just glad that we weren't accused of kidnappers anymore."

"I don't get it," memory Sanji said as he turned to face them. "Why do you think we're the culprits?!"

"Yeah, give us one good reason!" current Chopper called out.

"Granted…" memory Sanji went on, and soon his pervert face was back as he declared, "I love mermaids so much that I really want to kidnap a few…" but then his face went back to seriousness and he finished, "But I would never actually do it!"

"Thanks Sanji," Usopp sighed as Nami gave their cook a hard punch to the head. "That should really convince them. You should have just kept your mouth shut."

"Sometimes I think you're better off that way," Nami sighed as she looked down at Sanji nursing his hurt head. "What were you thinking?! You didn't have to be that honest!"

"See?!" one of the citizens shouted as they advantaged, "He just said he wanted to kidnap them!"

"See what you did?!" Nami added, running her hand through her hair in irritation.

"I cannot help it," current Sanji said as he stood back up. "When my heart speaks, I must allow it to! I am as a painter and a beautiful woman is as a work of art! I cannot keep it locked up inside!"

"But you're a cook, not a painter," Luffy reminded him and Sanji sighed.

"One day, I will have to tell you about life, Luffy," he said.

"I rather you not," Robin smiled dangerously at him. "We don't need you to influence him like that."

"Yes, Robin dear…" Sanji sighed, forgetting all about his pain as he looked at Robin, wondering just what kind of magic spell she used to cure him so suddenly.

"Why would you say that to them?!" memory Chopper demanded as he glared up at memory Sanji, still at Hachi's side. "Be quiet!"

"It must be the humans doing!" and soon they were throwing trash and food at them, yelling at them to get out of here. But as someone threw a half-empty bottle at him, Sanji caught it with his foot before it broke on the ground.

"There's still some left in this!" he yelled, kicking the bottle up and into his hand, sounding angry for the first time. "Don't waste it!"

"Becoming a mob is no excuse to let perfectly good food go to waste," present-day Sanji agreed darkly.

"Silence, human!" a Fishman yelled back, holding a weapon up threateningly. But just then, another voice spoke up from above them.

"Hey! Sanij! Chopper!" yelled a familiar voice. "Hey, Sanji! You've recovered from your nosebleed?!"

Memory Luffy's group had finally reached them… with Megalo looking sicker than ever.

"Luffy!" memory Chopper called excitedly. "Is that you?! What's with the puffer fish?"

They all looked back up to Megalo as Robin said, "Well, to be fair, he does look more like a puffer fish than a shark at the moment."

Memory Luffy was still standing up on one of Megalo's teeth, the shark closing his mouth so that Shirahoshi was hidden just as the crowd began to turn their anger up to Luffy, thinking that he was the leader behind the kidnappings.

"Oh, they won't react well if they find out that the princess is with you," Robin said conversationally.

"No, they didn't," current Luffy admitted happily.

"That's not a good thing, Luffy," Nami sighed.

Megalo's eyes were watering badly as he forced himself to close his mouth again, memory but Luffy soon jumped down to the ground, the crowd parting for him in fear like he was poisonous or something. But this Luffy just caught glimpse of Hachi, and was at their side in a flash.

"Hachi!" he cried out. "Is that really you?!"

At the sight of Luffy there, it seemed to give Hachi some strength as he croaked out his name.

"What happened to you?!" memory Luffy demanded as he leaned over, trying to get some answers. "Who did this?!"

"Well… he won't say," memory Chopper told him sadly.

"You have to… leave the island," Hachi croaked out as the doctor sighed.

"He keeps insisting we do that," Chopper explained.

"Really, he was starting to sound like an echo over and over again," current Sanji added. As they tried to treat him, Megalo was going nuts overhead. He trashed about wildly, trying desperately to keep himself together, but soon it was too much.

"He's gonna blow!" Franky yelled. And he was right. Megalo fell to the ground hard, and the impact was finally the breaking point. His mouth opened wide and he spit Shirahoshi out and dropped her right in front of everyone.

"Oh, that couldn't have happened at a worse time," Usopp winced as the citizens of Fishman Island were all staring with wide eyes.

"Oh, sweet and gentle goddess…" current Sanji sighed in adoration at the sight of her, glad to get a full look at her without her being in the shark's mouth.

"PRINCESS SHIRAHOSHI?!" the entire crowd screamed in shock at the sight of her there as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her eyes were drifting about over them all as she started to blush innocently—causing current Brook and Sanji to swoon at how cute she was—as she tried to think of something to say.

"Uh… We… Um…" she stuttered out nervously before she forced a smile on her face and said, as if they were playing a game. "You found me!"

"She's huge!" memory Chopper cried out before he realized what everyone said. "By 'princess' do they mean…?" but before he finished saying anything he covered his mouth and looked over in panic at memory Sanji, who hadn't turned around.

"Huh? What is it? Is there somebody behind me?" he asked.

"Seriously weren't you listening when they shouted out her name?" Zoro asked in annoyance. "What an idiot."

"Hey, I was busy thinking!" Sanji retorted angrily. Though, in truth, he was busy daydreaming about mermaids again and didn't hear anything until that moment. Not that _Zori_ ever needed to know that. "Something that you, sadly, don't know how to do!"

"Oh, shut up, cook!" Zoro yelled out.

But at that moment, before memory Sanji turned around, memory Chopper ran at him, climbing up to his shoulder as he tearfully begged, "Don't do it, Sanji! Whatever you do, don't turn around!"

"What are you talking about?" memory Sani asked.

"If you turn around, you'll die, Sanji!" Chopper declared as he hit his tiny hoof against him, still begging that he do anything but turn around.

Memory Luffy was looking put out like this was a mere inconvenience than anything else. "Aw, man…" he muttered glaring at poor Megalo who seemed to have passed out. The people were all in a panic as they all screamed out at the same time, "THE MERMAID PRINCESS HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

"P-Princess Shirahoshi… she… really has been… kidnapped!" someone cried out in horror.

"As if we didn't need another reason for them to hate us," Usopp sighed, smacking himself in the face.

"Hey! Weakling!" memory Luffy shouted out. "Why'd you get out of the shark?!"

"Well, it's not her fault," Franky pointed out. "Blame the shark."

"Oh, the poor thing," Robin said sympathetically as she looked over the Megalo, who seemed to be twitching horribly in his sleep. Shirahoshi gasped at Luffy's loud voice and all of a sudden her eyes began to well up with tears again.

"I-I'm sorry!" she wailed. "Master Luffy, please don't be so angry with me."

"You're really not helping to convince everyone that you're not kidnapping her," Nami said annoyed to their Luffy.

"Her crying wasn't helping anything," current Luffy shrugged.

"I doubt they would've listened anyway," Zoro added. "They would have twisted everything around. We're pirates… so therefore… we must all be their enemies."

As Shirahoshi started to cry again, with Megalo still gagging at her side even as he passed out, the townspeople all turned to glare at Luffy, furious that he made her cry.

"She cries at the drop of a hat," Franky said as he rubbed the back of his head. He really hated when a girl cried because it was always a guy's fault, wasn't it? "Don't take it so seriously."

"Princess…?" croaked a voice and they looked to see memory Sanji exactly where he was before. He was staring ahead, his back still turned to Shirahoshi, but the expression on his face… it was like he was close to discovering the secrets of the universe. Just a breath away from enlightenment… and memory Chopper was gasping in horror.

"Wait a second… princess…" memory Sanji went on, his eyes widening in shock. "They can't mean…?"

"Don't do it, Sanji!" memory Chopper pleaded desperately. "You absolutely must not turn around!"

"Wait…" memory Sanji continued slowly as he put a new cigarette in his mouth. "You mean to tell me that if I turn around and look behind me…" he lit his cigarette and finished, "Then the Mermaid princess will be there?"

"How can you be so dumb?" Zoro asked exasperated. Really, why not turn around and see for himself? You think that everyone shouting out 'princess' would've been enough of a hint for this idiot.

"Just the thought of seeing her was almost too much for me!" current Sanji sighed as he stared at Shirahoshi, just drooling at the sight of her there.

"That's right! She's here!" memory Chopper cried out, "That's why you absolutely must not turn around, Sanji!" Tears filled his eyes as he cried out, "You nearly died from seeing regular mermaids! So if you see the Mermaid Princess you'll definitely lose every last drop of blood in your body! It'll be the end of the line for you!"

"Let him look then," Zoro muttered darkly.

"At least he'd die happy," Nami added with a disappointed sigh. Really, what was with him? He'd probably sell his soul if he got the chance to marry a beautiful woman. He's not exactly picky, is he?

Memory Sanji took his time in answering as he slowly breathed out the smoke and watched it drift upwards. Finally, he said, "The Mermaid Princess. The most beautiful woman in the world. It's said that even the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock fails to compare."

"Just forget about her!" memory Chopper pleaded. "I'm begging you… Please don't look behind you!" But that Chopper finally seemed to see that there was no way to stop this as he broke down completely in tears.

"There's nothing that you can do, he's beyond saving," Nami told their Chopper, who was forced to nod in agreement.

"Chopper," memory Sanji said with gritted teeth before he proclaimed, "Instead of continuing to live without ever fulfilling the dream that's within my grasp…" memory Chopper looked up, his face full of tears as Sanji's was full of determination, "I choose to fulfill that dream… and die!"

"Such resolve!" Brook gasped out in awe.

"That is dedication!" Usopp cried tearfully.

"Go for it, Sanji!" current Luffy cheered out.

"WHAT?!" memory Chopper screamed out. "ISN'T YOUR DREAM SUPPOSED TO BE THE ALL BLUE?!"

But memory Sanji was already turning around, even as Chopper jumped at him, in one final desperate attempt to save him. Yet it was already too late… for memory Sanji had already seen her. He stared at Shirahoshi like he had just seen heaven itself, his eyes wide and gapping.

"In that moment I realized just how poor my imagination was," the current Sanji sighed dramatically. "For I had truly seen… the embodiment of absolute beauty…" No sooner did he finish speaking did his past self turned to stone right then and there.

"I don't see how you do that," Usopp whispered as Sanji's entire body was literally rock. "I mean, I'd get it if it was Hancock… but…?"

"I learned to stop asking questions when it comes to Sanji," current Chopper muttered, hanging his head low.

"HE TURNED TO STONE!" memory Chopper screamed as Shirahoshi continued crying. As memory Chopper tried to figure out what was wrong with Sanji, the townspeople turned their attention back to trying to attack them. With none of them even bothering to defend themselves, they had all of them, even Hachi, tied up and sitting down on the ground.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Franky asked in puzzlement. "You could have taken those guys out easy."

"It wasn't that big a deal," present-day Luffy answered as the townspeople celebrated like they had single-handedly saved all of Fishman Island. As they cheered for themselves and reassured the princess that she was safe and that they would hand them over to Neptune's army before they were executed, she tried to explain that this wasn't what it looked like.

"She's too timid," Zoro said as she tried to politely tell them that she went out of her own will. "Not that it would matter. I mean, even if those bozos listen to what she had to say, they wouldn't listen."

"I'm sure that if she explained it…?" Nami began half-heartedly.

"They'd just say that they threatened her to say that," Zoro reminded her and she thought that over before she also sighed.

"Yeah," she agreed grimly, "you're probably right."

But just then, memory Luffy, who was still tied up and sitting on the ground, he suddenly turned his attention to the sky before speaking.

"Hey! You guys!" he shouted to the townspeople. "Something's flying this way!" He jerked his head over their heads and added, "From over there!"

"What?" a man demanded. "Don't say such dumb things! You can't fool us!"

"Why is it that whenever someone says that, they sound dumb anyway?" Franky couldn't help but ask.

"It's the perfect thing to say," current Sanji said. "If they look and there's nothing there, it's a distraction. If they don't look and something is there, then it's a nasty surprise for them. Either way, you win."

"Unless there's nothing there and they don't fall for it," Robin offered before she looked to the sky to see that memory Luffy was right. There was a tiny speck that was flying directly at them. It seemed that not all the townspeople were as stubborn as the man who spoke, for several others also chose to listen and were looking where he had directed and they could see that same something that Robin spotted.

"Over there! Hey!" someone called. "There really is something flying this way!"

"Is that… coral?" Nami asked curiously, shielding her eyes to try so that she could try to make the shape out.

"Looks like it. But it also looks like someone's riding it," Usopp answered as he pulled his goggles down to get a look for himself. He then gasped when he recognized him, crying out to them all, "It's that four legged pervert again!"

"Decken?!" Nami gasped in surprise. Well, now it looks like they found out where he went after he left the palace. Dammit, he sure found them quickly enough.

"Right, he threw the coral at Weakling!" current Luffy said angrily.

"I found you, I presume!" Decken yelled as the coral was zooming through the air. He then began to cackle at the sight of Shirahoshi there and yelled out, "Shirahoshi!"

Shirahoshi gasped and her eyes shone with fear when she saw him. "Lord Vander Decken…" she whispered fearfully.

"Now, now sweetie, there's no need to be polite to everyone you meet," Robin said, glaring up at Decken. "He doesn't deserve it."

She wasn't the only one who thought that, for all the townspeople all turned their anger towards Decken, even telling Shirahoshi to escape and that they would hold him here.

"Give me your answer, Shirahoshi!" Decken demanded, sounding wild. "If it's yes, then you don't have to die!"

"Damn that bastard!" present-day Sanji roared out as Shirahoshi's face had even more fear there. As much as he loved women, he would never dream of forcing one to do something against her will. No real man would ever do such a thing! This guy was making him sick to his stomach at the sight of him and wished he could kick him up and down the Grand Line.

"Shall we get married?!" Decken roared out as he continued to cackle.

"He's nuts," current Luffy said.

"I think that's safe to say," Zoro said as he looked to all the townspeople, their faces all full of identical expressions of rage.

"You mean to tell me that the man who's been throwing weapons at the princess for the past ten years was just stalking her with marriage proposals?!" one of the townspeople demanded in outrage.

"There's a limit to how crazy you can be, Vander Decken!" someone else shouted out, holding up a makeshift weapon. "Because of you, the princess has spent the last ten years scared out of her mind, fearing for her life!"

But as others voiced what they thought of Decken, he went on speaking as if he couldn't hear them, "Give me your answer! Shirahoshi!"

"I'll give him an answer," Nami muttered darkly as she held up her fist, suddenly reminded of that patch-work pervert from Thriller Bark and how he tried to force her to marry him while she was out cold. She shivered at the memory as she added, "Who in their right mind would want to marry a guy like that?!"

"It'll be a yes, I presume!" Decken asked.

"Shows how much he knows," present-day Chopper said, remembering what Shirahoshi answered him.

As the townspeople readying themselves for a fight, Shirahoshi finally opened her mouth. At the sight of it, Decken gasped excitedly.

"Well, you see…" she began nervously.

"What's that?!" Decken cried out, "Is it a yes?!"

"Choose your next words carefully, Shirahoshi…" Nami went on worriedly as she looked to Shirahoshi, who hesitated for another moment before she finally cried out her answer.

"You're just not my type!"

There was stunned silence all around.

"Wait," Franky said slowly, "that's it?! That's her reason?! Not the fact that he's nuttier than a fruitcake who's trying to kill her, but that he's not her type?!"

"Good enough reason if you ask me," Robin shrugged. Personally, she thought that Shirahoshi needed someone strong and confident to help balance out her gentle and sweet nature. Decken… did not fit that.

As for Decken, the princess's words seemed to have caused him unbearable pain as his head was tilted back and he was twitching horribly like about to have a heart attack.

But at last he slowly moved his head down to glare at them.

"Why you…" he snarled, glowering down at her. "You've been leading me on for ten years!"

"He did not just say that," Nami muttered, shaking her head.

"You think of ten years of hiding in the tower would have been enough of a clue," Usopp muttered, wondering if this guy could really be that big an idiot. When he looked at him, he sighed, truly believing that.

"Who the hell are you planning to marry?!" Decken demanded.

"Me of course," current Sanji sighed longingly.

"And you're another one we need to keep her away from," Nami said to him darkly.

But Decken wasn't going to take this rejection lying down. He then pulled out a pair of axes with the print of roses on the blades—the same kind of axes that Luffy had stopped before back at the tower.

"If you're aren't going to be mine, then it hurts me just seeing you alive!" he declared. "Die, Shirahoshi!"

"Talk about someone who can't handle rejection!" Usopp cried out in horror.

"More proof that he's not a real man!" current Sanji shouted out furiously. After all, a real man would rather see the one he loves be happy even if that person isn't with him. Even if Nami or Robin loved someone else one day, he would have to accept it even though just the thought broke his heart into a million pieces. What mattered most was that she was happy! He hoped that wasn't going to ever happen to him though… just thinking about it reduced him to miserable tears.

The townspeople were begging Shirahoshi to escape, telling her that even if they had to sacrifice their lives, they wanted her safe.

"Of course!" current Sanji cried out. He would have gladly laid down his life if it meant keeping his dear Shirahoshi safe… but then memory Luffy wasn't going to hear of it.

"Don't run away!" memory Luffy yelled out at her. "Stay there, Weakling!"

Shirahoshi turned back to him in startled surprise as the townspeople were turning their anger to him again.

"What're you saying?" someone demanded. "As if she'd trust a pirate!"

"That's right, you're working with Decken, aren't you?" another shouted out.

"Where'd that come from?!" current Luffy asked as he scratched his head, remembering how the others were accused of working with Hody at the palace.

"You think they would know better by now," Zoro shrugged, "After all, we have a reputation of being insane and going on our own. Some people never learn, I guess."

"Do you think you can order the princess to die?!" that guy went on yelling at memory Luffy, who ignored them all.

"If you're too far from me," he shouted at Shirahoshi, "I won't be able to protect you!"

She looked down at him for a moment, tears still shining in her eyes from fear, but she nodded in understanding.

"Y-Yes!" she said. "I'll stay right here!"

The townsfolk were shocked that she was listening to him, soon turning their makeshift weapons to Luffy, furious that he would 'threaten' her like that. They surrounded him, seemingly forgetting about Decken for a moment.

Thankfully, memory Luffy wasn't as distracted as he looked around at them all before he said apologetically as he looked around him, "Sorry guys, this is nothing personal," he said, "But… you're in the way!"

With a sudden burst of Haki, he hit them all at once and they collapsed like flies in a giant heap.

"At least you apologized before knocking them out," Robin offered lightly.

"It's for the best," Zoro added. "They were just in the way. They could've done something really stupid if they were still up."

Memory Luffy then hopped to his feet, still tied up, but able to pump blood into his legs and shifted into Second Gear. In a flash, he was gone, and if you blinked, you missed it for he was suddenly up in the air next to Decken. The guy didn't even see him coming as Luffy spun in the air and slammed his feet right into the coral, smashing it apart and sending the pieces crashing to the ground safely away from Shirahoshi.

"Awesome!" current Chopper cheered out, his eyes sparkling. "You're so cool Luffy! I wish I could move that fast!"

Their Luffy just laughed, though Chopper couldn't help but wonder more about Luffy's Second Gear. They talked about it before, didn't they? How he wanted Luffy to take better care of his health from this point on… and while this new Second Gear wasn't as harsh on his body… he couldn't help but continue to worry. He would have to do another check-up on him once they escaped this tower.

The townspeople were in stunned awe as they stared at him, showing that he could have escaped easily from them before.

"He can do that even when he's tied up?!" someone gasped, his hands shaking as he held onto the broom.

"Unable to fight while tied up? Only armatures need to always be free to do any damage," Sanji said knowingly.

"They why weren't you helping?" Franky pointed out, looking behind him to where memory Sanji was on the ground and happily singing to himself about Shirahoshi.

"Shut it! I could've fought if I wanted to! But there was no need to waste my strength on a weakling like that!" Sanji retorted darkly.

"Keep telling yourself that," Zoro said.

Decken seemed outraged by this and turned to memory Luffy as he fell through the air. He snarled, "This is between me and my beloved Shirahoshi. Why must you get in the way? You must be the one who took her…"

But before he could finish saying anything, memory Luffy had grabbed hold of him with his feet, twisting his legs around and they could see where this was all going.

"So it was you?!" memory Luffy demanded, anger growing on his face. "You're the one who threw all that stuff at Weakling?!"

"Oh, this is gonna hurt!" Franky cheered, remembering seeing that attack back at the Baratie memories before that armored jerk ended up taking a beating on top of a destroyed, floating pieces.

But Decken wasn't even listening despite the fact that he couldn't even move right now. "I'll take both of your lives then! I'll put the two of you together and cut you into four!" he threatened.

"What a lame threat," Zoro muttered as memory Luffy's legs tightened as they fell and he then swung him through the air in a great arc.

"Just try it!" memory Luffy shouted out and when Decken saw that the ground was racing up to them, he started to thrash about violently, yelling to let him go.

"Gum Gum…" memory Luffy began, "JET…" and he slammed Decken so hard into the ground that he was slammed right through it. "HAMMER!"

Everyone was staring at him, shocked that he had been able to stop the attack and save Shirahoshi all at once even without even using his hands. Hachi and memory Chopper were both smiling as Luffy's legs retracted and returned to normal and he turned in the air, getting ready to land.

"He…" someone in the crowd whispered, "Took out Vander Decken?!"

"With his hands behind his back!" Usopp laughed as he and Luffy were standing arm-in-arm, grinning wildly at seeing the attack.

"It was great!" current Luffy smiled, glad that he could pound that guy into the ground. When the dust cleared, they could see that Decken's head was stuck in the concrete, his four legs kicking about madly as he tried to pull himself out.

"Huh?" Franky asked in surprised. "I thought that was enough to finish him."

"I wish," Nami sighed before she looked around at all the boys. "It's really hard to kill stupid. Look at this crew."

The townsfolk all advanced on Decken, saying that this was their chance to capture him. With them focused on that, memory Luffy was able to hop about without being bothered. He went straight over to Megalo, giving him a hard hit to wake him up, shouting at him to get up.

As Megalo opened his eyes, looking about in confusion, memory Luffy hoped over to the others, calling out to Sanji, asking if he was alright.

"If he's not, don't complain," Zoro said. "We're better off without him." He was a little surprised when Sanji didn't yell at him, but when he looked, he saw the reason was that this Sanji was looking lovingly up at Shirahoshi again and Zoro rolled his eye. Whatever.

"He turned into stone a little while ago," memory Chopper answered, "But it looks like he's in a state of bliss now. He's conscious."

"Really?" Zoro asked, "Then why don't you get off your ass and help?"

"Luffy could handle it," Sanji retorted, fully understanding why he was so happy at that moment. "Not that someone like you could ever understand why I was in heaven so there's no need to explain to someone with a rock for a brain."

"Keep talking, I dare you," Zoro snarled.

"Really? Do I have to gag you two just to have some quiet?" Nami demanded, already thinking that tying someone up wasn't a half-bad idea.

"I see," memory Luffy said, clearly not understanding what was going on, but was rolling with it. "Got it!"

He then went back to Shirahoshi as memory Sanji continued to talk about being in heaven. Shirahoshi was trying to untie memory Luffy's ropes, having a hard time doing so with big fingers and a tiny knot. It wasn't helping that Luffy was yelling at her to hurry up.

"O-Okay," she fretted, "B-B-But… if it wouldn't trouble you too much, could you perhaps not raise your voice so much? It's making me really anxious."

"What doesn't make her anxious?" Franky asked curiously.

"At least she's not crying," Usopp added as memory Luffy ignored the request and was looking down at all the townspeople, who just realized what was going on.

"I don't know why, but it seems like we're no longer welcome on this island," memory Luffy said seriously.

"You just noticed that?" Brook asked in surprise, and the captain shrugged back. Now, current Luffy understood, they just wanted to protect Weakling from a pirate. He didn't see that as making them bad people, but they didn't have time to try and explain everything to them.

The townspeople were looking angrier than ever at the sight of Luffy sitting up on Shirahoshi's tail as she struggled with the ropes—all of them glaring like a pack of wolves about to stalk their prey.

"We should get out of here soon," memory Luffy said just as Shirahoshi finally managed to untie the ropes and they fell off him. Happy to be free again, memory Luffy stood up and added, "Thanks Weakling! We're gotta here!"

He then jumped down to the ground, going back to the others as Shirahoshi agreed, already following him enthusiastically.

"Princess! Why'd you undo the rope!?" someone in the crowd cried out in bewilderment. They then all scowled back at Luffy as someone else said, "That pirate scum… he's threatening her again!"

"Ok, that's getting really old!" Usopp called in annoyance. Seriously, if they were trying to kidnap someone, why would the so-called victim come with them so willingly?

Shirahoshi went back to Megalo and called to everyone else, "I'm terribly sorry, everyone. But I'll be back in time for dinner!"

But her words just seemed to confuse them all even more to what was going on as memory Luffy pulled the other three up onto Megalo's back and yelled for him to move forward. Shirahoshi grabbed hold of her pet shark, accidently pulling harshly on his mouth as the poor creature seemed to force himself to wake up and back into the air.

But no sooner were they up did Decken seem to become aware of what was going on. He had finally pulled his head out and the axes were in his hands again as he slashed at the townspeople, shouting out, "Get out of the way, trash!"

"Talk about a hard head!" Nami yelled in frustration. The guy was just sent through concrete, and had done so head-first! He was tougher than a cannonball.

As Decken caught his breath, staring wildly up at their retreating forms, he snarled out, "I ain't letting you get away that easily!" he declared. "Wadatsumi!"

At the command, the water beneath them erupted and a giant head emerged.

"What are the odds of that guy being there?" Brook asked, "Was he just waiting there on the off chance that Decken would be calling him?" He then realized what was going on and let out a shriek.

"Why are you yelling?!" Usopp yelled as he hit him in the skull.

"Didn't see it coming?" Brook offered before he laughed out happily.

Meanwhile, Wadatsumi towered out of the water, blocking their path and Shirahoshi stared up in terror. Memory Luffy just looked on in annoyance.

"I've seen him before," he said darkly, his memory clearly working to figure out where he had seen this guy before.

"He's that guy that attacked the Sunny!" memory Chopper reminded him. "He's one of Decken's underlings!"

"Oh, right!" current Luffy said. "He was that big guy that Surume beat up!"

"If that's what you remember about him, then good for you," Sanji said as the townspeople below them all gasped out in horror and Decken ordered Wadatsumi to knock them out of the sky.

"You got it!" Wadatsumi called in that loud, yet childish voice of his.

But memory Luffy was already pumping the blood in his right arm, just as Wadatsumi threw his fist back, preparing to punch. Shirahoshi shut her eyes as the two squared off, thinking they were going to get hit. But memory Luffy had already disappeared and reappeared right in front of Wadatsumi in a blink of an eye, taking the giant by surprise. He hit him right in the mouth, actually knocking his front tooth clean out of his head. Wadatsumi cried out in pain at that, falling back in the water and was thrashing around as he gripped his mouth, giving the others time to escape.

"Talk about a sensitive tooth," Usopp winced, gripping his own mouth as he felt that pain from here.

"Aright!" Luffy declared as if they were just passing by a slight detour. "We're off, Weakling! To the Sea Forest!" She looked up and smiled brightly, agreeing happily at that.

The memory suddenly changed again, much to everyone's annoyance but they learned to live with it, until they were back at the palace, which was still underwater and the battle was still going on between memory Zoro and Hody. They were underwater once more, watching how memory Zoro and Hody were facing each other again just as one of Hody's men appeared and declared, "Boss Hody! Two women, one human and one mermaid, have escaped from Ryuuguu Palace!"

"That must be us," Nami said as she thought that over. "I guess I should thank you. They were so busy focused on you, we didn't have too much trouble

"Let them go," Hody said unconcerned as he turned his attention back to Zoro. "If I take care of this guy then all that's left is the senile old man and a pack of mutts."

"Who's he calling a mutt?!" current Usopp demanded furiously.

"I don't like dogs," present-day Brook shivered. "They would eat me alive! Not that I'm alive, but they would still chew me to pieces! Yohohoho! Why am I laughing?"

"Well, let's hope we don't run into any dogs," Chopper offered bracingly.

Hody just laughed as he sent more water arrows out at the memory Zoro, the battle still not over.

"Is it starting to hurt yet?" Hody mocked. "Humans really are inferior."

"Please, if you're so great, why are you the one who's locked up in jail?" the current Zoro called, wishing that he could have talked here without having to worry about wasting breath. Hody just seemed to use the same attacks over and over, for he sent another series of water arrows at him, which his past self was able to block before Hody appeared behind him, striking him with the trident. Thankfully, his past self was able to spin around and time to try and stop it, but it was still enough to send him flying backwards and crashing into the floor—with a mouthful of bubbles bursting from his mouth. He was running low on air.

Not that it kept him down for long, for soon he was back up… with all three swords re-sheathed… and two of them at his side again. There was only one sword left in his hand… and they all knew what was coming. He was now just waiting for Hody to be dumb enough to go charging at him… wait for him to get close enough for him to…?

"It's all over for that swordsman!" one of Hody's men declared.

"He tried to fight a Fishman in the water even though he's human!" another declared with a laugh. "It's an obvious mistake."

The current Zoro smirked, knowing that he made them eat those words in the end.

"He's trying to buy time, but it ends here," Hody said unconcerned of whatever it was that Zoro was planning.

Memory Zoro just remained there, that dangerous air still hanging about him, something that Hody either didn't notice or ignored as he shouted out, "Go to hell, you inferior scum!"

He held up his trident and rushed at him, even as memory Zoro raised his head, grabbing the hilt of the blade, preparing to draw it. It was all over in a flash… all that they knew was that Zoro had ducked underneath Hody's trident and now there was a deep bleeding wound across Hody's body, blood drifting in the water.

A human had beaten a Fishman underwater…

And Zoro knew it as he re-sheathed the blade, looking up… resembling a shark more than Hody did at that moment.


	7. Floor 6: Otohime and Fisher Tiger

**Floor 6: Otohime and Fisher Tiger**

"WOW! AWESSSSSSSOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE! Chopper cheered out in amazement as he stared at the scene, Zoro really was the best wasn't he?! How many humans could take on a Fishman underwater and still win?!

"That really is so cool, Zoro!" Luffy cheered before he realized something and asked in confusion, "Wait… if you beat him here, why was he at the plaza?"

Current Zoro sighed before he explained, "Because that idiot can't fight without overdosing on drugs, that's why."

Memory Zoro had now moved far behind Hody as blood was now seeping into the water.

"CAPTAIN HODY!" the New Fishman Pirates cried, their captain slowly sinking deeper as blood drifted out of his wound.

"How can a human move faster than a Fishman underwater?! Who the hell is that guy?!" someone else cried out as the current Zoro smirked.

He was their worst nightmare… he only wished he had enough air to say it to them. His past self's face twitched a little, and it was clear that he was quickly running out of air. He kicked off from the bottom and headed upwards where the palace hadn't filled with water. But the other pirates weren't going to take it lying down for each and every one of them pulled out one of those pills and swallowed them.

The effects were almost instant, causing the Fishman's eyes to glow red and their muscles pumped out. With evil grins and a dark chuckle starting to sound out from all of them, they began looking up to where memory Zoro was closing in on the surface.

"Big deal," current Zoro said unimpressed. He could make his muscles larger than that without resorting to cheap pills.

"Just where did they get those things anyway?" Sanji asked darkly. "They aren't normal. Hey, Chopper… is this something like your Rumble Ball?"

"Maybe…?" Chopper said slowly. "But my Rumble Balls don't make me stronger like that. They just help me shift to my other transformations and I only need it for my Monster Point now. These pills are different… it seems like it at least doubles a person's natural strength…? But there has to be some kind of side-effect… almost no medicine out there doesn't have one? With my Rumble Balls, I could only use it for a few minutes… and I couldn't take them over and over."

"This pill does have a real nasty side effect," Nami sighed. They all looked to her, ignoring how the New Fishman Pirates continued to change underwater… looking like some kind of dark creatures from the depths of the sea about to drag sailors down to hell. "After you boys left the palace to get the treasure back…?" it was so serious that she didn't even glare at them about how they just gave all their treasure away, though the three in question did flinch a little when they remembered how they were sent flying out of the palace with bloody lumps.

"Left? You forced us out," Zoro whispered darkly.

"Some guards came to get us, saying that something had happened to Hody and his men inside their cells," Nami went on, having not heard Zoro. "We thought that they were causing trouble but when we got there…?"

And so she told them about the fate of the leaders of the New Fishman pirates, which resulted in the others looking horrified. They weren't even watching how the Fishmen caught up to memory Zoro, grabbing hold of his leg and preventing him from going on just when the surface was within reach.

"They got old?!" Luffy cried out, trying to picture what that would look like. "Just like that?"

"Yeah, and I don't mean just old, I mean ancient," Nami nodded. "Like they all aged a hundred years since the fight at the plaza."

"But-But how?!" Usopp asked in shock. "I mean, how could they age that much that fast?! That banquet was pretty short compared to our usual ones…?"

Nami shrugged as she just told them what Neptune said. How the Energy Steroids were likely their national treasure because they wanted to keep it hidden away and no one would suffer from the nasty side effects. A single pill will make you at least twice as strong, but it aged a person the more that they took.

"But why take something like that if the side effects are that bad?!" Brook gasped out as memory Zoro was now fighting hard against Hody's men. Now Brook knew that growing old wasn't the worst thing that could happen to someone, for he, himself, was very old. But it also meant that they were shortening their own life-spans considerably if that was the case… why would they willingly do something like that?

The current Zoro's eye narrowed a little at Brook's statement. A few minutes of borrowed strength wasn't worth it… but…

He suddenly glanced over at Luffy as he remembered seeing the memory of how desperate he had been. He willingly gave up ten years of his life to stay alive before… while he didn't like it, he at least understood Luffy's reasoning for doing it. But these guys… he just didn't see why they would be so desperate enough to pay such a price unless…?

"Did they know about what would happen to them if they took them?" he asked Nami and they looked from her to him, and then back.

Nami shrugged as she confessed, "I don't think so. Or at the least, if they did know, they either didn't believe it, or just didn't care. And I doubt that they would have told their men here about it either. The fact was that when I last saw them, Hody was so weak and crippled that he broke his wrist just by pulling at the bars of his cell. Actually, they looked so pathetic, that Neptune said that he may consider lightening their sentence because of it."

"That's… that's just…?" Chopper said shaking his head in disgust.

"They made their choices and have to live with them," Sanji sighed as memory Zoro finally created a devastating attack that knocked all the fishman away from him before he bolted straight for the surface. Sanji frowned a little as he remembered how that shitty Fishman from Arlong Park had tried to drown him before and wondered why they would resort to such a cowardly method. At the least, have the guts to fight someone who couldn't breathe underwater where there was some air for them. "And to be honest, I think it's a bit of just desserts for them after all the harm they did. Especially making my dear Shirahoshi cry like that."

"Either way, there's nothing that we can do about it," Robin nodded as they began to move up to the surface as well. They broke through almost at the same time that memory Zoro did, the water having flooded up even higher and was nearing the ceiling as Zoro was panting for air.

"Zoro!" memory Usopp called from across the room, with both him and memory Brook clinging to Neptune's beard.

"The palace will be flooded soon," Neptune reminded them all as Zoro turned to look at them. "You should grab onto me, quickly!"

Memory Zoro swam over to them just as another soldier was pulled under and the water turned red. The New Fishman Pirates were picking off the soldiers one by one, and you could see it in Neptune's face how much he feared for the lives of his men. He tossed a bubbly coral to memory Usopp, telling him that it was for them to breathe and that they should just hold on tightly..

More and more soldiers were being pulled down as memory Zoro swam faster towards them.

"Why didn't they try to pull you under too, Zoro?" Franky asked.

"I guess they were afraid of dealing with a real shark?" current Zoro smirked.

"Nah, more likely they didn't want to risk touching you in case they caught your stupidity," Sanji said sagely and Zoro glared at him.

"At least they learned right away to fear me, where were you?" he retorted and Sanji glared back.

"I hate you," he snarled.

"The feeling's mutual," Zoro retorted.

The others sighed as Robin said, "At least they can agree on something."

"We cannot delay, we must go now-jamon!" Neptune said as he moved his trident up onto his back.

"Zoro!" memory Usopp called, "Over here! Grab hold!"

Neptune then dove under the water, with the three memory Straw Hats grabbing hold of his massive beard in the process, all of them underwater once again. They faced off against the New Fishman Pirates, all of them with their eyes still glowing red and evil smiles stretching across their faces.

"Listen up, soldiers!' the king declared loudly. "We're gonna carve a path out of here! Don't stay and fight! Flee the palace!" Neptune than began to stretch his arms out and he actually reached out and grabbed hold of the water around him like he was grabbing hold of some kind of fabric.

Yet as he was doing that, Sanji noticed something moving behind him and looked back in time to see that one of Hody's men had swam up to their barely alive boss. That was where he saw him pull out another one of those damn pills and slipped it into Hody's mouth.

He frowned… oh that was going to be a problem later. While he knew that Moss Head wouldn't allow himself to lose to him like this… but they were out of their element here… especially if he couldn't even breathe. Sanji blinked, startled. Did he actually sound worried for his Moss Headed crewmate? What had gotten into him?

"Hey! It's just like with Jimbei!" Luffy declared excitedly when he saw that move. Memory Usopp and Brook both had bubbles over their heads, but Zoro was forced to hold his breath again. Memory Usopp called for Zoro to take the bubbly coral, and tossed it over to him. But at that moment, Neptune had begun his attack, the currents sweeping around them were so strong that it swept the coral right passed Zoro as he tried to make a grab for it.

"Should've tossed it to me a few seconds sooner," the current one said with a shrug.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know?!" Usopp demanded. "I can't see the future!"

"Alright! Let's go!" Neptune called as the water swirled around him like a cyclone… the New Fishman Pirates didn't realize what he was going to do until it was too late. With a great blast, a torrent of water went flying at them, with the pirates either blasted out of the way, or right out through the palace doors. Just when it looked like they cleared a way out, Neptune suddenly froze, crying out in pain.

"What happened?!" Luffy and Franky both cried out at once.

"I think his back gave out again!" Chopper cried out in worry.

"That has got to hurt," Brook winced in pain at the thought. But still, Neptune wasn't done, for he was now commanding his soldiers to ride the current out of here. They did so without question and it was revealed that the real reason for that attack wasn't to harm the pirates, but rather for them to escape. Yet as they were swimming for the exit, Neptune had fallen back, just drifting in the water as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Hey!" memory Usopp cried out, clinging to his beard as he was trying to get Neptune to wake up. "Old man! Pull yourself together! I'm begging here!"

"Age can be so cruel," Neptune said weakly. "I can't move at all-jamon."

"We can't be the strongest forever," Robin nodded. "Whitebeard was one of the few who died how he wanted to… but even he had fallen to age."

"That's how I'm gonna die," Zoro said with a wicked grin. "Upright, on my feet, and not taking any crap from anyone as I stare down a freakin' army."

"What a way to go," Luffy said, though he didn't remember too much of what happened to Whitebeard. His memory still hazy in most places after…? He gave his head a little shake, not wanting to remember more about the end of the war than he had to.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Right was one of the last few to make it out of the front doors in one piece. However, he quickly noticed that their king was missing and he turned back in time to see what was going on.

"Your majesty!" he cried out.

"King Neptune!" called out most of the remaining soldiers in shock.

"Hey! What are you gonna do?!" memory Usopp demanded of the king anxiously. Yet it seemed like Neptune was close to passing out.

"It seems like this is the end for me," Neptune croaked out weakly as he closed his eyes.

"No!" memory Usopp cried out. "Don't say that!"

Things were looking pretty bad for them… underwater, on their own, and the strongest of the three of them was quickly running out of air and had no way to breathe. But they still had someone come in to help… with a roar, the enormous whale that they rode on the way here appeared from another room inside the palace, getting all of their attention.

"Oh, Hoe," Neptune said when he saw him there. The whale swam over their heads, and Neptune reached out to grab hold of the reins that was around his body. "You've saved us!"

"Yeah! I knew I loved whales!" Franky cheered out as he punched the air.

"Oh, they are truly the most loyal creatures," Brook said fondly, thinking of Laboon again. He knew that when he did see his old friend again, he would love to tell him about Hoe.

And with a heave, Hoe dragged them from behind, taking them to the door on his own as the three Straw Hats continued to cling on to his beard. It really looked like they were going to make it out in time…

"I apologize for my frailty," Neptune said tiredly. "I couldn't even move there-jamon."

"Hey, it's not your fault pal!" Franky declared. "I mean… a king sacrificing himself for his people… that's a true man right there!" And Franky's eyes started to water up a little. "You are a hell of a guy, Neptune!"

"Indeed," Robin smiled. She could see why the people of Fishman Island would rather see their home destroyed than see him killed. An island could always be rebuilt, but the life of a leader who cares about the safety and well-being of his people was one-of-a-kind.

Yet, as they were making it to the door, almost there, they suddenly stopped and Hoe was crying out as he struggled to keep going forward, but was unable to do so. They looked to see what had stopped them, and saw that it had been Hody who was back on his feet, his veins standing out in his face as his eyes glowed red… having stopped them all with just one hand grabbing hold of Neptune's tail.

"Zoro, why weren't you taking him out?" Chopper asked, unable to believe that their sword-happy swordsman would just let Hody get away with this.

"I would have," current Zoro said with a shrug. "If I could breathe." As soon as he said it, memory Zoro covered his mouth as bubbles began to seep through his tightly closed lips. As Neptune looked back, memory Usopp had hold of Brook like he was a rag doll as he climbed up onto Neptune's shoulder to get a better look of what was going on.

They were now in serious trouble…

Neptune looked back, and he didn't seem to be the least bit surprised to see him there as he just let go of the rope, allowing Hoe to escape through the doors.

"Your majesty!" one of his men yelled out.

"This is bad!" another called, "Hody caught King Neptune!"

"But I thought that Hody had been taken out!" a third soldier cried out helplessly.

"It doesn't matter," Sanji said, wishing that he could yell at them. "Just do what your king tells you and get out."

"Minister of the Right," a soldier said, "Let's go back! At this rate, his majesty will…?"

"And you get yourselves killed? What's that gonna do?" Nami said angrily. "No choice! You got to leave and come back later!" She sighed before adding, "Not that it matters since it all worked out in the end."

"You mean when _we_ turned up to save the day," current Usopp said proudly.

"Don't remind me," Zoro muttered. "They were treating us like we were heroes or something. Just thinking back to it makes me shudder."

"I will never understand you boys," Nami said darkly.

"You mustn't-jamon!" Neptune shouted, having heard what his men were saying, getting them all to stare on as he cried out, "You must go on without me, and bring back Fukaboshi and his brothers!"

It was clear from each and every face there that they weren't the least bit happy about this order and were torn between following it and ignoring it. At last the Minister of the Right took charge.

"Don't just stand there!" he shouted at them all. "We follow the king's orders!"

"Y-yes, sir!" the soldiers cried before they continued to make their escape, heading straight to the exit that would take them back to the main island where they could find the princes.

"Boss Hody," one of the pirates said. "Is it alright to let them escape?"

"Yeah it's fine," Hody answered unconcerned. "Let them go. What can a bunch of cowards who abandon their king do?" He looked up at them and added, "More importantly, tie up this foolish king."

And the memory faded with the New Fishman Pirates surrounding them and taking them hostage, they noticed that they mostly ignored Brook just drifting there as they grabbed hold of Usopp and Zoro—who was unable to hold his breath any longer and bubbles were bursting from his mouth.

"So that's what happened after I left," Nami said slowly as she watched the memory fade around her. "I got to say, I'm kinda glad I did…"

"Hey," Usopp retorted. "You just wanted to leave us there like that?! Don't we mean anything to you?"

"Oh, big baby, you survived didn't you?" Sanji said, drooling over Nami again. "I'm just so happy my dear Nami sweet is alive and well. That's what matters here."

"Traitor," Usopp hissed darkly as the memory returned and this time they were outside the palace again, but now they were nearing a beautiful underwater forest of plants and coral, with warming sunbeams shining down and casting everything in a warm glow. Giant whales drifted overhead, and the remains of old ships laid scattered around the area, making the whole thing seem like a dream almost.

"Whoa!" Luffy's voice said. "This place is awesome!"

"Yeah, Luffy," Chopper said brightly as he looked on with awe. "It really is pretty, huh?!"

"Huh? I didn't say anything," Luffy said before he looked behind them and said, "Oh, wait… I guess I did!" And he started to laugh. They looked to see what caught his attention, and realized that it was his past self still on Megalo's back with Shirahoshi and the others. As they drew closer, they hopped a ride as well.

"So this is the Sea Forest?" memory Luffy asked with a big smile and bright eyes. He looked up to Shirahoshi, and unsurprisingly, she had tears in her eyes again.

"Thank you so much, Master Luffy," she cried and wiped her eyes, but there was happiness there instead of fear or sadness. "I've always wanted to see this place."

Megalo, who just seemed glad to have her out of his stomach, let out several grunts as well… it could have been that he felt happy for Shirahoshi for her dream coming true, or it could be because she was still pulling the side of his mouth so that it looked like he was grinning.

They were approaching a place that had an enormous bubble over it, and knew that there was air for them there.

"This should be a good place to treat Sanji and Hachi," said memory Chopper just as memory Sanji began to chant out 'mermaids' in his sleep, causing both Choppers to look back exasperatedly.

"Sanji," he sighed, like he couldn't believe that he was responsible for treating him.

Most of the current Straw Hats felt for him.

"Oh! Look! It's the Sunny!" memory Luffy said, pointing directly below them where they saw that he was right. And it wasn't just the Sunny there.

"Hey! You're right!" memory Chopper said brightly. "And look! It's Franky!"

"Hey! Franky!" memory Luffy called down, "So this is where you've been?!"

Memory Franky looked up once heard his name being called and saw Luffy and the others.

"Yeah!" current Franky cheered as he posed. "Bout time that SUPER ARMORED ME came back!"

"OW!" memory Franky called. "Is that you up there, Luffy?" He then moved up his sunglasses to get a better look at Shirahoshi. "Wow! Who's your pin-up girl?!"

"Pin-up girl?!" Sanji demanded hotly as memory Luffy laughed happily.

"I mean that in a nice way," current Franky said as they slowly came down to land next to the Sunny, which was about half of Shirahoshi's size. Once they were all safely on the ground, memory Luffy made the introductions as only Luffy knew how.

"Lemme introduce you!" Luffy said to Franky, "This is Weakling!"

"Why don't you use her name?" Robin chuckled to their Luffy.

"Her name's long and hard to remember," Luffy answered back as if it was obvious.

"I don't think she minds," current Chopper said as memory Franky looked up in interest at her.

"Oh, Weakling, eh?" memory Franky asked in interest. "I think that you need to toughen up there, sis!"

"Yes, sorry for troubling you," said Shirahoshi. "My name is actually Shirahoshi."

"Franky," memory Luffy went on, "Are you the only one here?"

"Actually, Robin was here too," past Franky confessed.

"Really?" Usopp asked in surprise. "What were you doing here, Robin?"

"Oh, you know," Robin smiled back brightly. "I heard that there was a very special historical artifact in the forest and I had to see for myself."

"Really? Did you find it, Robin-san?" Brook asked.

"Indeed I did," she replied brightly. "And it was a truly educational experience if I do say so myself."

"She went inside that big grove of coral," memory Franky continued on about Robin as he pointed to a particular patch of the forest behind them. "She said she was looking for something."

"Oh," Luffy said unconcerned, sure that she could take care of herself. But just then they heard the familiar sounds of light, clunking footsteps.

"Luffy-kun!"

They all turned at once towards the familiar voice and they saw Jimbei walking towards them with a big grin on his face when he saw Luffy there.

"Jimbei!" memory Luffy cried out, a matching smile on his face as he excitedly proclaimed, "It's really you, Jimbei!"

"I was so happy to see him again!" current Luffy cried out happily as he jumped up and down in excitement. "Now I really want him to join us!"

"Yeah! Me too!" Chopper cheered out just as happily as the others all laughed and smiled at their antics.

"It's been awhile," Jimbei smiled, "I almost didn't recognize you!"

At those words, they were all reminded of when the two of them met in prison and all they went through together from breaking out of Impel Down to invading Navy HQ… to everything that happened afterwards.

They could see how Jimbei fought so hard to protect Luffy as they were escaping after Ace died and they all felt gratitude inside at the memory as well as…?

They looked to the past version of Luffy and they could see—for just a moment—the battered, beaten Luffy that awoke on Amazon Lily to discover that his brother was dead. It really was a wonder how far Luffy had come since then… it was very difficult to see that the two of them were one and the same.

"Huh?" the current Luffy asked when he noticed their expressions. "What's wrong? We finally get to see Jimbei again! What's the problem?"

"Oh, nothing," Robin said with a smile that she wasn't feeling. "We were just thinking about how nice it will be when Jimbei finally joins us."

"Yeah! We're all counting down the days!" Usopp added, maybe a little too cheerful. But it was hard to keep that upbeat mood when he could see Luffy's heart-broken face in his mind's eye. But Luffy seemed to buy it.

Jimbei stopped walking and went on, "It looks like you've gotten quite a bit stronger," he said. "I can see the difference."

"I heard that you left the island," said memory Luffy as he stepped forward. "I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you!"

"What do you mean?" Jimbei asked, and he sounded surprised. "Didn't you get my message to meet me here?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" memory Luffy asked, and his smile faded a little. "I don't remember getting any message?"

"Oh, right," Zoro said unconcerned. "Luffy, the prince wanted me to tell you that Jimbei would be meeting you in the Sea Forest if you wanted to go and see him. Hope you don't mind it took a while for me to tell you."

"A bit late don't you think? Yohohoho," Brook laughed happily. "Ah, always so nice to see old friends meet up after so long! I don't think that there's any better feeling in the world! Yohohoho!"

"That's strange," Jimbei said slowly as he thought that over.

"Once again, I'm starting to think that there is something about the idea of 'fate' having a hand in things," Robin said in amusement. Luffy didn't even need to hear the message for him to come here to the Sea Forest and see Jimbei… where they came up with the plan to defeat Hody and the New Fishman Pirates.

"Big Boss Master Jimbei!" Shirahoshi said brightly. "It's certainly been a long time since we last met."

Jimbei looked up and smiled at her as he said happily, "Oh, Princess Shirahoshi! I'm sorry for failing to keep in touch with you. It really is so good to see you again, princess…" It seemed that he only just realized who he was talking to and his calm expression turned into one of shock and confusion as he screamed out, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! PRINCESS SHIRAHOSHI?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Wow…" current Chopper said, thinking back to how Jimbei had refused to scream out in pain no matter what happened to him during the war. But here, his eyes were bulging out in horror at the sight of seeing Shirahoshi out here on her own.

"No sooner did he meet with us did strange things start happening," Nami chuckled a little. Makes one wonder if they just bring chaos and confusion with them without knowing.

"Hey, Franky!" memory Chopper called from atop Megalo's back. "I'm gonna let Hachi and Sanji down, now! Mind helping me?!"

"Sure thing!" memory Franky answered as he went over to the shark's side as Jimbei watched on. Poor guy… he only met them and already he was completely lost as to what was going on. Really makes you wonder that maybe they should have given him more of a warning when he promised that he would join them.

"Hey!" memory Franky said. "It's the octopus guy! What the hell happened to you?"

Memory Chopper gently lowered Hachi down into Franky's arms, who was moaning in pain. At the sight of seeing him there, Jimbei freaked out again.

"HACHI, WHAT?!" Jimbei questioned before he ran to Hachi's side. "Hachi! Where did you get those injuries?! Wait, what are you even doing here?! I thought you had been captured with Arlong!"

"J…Jimbei?" Hachi questioned as he opened his eyes and looked up at them. "Why are you here?"

"Franky!" memory Chopper called. "Sanji's next!"

"That won't be necessary, Chopper," memory Sanji said as he got back up to his feet. He had an air of calm coolness that had been missing there for a while… and he was much more like his old self as he jumped up into the air and actually spun about to show off before he landed lightly on the ground.

He took a long puff on his cigarette before he said, "Ah, Mermaid Princess…"

"Before you… I was an artist with no talent!" memory Sanji went on before he spun about, hearts in his eyes, spinning about like a ballerina before dropping to his knees.

"Well, you were half-right," Zoro said casually. "You don't halve any talent."

"More than you do!" Sanji retorted as his past self went on joyfully, "For you see there is no brush that could capture your radiance!"

Shirahoshi was looking a little uncomfortable by his antics, and unsure of what she was supposed to do.

"W-Well," she said slowly.

"Just hit him when he gets too annoying, Shirahoshi!" Nami said with a shrug. "It's what I do!"

"Nami, my love… you're so cute when you're so cold!" current Sanji sighed lovingly.

Memory Chopper stared down at him with confusion. "That's… that's how he normally is around women…" he whispered quietly before tears of joy where in his eyes as he proclaimed happily, "He's cured!"

And he jumped down as ran about happily as he cried out that it was a miracle that he was cured and memory Sanji continued to announce his love for Shirahoshi.

"How is he cured anyway?" current Franky asked. "I mean… he almost dies just by looking at girls… but when he sees real knock-out babes like Hancock, he turns to stone and doesn't bleed to death? And then after seeing Shirahoshi… he's cured? Like that? How?"

"I don't know how it worked," current Chopper acknowledged. "I never came across a group of people so many different and strange illness than I have with you guys."

"Clearly this crew is home to mutants…" Usopp whispered, not sure how to feel about this.

Just then, Den came out from the inside of the Sunny and went to the side of the ship to see what was going on. He gasped in amazement at the sight of Shirahoshi there and asked, "W-What's Princess Shirahoshi doing here?!"

"Hey!" memory Luffy called warningly. "Who the heck are you?! Why are you aboard _Sunny_?!"

"Relax, Luffy," said memory Franky. "That's Den! He's the younger brother of Tom, my mentor! He's the one coating the ship for us!"

Once he learned that Franky was the one who brought him here, any anger memory Luffy had vanished on the spot.

"Oh, so that's who he is," memory Luffy said, "He's the teacher who's gonna be coating your little brother, huh?"

There was some silence all around before memory Franky seemed to think that there wasn't any point in trying to correct him and gave him a thumbs-up and a grin as he said, "Yeah! Close enough!"

"Actually, Luffy… Franky's teacher was named Tom," Usopp said slowly. "He was the one who taught him all about ship-building and Den here was his younger brother. Get it?"

"That's what I just said, wasn't it?" current Luffy asked in surprise as Franky just patted Usopp on the shoulder.

"It's alright, just let it go pal," he said calmly. "He got the important part in that Den was helping us. That's what matters."

"Princess Shirahoshi," said Jimbei seriously, and they looked back to him as he tried to explain to her that she shouldn't be here. "I know why you've come here, but you must…"

But before he could finish, memory Luffy turned about with a serious look on his face. He then began to run towards them and jumped up. Another axe had come flying out of nowhere towards Shirahoshi—who hadn't seen what was happening until it was all over—and Luffy kicked it to the ground where it stopped moving and left a crater there as he landed.

"Still?" he asked in annoyance as he looked off into the distance where the axe came from. He then moved his hat up onto his head as he came walking back towards them. "Even after the beating I gave him."

"I guess he was tougher than I gave him credit for," current Luffy said annoyed. "He was really starting to bug me."

"Hey, he was bugging me when I first heard of him," Nami sighed. "I hope that you give him an even harder pounding if you ever saw him again, Luffy."

"How many times does it make it now?" memory Luffy asked as he went on as if nothing had happened. "He's really persistent."

"Well, he'd have to be if he kept this up for ten years," current Franky shrugged. "Whatever else that idiot may have been, he was no quitter. I'll say that much for him."

"I was afraid of this!" Jimbei exclaimed before he demanded, "Luffy-kun! Why did you bring the Princess here?!"

"Ah, there's nothing to worry about, Jimbei," memory Luffy said calmly without any trace of nervousness. "Besides, I'm here, right?"

"Right," Shirahoshi agreed with a bit of a giggle and Jimbei looked between the two of them in wonder bordering on exasperation.

"What are you two thinking?" he asked.

"You think that he would have a better idea of how you think after all you two went through together," Robin said with a shrug. "Oh well, I'm sure he learned it quickly enough."

"Maybe not… after all, he agreed to join us, remember?" Zoro whispered to her and she smiled back.

"But that's why I joined," she reminded him with a smile and she chuckled a little when she saw him smile a little as well.

After explaining a little more to Jimbei that Shirahoshi came here willingly after Luffy volunteered to be her bodyguard so that she could visit a grave. There didn't seem to be anything else that he could do but allow her to do what she wanted since she had come all this way; but they could see that he was also keeping his senses alert should anymore axes come flying their way. And so, while Chopper finished tending to Hachi's injuries with Sanji's help, and Franky and Den went back to work with how to put the new coating up, Jimbei led them a short distance away where there was a simple but beautiful tomb that had been built up in the middle of some blooming coral and plants, looking like a field of flowers.

Shirahoshi's eyes filled with happy tears as she swam over and settled herself right in front of it before folding her hands up in prayer.

"So that's her mother's grave?" current Chopper said softly as he remembered how he and Doctorine had turned an entire castle into his father's grave once they took over.

"Had to be," Robin said kindly. "I hope you all let her take her time here… I'm sure she has a lot to tell her mother after all these years."

They did… they let her sit there and pray and talk to her mom as they patiently waited.

"So that's the grave she was talking about," memory Luffy said at one point, after a half an hour of waiting. "She sure has been gone a while, huh?"

"Of course," said Jimbei knowingly. "This is where her mother, Queen Otohime, is resting."

Memory Luffy looked back up at him in great surprise as he went on grimly, "Vander Decken started his obstinate courtship right after the queen passed away. Because of this, the princess couldn't even attend her mother's funeral and she spent ten years locked up in the Hard Shell Tower. She must have so many things she wanted to say to her mother."

"Yet another reason I wish I could kick that idiot's ass from here to the end of the Grand Line," present-day Sanji hissed.

The rest of the Straw Hats just looked on ahead where Shirahoshi continued praying, all of them thinking of someone they wish they could speak with again. They kinda lost track of how much time passed until they heard a voice call out from above them, "Luffy!"

All of them and memory Luffy looked up in time to see that the voice had belonged to Nami, who was with Camie and were coming down a Water Road on the back of a Fish that was acting the part of a bus, a large bubble on its back where they could breathe.

"Luffy-chin!" Camie called happily when she saw them there.

"Oh, happy day!" current Sanji said happily when he saw both girls coming ever closer.

"Nami!" memory Luffy called back happily as he waved, "Camie!"

But memory Nami didn't pay much attention to him once she spotted Jimbei, her smile fading… her expression unreadable. The two reached the bottom and got out to join them… that was when Camie noticed the princess there.

"Wait, Princess Shirahoshi is here too," she said, taking an extra bit of time to realize what was going on and she screamed out, "WHAAAAAT?!"

"Why is everyone so surprised to see her there?" current Luffy asked curiously. "I mean, she's big but it's nothing to freak out about."

"They're surprised that the princess was allowed to leave the palace after ten years, Luffy-san," Brook reminded him. "Though… now that I think of it, she didn't have permission here, did she? Yohohoho!"

"Nami!" memory Luffy asked, still smiling as she came over to stand with them, "Did the banquet ever start?!"

"You just ate enough food for a giant and you were still hungry?" present-day Nami asked with a hit on their Luffy's shoulder. And it didn't help that his stomach roared out at the mention of a banquet and he slumped miserably to the ground.

"Sanji… I'm hungry!" he moaned. "Don't you have anything with you?"

"No, I told you, the sooner we can get out of this freaky tower, the sooner you can eat… I don't know how many times I have to explain it," Sanji sighed as his past self sang out Nami's name when he saw her. When memory Nami looked at him in confusion, the past version of Chopper whispered that he was back to his old self and they shouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

"I wouldn't say that," present-day Nami teased lightly.

But past Nami didn't smile as she explained what happened at the palace and Camie had just spotted Hachi. In a flash, she was at his side and gasped out, "Hacchin! What happened to you?!"

At the sound of her voice, Hachi opened his eyes and moaned out painfully, "Camie…"

"Are you sure?" Jimbei questioned suddenly and they all looked back to see that he was speaking to Nami. "Hody did such a thing?"

"Yeah," she said, seemingly having a hard time keeping eye contact with him as she told him about Hody invading the palace and capturing the king.

"I see," Jimbei answered gruffly. "To think the situation at Ryuuguu Palace was that bad?"

"What about Zoro and the others?!" memory Luffy asked seriously.

"I don't know," memory Nami answered back. "I thought we were going to go back after we found you."

"See? I was always going to come back for you guys," current Nami said.

"So she says," Zoro hissed to Usopp and Brook in an undertone and they nodded in agreement, freezing up in terror when she glared at them.

But news of what happened to Neptune caused Shirahoshi's happiness to be overshadowed with fear and sorrow.

"I-I can't…" she whimpered out, tears falling fast, "I can't believe that my father could be captured like that!"

She started to cry a little louder as Jimbei looked to Luffy and said, regret lining his voice as he closed his eyes, "Luffy-kun, my apologies."

When they turned back to him, he raised his head and added, "I didn't want you to get to get into any trouble, that's why I left that message for you. But it seems you've already been caught up in our affairs. It is important for us to hurry, but when I met you two years ago, circumstances were different, and I couldn't tell you this story at that time."

"Considering that you guys were heading to Marineford and about to face the entire Navy, I would think so," present-day Franky said before he realized what he said around Luffy and cleared his throat before whistling a little too light-heartedly. Thankfully, Luffy didn't seem to notice his words as he watched in interest.

"I wanted to offer you my profound gratitude for stopping Arlong's crew in the East Blue. It was you, wasn't it Luffy?" Jimbei said honestly as he bowed his head again and finished, "Once again, I'd like to give you my thanks. But at the same time I must apologize."

"Why did he have to apologize?" current Chopper asked softly. "It wasn't his fault that Arlong did all those bad things before?"

"I think he feels responsible for letting Arlong go and having not done anything to stop him," Robin offered. "Though I do agree, he shouldn't have to feel that way. Arlong was responsible for his own actions. Jimbei chose to give him a second chance, and Arlong chose to throw it away."

She looked to their Nami, who gave them a half smile, letting them know that she did agree with what she said, which caused them to smile back.

"Jimbei…" Hachi whispered out, actually pushing himself up a little so he could see what was going on. Memory Nami just stared long and hard at Jimbei as he finished.

"The one who set Arlong loose in the East Blue eleven years ago…" he confessed slowly, "was me…"

The memory versions of Luffy and Sanji were both staring at him in shock but the worst expression of all was past Nami… who was reaching up to touch her tattooed shoulder as she stared in horror at Jimbei. She was staring at the sun brand on Jimbei's chest… a symbol she had been forced to see whenever she looked at Arlong and one that meant suffering and cruelty to her.

But now that she knew the true meaning behind that mark, it saddened her to think that a symbol that had once stood for hope and freedom… had once been one of several sources of fear and imprisonment to her. None of them answered or even moved as they let Jimbei's statement sink in, with Shirahoshi still crying, lamenting her father's capture.

"It is alright, Princess Shirahoshi," Jimbei said, trying to sooth Shirahoshi's tears, not having noticed how tense everything had become. "Even if they manage to restrain the king, they won't get the chance to harm him."

Shirahoshi looked up in surprise at that and asked, "Really?"

"Yes," Jimbei replied. "I promise I will save your father."

His words seemed to have been more than enough to calm her down and she actually smiled a little bit again.

"Aright," she nodded, "Please do!"

"But I would like some time to speak to Luffy-kun and his friends first," Jimbei added kindly just as memory Sanji came dancing in, spinning around happily as he started to serve the girls some tea to help… maybe as a way to help distract Nami.

"Thanks, Sanji," memory Nami said, just sounding annoyed as she just pointed to a random spot. "Just put it down. We're trying to have a serious conversation here so stop goofing around."

"Oh, Nami-swan! I love it when you're so strict!" memory Sanji exclaimed, lovingly.

"You have changed a bit, Sanji-chin," Camie laughed as she took her tea.

"It's good," the past version of Luffy added as he took a sip of Nami's tea.

"I didn't make it for you!" Sanji snapped at Luffy, who continued to sip it.

"But Nami didn't want it!" the current Luffy reminded him.

Sanji sighed. That was true… and he supposed that he rather it go to a bottomless stomach like Luffy than let it go to waste.

Again, Nami ignored him as she turned back to Jimbei, getting his attention. "Now Jimbei," she said seriously. "What did you mean? You said you were the one who set Arlong loose in the East Blue?

"Ugh…Jimbei…" Hachi groaned, trying to speak.

"It's true," Jimbei replied to Nami slowly just as memory Sanji lit up his cigarette, his love-struck gone for a moment as seriousness took over.

"Yeah, I heard that," he said coldly, and they all looked to him, with memory Nami surprised by Sanji's sudden mood swing.

"Long ago when Luffy and I first heard about the Warlord Jimbei… it was Yosaku who told us," he explained.

"He did?" current Luffy asked.

"Yeah, while we were travelling to Nami's hometown, remember?" Sanji explained. "Before we ended up kicking the ass of that giant sea cow?"

"Huh…" Luffy said as he thought that over. "I don't remember."

"I'm not surprised," Sanji sighed. "You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to your neck."

"Hmmm, we did?" memory Luffy asked.

"Knowing you, Luffy, you probably forgot, am I wrong?" memory Sanji asked.

"Déjà vu," current Nami said in mild amusement.

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said brightening up. "I wonder how Johnny and Yosaku are doing."

"I'm sure they're fine," Zoro said knowingly.

Memory Sanji folded his arms as he went on, "Two years ago, when I saw in the paper that you were with Jimbei, it raised a lot of questions in my mind. I'd always assumed that Jimbei was the mastermind behind Arlong being in the East Blue."

Jimbei turned to look at him, just as Sanji glared back and gave him a warning. "Jimbei," he said warningly, "If you want us to hear your side of the story, we're willing to listen. But chose your words carefully."

Jimbei looked surprised by that, at least until Sanji finished, "There's no need to hide it. The fact is, our beautiful navigator, Nami's hometown, was completely terrorized by Arlong and his crew."

Jimbei's eyes widen in horror as memory Sanji finished, "And as a result, she's been put through hell because of him." Sanji bit down hard on his cigarette as he finished, "Based on what you say…" his eyes full of that hateful glare, "…I may _never_ forgive you."

Jimbei just stared on as memory Nami looked away grimly.

"Jimbei-san…" Hachi groaned out as he forced his wounded body to sit up. Camie and memory Chopper tried to stop him, to get him to lie down, warning that his wounds would open up again if he pushed himself, but Hachi just went on as if they weren't there.

"It's true!" he said mournfully, "The scars we've left her… are so deep we can never be forgiven, no matter how much we apologize!"

Jimbei turned to Nami, staring in horror at her… as if seeing a ghost. Nami didn't move, just looked right back with a blank, almost empty look in her eyes. It was impossible to know just what it was that she was feeling at that moment. But present-day Nami remembered… she thought back to how happy she had been with her mother and sister before Arlong came… that hellish day where he had killed her right in front of their eyes before those eight years of misery and suffering, being forced to serve him. Her eyes had darkened for a moment before she finally looked down, sadness in her features.

After several tense minutes… Jimbei finally spoke.

"It sounds like you suffered a lot," he said softly.

"Don't act like this doesn't concern you!" memory Sanji demanded angrily.

"I have," the past version of Nami answered back grimly. "After all I that time…after all I went through, I still wouldn't pity Arlong, no matter what happened to him. But…" she looked up and added, "Two years ago, when I first came to the Sabaody Archipelago with Luffy and the others, I never knew… that Fishmen, despite their strength, were persecuted by humans. When Camie was kidnapped and we gave chase, I couldn't believe my eyes… because when I saw Sabaody Park… it looked almost exactly like the Arlong Park that Arlong built in my village!"

Hachi glanced at Nami, moaning in pain.

"He always did admire it," Hachi said suddenly. "I'm not saying this because I want you to forgive me, Nami," he added before he moved until he was on his knees in front of her as he tried to explain, "Arlong really hated humans. But we went way too far…"

He closed his eyes, obviously choked up and looking ready to break down right there, "But… ever since we were kids, we longed for the world the humans lived in. Bot me and Arlong… and all the others…"

And so he told them about he used to sneak out of his house with Arlong and his friends at night and go to the surface where they would watch the amusement park's lights and listen to the sounds of people laughing and the music… wishing that they could join in the fun. But then he began to cringe in pain again as he cried out, "And yet we hurt so many people…?"

"Hachi! Don't strain yourself!" memory Chopper said at once. "I have some medicine to give you, so just lie down!"

As he went to work making the medicine, Camie gently helped Hachi to lie back. But he still went on…

"Apparently, humans and Fishmen had always been divided… but then Ryuuguu Kingdom became a part of the World Government about 200 years ago. In order to form diplomatic ties with the humans… the king was given a place at the World Council. But humans continued to hate Fishmen…"

Den, who was still on the Sunny and had been watching silently, spoke up in grim agreement.

"The worst time I've experienced in my life was when the Great Pirate Era began," he explained. "I can still remember the fear of seeing human pirates coming and running wild on this island." A shadow came over his face. "I'll never forget it. When Fishman Island was occupied by humans."

"The one who saved us was the late old Whitebeard," Jimbei told them. "The Old Man announced that Fishman Island was part of his turf, and peace was restored to the island. But it didn't put an end to the humans hating Fishmen…"

He looked at them all and added, "I'm sure you all saw it too, on Sabaody." Aside from Luffy, who was still enjoying the tea, everyone had shadows pass over their faces as they knew he spoke the truth… remembering how Camie had been kidnapped and Hachi had been shot… how that stupid Celestial Dragon danced and sang… how everyone agreed he did the right thing… and not even trying to remain on his good side.

"The harsh reality," Jimbei informed them. "It's strange how it goes. Once someone has gained power, they are terrified of change."

"It's almost ironic, isn't it?" Robin asked in sadness. "Those with the greatest power fear change the most."

"It was the Government who decided that humans and Fishmen should coexist. Yet the ones who held the power to make that decision, discriminated against us more than anyone!" Jimbei's face grew hard. "The relations between humans and Fishman didn't change at all."

Jimbei let out a sigh before he looked up at them and stated, "Two people had tried to change the tragic course of history on Fishman Island. One of them was Shirahoshi's mother, Queen Otohime, who tried to convince the citizens of Fishman Island to get along and live in peace with humans."

"She sounds a lot like her daughter," Robin smiled a little, wishing that she had a chance to meet Queen Otohime. "I can see where Shirahoshi gets that gentle and compassionate nature from."

"Oh, this is just so… tear-jerking…" memory Franky muttered as he was fighting the tears.

"I don't get it," Zoro said, looking at them, "What did she do?"

"Yeah, I don't remember this?" Luffy muttered as he tilted his head a little in confusion.

"Because you fell asleep, you dope!" current Nami hollered at him and gave him a slap on the head, and knocking him to the ground.

"Oww! That hurt!" he demanded from his place on the ground.

As they argued, memory Nami was glancing back to the tomb, and seemed to put it all together before she asked Jimbei who this other person was who tried to put a stop to this cycle of hatred.

"The other was named Fisher Tiger," Jimbei explained, raising his head high and speaking with a tone that held nothing but respect. "He was the legendary hero who rose up and broke into Mariejois and went against the humans on his own so that he could free the slaves imprisoned there."

"Yes, I heard about him too," Robin nodded, thinking of all the times that Koala mentioned him while she was with the Revolutionaries. The way she talked about him made it clear that the man had grown to mythic proportions in her memory. "He sounds like he was a great man."

"Hmm," memory Luffy hummed, putting his thumb to his chin. "Something Tiger…why does that name sound familiar?"

"You remember? Before we got to the island, those Fishmen with those giant sea monsters talked about him," current Chopper reminded their Luffy. "Maybe that was where you heard the name before?"

"Yeah, maybe," current Luffy said as he frowned. "But it's weird, it feels like I heard it a long time before that. Wish I could remember where it was."

"Probably not important," present-day Sanji said with a wave of his hand. "Forget it."

"After that," Jimbei went on, "he took the Fishmen who had been slaves and formed the Sun Pirates!" That was when he pulled back his robes so that they could get a full glimpse of the mark on his chest, of the crimson red sun. "Among their ranks, were Alrong, Hachi, and myself."

Current Nami nodded, for she recognized that mark at once… for she had been forced to look at it for eight long years under Arlong's rule. Most of Arlong's crew had that same mark as well… though that wasn't the one that sent waves of fear and revulsion through her… her hand reached up to touch her tattoo, which covered the scar from the mark that Arlong forced her to wear.

"After having stood against the World Government, the Sun Pirates ended up disrupting Queen Otohime's efforts to join hands with humans," Jimbei went on. "While the queen worked tirelessly to try and build a bridge between our two races, Fisher Tiger threw everything else away to free all of his enslaved brethren. To this day, I'm not sure which of them was right…but…"

"Both of them," Robin said softly. And she truly believed that. They both did what they believed to be right, and neither of them were wrong… they just went about it in different ways. Queen Otohime wanted to leave a bright future behind for future generations where there would no longer be any fighting… while Fisher Tiger stood against the oppression and freed all those poor people from a fate worse than death.

And so Jimbei told them the whole story about Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime. He sighed before he seemed to force himself to talk, telling them how he met Fisher Tiger while he was growing up in the Fishman District when he was a child. Unable to bear the sight of his people being forced into slavery by the Celestial Dragons, Fisher Tiger had scaled the Red Line with his bare hands until he reached Mariejois, and thus set all the slaves free… fishman or not. After that incident, he became a wanted man, and Jimbei confessed that both he, Hachi, and Arlong, joined his crew of the Sun Pirates afterwards.

They spent several years at sea, with Fisher Tiger telling them all not to kill humans, for he believed that they would be stooping to their level. Their ultimate goal was to free the oppressed… not to become murderers.

Current Nami's eyes saddened. She knew all too well that Arlong didn't stay to that part of Fisher Tiger's beliefs.

Jimbei looked over at her before he grimly confessed that this didn't go well with Arlong, who suggested several times that they should instill fear in humans by becoming as ruthless as they were. But Fisher Tiger ignored him… though there was a darkness there. Jimbei sighed as he told them one night he was speaking to his late captain, who admitted that there were 'demons' residing inside him, and they were the most terrifying ones. This was something that Jimbei didn't understand for the longest time.

One day, when the Sun Pirates visited an island, they met a former slave by the name of Koala, who wished to return home, but the inhabitants were unable to do so and asked the Sun Pirates if they could take her on their ship. Her longing to return to her mother and her home outweighed her fear of the pirates… yet her time as a slave had left her damaged and she knew no other life… only that she had seen what had become of those who cried or took a break from working. Fearing the pirates as if they were her former masters, she submissively did whatever she was told… fearful that she would have been killed if she did not.

Fisher Tiger then put the mark of the sun to cover up her slave mark, before telling her that she was allowed to cry if she wished and they would return her home. That was where she finally burst into tears of joy.

The girl stayed with them for several weeks, until they finally reached her home island, where Fisher Tiger escorted her back to her village and Koala was reunited with her family. But that was where the citizens had betrayed him by reporting his presence to the Marines in exchange for overlooking Koala being the 'property' of the World Nobles. Fisher Tiger battled well, but suffered serious injuries and the Sun Pirates ship was destroyed. Still, they were able to get away on a Marine battleship… and Jimbei believed that Fisher Tiger could have lived… had he not refused a blood transfusion… for it was the blood of a human.

As he lay there dying, he confessed everything to his crew. How he had been captured and spent years as a slave at Mariejois himself—where he suffered abuse and torture from his masters. He had escaped with his life, but not before vowing that he would return and set the other slaves free. Because of this, a deep hatred for humans grew inside him and despite how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to ever forgive or accept humans. Still, he had longed for a world where there could be peace. While he believed that it was better for Fishman and humans to remain separate, he did not believe in revenge on the humans for their discrimination for it would only cause more hatred and resentment.

That was the reason he refused the human blood, for it was tainted with hatred for fishmen. But he held onto hope that the next generation, such as Koala, would be able to carry on the idea of peace and see past what was different. With his dying breath, he asked his crew not to reveal his past as a slave, nor of why he died here… nor of their hatred towards humanity to the rest of Fishman Island.

After his death, Jimbei took over as the captain of the Sun Pirates, and respected their last captain's dying wish, they never told the truth to Fishman Island, though Jimbei did tell King Neptune and Queen Otohime through a letter. Arlong, who was enraged over what happened, returned to the Koala's home island and was going to murder the ones who betrayed his captain, his hatred for humans growing passed control and ignoring Tiger's final wish to put a stop to this cycle of hate. He was eventually captured and locked away in Impel Down.

Jimbei, meanwhile, did his best to stay true to his captain's last words and his beliefs. When he was offered the position of Warlord, he believed that it was something that Fisher Tiger wouldn't have objected to it for it would help with the relations between Fishman and Humans, and allowed his crew to return to Fishman Island and their own families. He accepted the position and Arlong was released.

Jimbei confessed that he hoped that he would be able to remind Arlong of what their captain, their big brother, would have wanted. But Arlong's hatred was too far gone and it was disappointing that he could not understand Fisher Tiger's will. Arlong was furious with him for becoming a Warlord while knowing that humans had killed their captain. He then told him that he was going to go back to being the captain of the Arlong Pirates and that if he really wanted to stop him, then he was to kill him… otherwise he would do whatever he pleased. Jimbei then told him that they fought, and had beaten Arlong into a pulp, where he had been carried off… but he could not bring it in him to finish him off. They went their separate ways after that, and Jimbei never had anything to do with him again.

Even after all these years, many Fishmen looked up to Fisher Tiger and to this day, they see him as a hero… something that Jimbei agreed with.

He then went on to tell them more about Queen Otohime, and how the late queen was very open-minded as she tried to promote friendship between fishmen and humans, believing that despite their differences, they could still share the same sun together. She believed that as long as there was a distance between their peoples then they will never be able to understand the other… and not just with humans, but their own people to. She would then visit the people every single day, even going as far as injuring herself for the greater good. Her devotion to the people made her popular and much loved by Fishman Island's citizens.

She strove endlessly to try and form peace with humans, asking the citizens to sign a petition to promote co-existence. After Tiger's death, she became more determined than ever, only for the people to turn their backs on her. Day after day, she would rescue humans from shipwrecks, teaching the children of Fishman Island of the surface world, and giving speeches in the streets. After five long years of hard work, she managed to gain many signatures, however over time, the people would withdraw theirs until there wasn't a single one left.

Driven to drink, she gave a heart-wrenching speech to Fishman Island through a broadcast radio to think of their children and give them a world of possibilities rather than their closed-off world at the bottom of the ocean.

Not long after that, a ship carrying a World Noble arrived at the island, and she prevented some of the Sun Pirates killing the World Noble… who just happened to be their former owner. She saved the noble from a bullet, getting grazed in the arm in the process. When asked why she would protect a monster like him, she pointed out that there were children watching. While she understood how they felt, they shouldn't pass on their hatred for humans to their children. She did succeed in calming the crowd down, at least until the World Noble grabbed her and threatened to shoot her… with the queen being saved when Sea Kings were summoned to the area, causing the Celestial Dragon to faint from shock. Regardless of the noble's actions, she had him treated.

After a few weeks, where the Celestial Dragon was healed and allowed to leave—though he was still very ungrateful for the mercy that was shown to him—Queen Otohime went with him. She asked that everyone trust her and in humanity and that she would return. After a week, she returned to the island and explained that she had negotiated with the World Nobles, and carried back what she called 'The Hope of Fishman Island'.

A paper that gave the World Nobles' support to one day live in peace and freedom on the surface. At this joyous news, the citizens all began giving their signatures… until one day at Gyoncorde Plaza, the box that held all the collected signatures was set ablaze. In the confusion, Queen Otohime was shot, where she died in the arms of her four children.

Later, it turned out that it had been a human pirate who had shot her… though the current Straw Hats all knew the truth now. The people were all demoralized at the thought of there ever being understanding between them and humans, but her children mustered the strength to relight the fire of hope in their people and they would one day be able to live in the light of the sun like everyone else.

Jimbei trailed off after that, having shared everything with them.

Current Franky was crying, unable to hold it in as he listened to all of it again.

"Stop Franky!" current Chopper cried out in worry as a flood of tears fell from his eyes. "You'll start to rust!"

"It's just… it's just that it's even sadder being told a second time!" he sobbed out, pulling out a handkerchief and blew his nose hard into it, pressing down on his nose accidently and causing his hair to become a huge pompadour. "Aww… why is it that watching memories makes me cry?!"

And as he blew his nose again, Jimbei was reaching the end of his story.

"That was ten years ago," he finished. "The Princes, Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi led the way. Together, with King Neptune and Princess Shirahoshi, they call upon the citizens of Fishman Island. Thanks to their hard work, the signatures are flowing in, once more. And that, my friends…is the story of our island's battle against prejudice over the last sixteen years…and the reason why the Fishman Pirates did what they did."

Jimbei looked directly at Nami and confessed, "The Arlong, the one who caused so much suffering in your homeland, was like a little brother to me."

"That would be hard," present-day Franky said quietly, having calmed down, thinking of his own bros back home at Water 7. What would he do if one of them ever turned rough? Not that he ever believed that something like that would happen, of course… but he knew that, as the elder brother, he would have to go and put a stop to them. But the thought of that would be very painful and difficult.

"We always planned to go after him if he ever tried anything, but he bribed the Navy in the area to make sure reports never reached Navy Headquarters," he finished before he shut his eyes regretfully, "And as a result, you an many others had to suffer for it."

"Nevertheless, I do find it hard to believe that he never heard about Arlong wreaking havoc in the East Blue all that time," current Sanji stated slowly.

No one said anything for a moment… even memory Luffy just sat there with his arms folded and his hat shadowing his eyes.

Jimbei placed his webbed hands on the ground in front of him as he bowed his head to her.

"I take full responsibility," he confused shamefully.

The current Straw Hats were all feeling terrible just watching this. They knew that he honestly never meant for any of the suffering that Arlong caused, but he blamed himself for it. And discovering that a member of the Straw Hats was the one who suffered the most at Arlong's hands…? This was very difficult to watch.

Memory Sanji breathed out some smoke before he said quietly, "Is that so?"

He then stood up and turned to Jimbei and said harshly, "In that case…" he pointed at him and demanded, "Cut out your stomach!

Memory Chopper and Camie were both looking shocked that Sanji would say such a thing as Sanji finished, "You can apologize with your death!"

"B-But what good would that do?!" Brook asked quickly. He knew that Sanji had always been protective over the girls, but to think that he would ask such a thing?

Present-day Sanji sighed. Seeing himself now, he could honestly say that he didn't mean it, but just thinking back to all the years that his dear Nami had been forced to suffer because Jimbei didn't keep a closer eye on Arlong made his blood boil. But now that he was calm and thinking it over, he had to admit that it hadn't been Jimbei's fault… maybe he had just wanted to see just how sorry that Jimbei was for this?

In fact, it looked like if that redeemed him, even a little bit, he really would have done what Sanji wanted… Jimbei's face was contorted with guilt and seeing it a second time was causing Sanji to feel guilty inside him as well. Especially since his past self was yelling at him that his death wasn't enough for him to forgive him, but maybe Nami could have some peace by it.

"Stop it, Sanji," memory Nami said sternly and memory Sanji turned to look at her in surprise.

"But, Nami-" he began in confusion, "Think of what they did to you!"

"This has nothing to do with him," memory Nami barked back as she held up a hand to silence him. "After hearing his story, I see that Jimbei never meant any harm."

"Nami…" memory Sanji said slowly, but he did what he was told. Yet it seemed that he wasn't the only one who felt that Jimbei should be punished…

"I will accept any punishment you have for me to atone for my crime," Jimbei said quietly, his eyes closed.

"And that's enough from you, too!" memory Nami said firmly, taking him by surprise. "Arlong is the one I hate."

The current Nami nodded with a faint smile. No matter what anyone said or did will ever change her mind about Arlong. He was a monster who deserved to rot in prison for the rest of his life. And she would have been lying if she didn't harbor some anger towards Fishman… at least before she saw the fear and hatred on Sabaody…

She could hardly hate an entire race just because of the cruelty that she suffered from a handful of them. Besides… she remembered seeing how hard Jimbei fought to protect Ace and Luffy during the war and she could see that he was a good person.

Her past self sighed as she sat down.

"I'm just glad that you weren't the mastermind behind the Arlong Pirates," she said to Jimbei quietly as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "And after all… you're Luffy's friend, aren't you?"

When Jimbei just continued to stare at her she finished, her hand going up to her tattooed arm again, "It's true, I did suffer terrible because of Arlong, but in that spiral of pain, I met many good friends. All of that made me who I am now."

"I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not," the present-day Nami chuckled.

"Well, you're tough as nails," Zoro offered. "And a thief… have mixed feelings about that."

"A girl's gotta make a living too you know," she answered back brightly.

"I won't hate you because you're a Fishman," memory Nami stated firmly before she gave him a sunny smile. "So don't go apologizing for my life. It's not all that bad. I'm having tons of fun now with my friends."

"Not many people would have the strength to have forgiven someone like that," Robin informed Nami as the current versions of Chopper, Franky, Usopp, and Brook all started to cry at those words.

"It wasn't that hard," Nami sighed to her as she watched on. "I know now that it wasn't Jimbei's fault. He may have gotten Arlong out of prison, but he wasn't responsible for what he did. But there will always be one Fishman I can't ever forgive."

She felt Robin take her hand and she smiled back.

"That's alright," she said. "I understand completely. And no one will hold it against you. But I have to say that I really do think that it's amazing how much you've forgiven."

Nami chuckled a little, and only smiled a little more as she saw the tears welling up in Jimbei's eyes.

"I don't deserve such kind words…" he said as he started to break down, the tears flooding down his face and they all felt warm inside and their affections for him grow even higher. "I am in your debt! Thank you!" Jimbei said, bowing before Nami.

But it wasn't just Jimbei who was crying… Hachi had also been reduced to tears of joy at Nami's words. It was clear that he still felt terribly guilty about how he had helped Arlong for so many years. Shirahoshi and the past versions Chopper and Franky sniffled and wiped his eyes, giggling happily, while Franky was bawling his eyes out.

"I TOTALLY GET YOU, BRO!" current Franky cried. "YOU'RE A MAN AMONG MEN, JIMBEI! THAT TIGER GUY AND OTOSHIME! I LOVE YOU FISHMEN GUYS!"

"Oh, shut up, Franky!" memory Sanji snapped.

It was such a touching scene… only for them to all finally realize that there was someone who hadn't spoken the entire time. They looked to memory Luffy, who suddenly fell backwards and sprawled out on the ground, much to everyone's surprise… only to realize that he was snoring.

"WHAAAAT!?" everyone except Shirahoshi questioned as memory Luffy snored, a snot bubble in his nose.

"Hey, wake up!" memory Sanji shouted before he gave him a hard kick in the face to wake him up. Naturally, memory Luffy's blinked his eyes blurrily up at them before he sat up with a yawn.

"Sheesh, and here I was thinking that you were paying attention for once," memory Sanji said exasperatedly.

"I was going to compliment him for being so well behaved," the current Sanji sighed.

"I had a good nap," memory Luffy before he looked at Jimbei and saw that there were still tears in his eyes. "Huh? Jimbei? Are you crying?"

"Huh?" Jimbei asked before he wiped his eyes. "W-what are you talking about? I'm not crying!"

"Huh? Why?" memory Luffy pressed on as the two Nami's watched on fondly.

"I told you I'm not crying!" Jimbei retorted before Luffy let it go and then asked him what happened where he dozed off… which it turned out was right at the beginning of the story.

"I still can't believe that you fell asleep during the story," current Nami sighed to their Luffy before she realized that he had been unusually quiet for a time now. She looked behind them and saw him lying on his back and snoring gently.

"LUFFY!" she yelled and with a snort of surprise, he opened his eyes. He sat up and yawned as he stretched his arms out.

"What?" he asked before he realized they were all looking at him. "Oh, hey guys… did I miss something?"

"YOU FELL ASLEEP! AGAIN!" current Sanji shouted out at him.

"Why am I not surprised?" the current Robin chuckled as most of the others just decided to embrace little fact and let it go. Not much they could do about it now anyway.

Just then, memory Nami got back to her feet and went over, speaking to Shirahoshi for the first time, "Hey! You there!" she asked. "You're Shirahoshi, aren't you?"

"N-Nami-chin! She's the princess!" Camie cried as she hopped over to her at once. "You can't just address her as 'You'!"

But Shirahoshi didn't seem to mind.

"Yes," Shirahoshi answered as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Please forgive me… remembering my mother makes me cry."

' _Then she must be thinking about her all the time,'_ Zoro couldn't help but think. But he could understand, to a degree, so he didn't bother coming out and saying it. For a moment, he thought of a young girl with dark eyes and dark blue hair… holding onto a familiar white sword in her hands… and he felt himself smile slightly.

"She sounded like a wonderful mother," memory Nami told her sincerely.

"Yes," Shirahoshi exclaimed happily before she bent lower and asked, "Your name is Lady Nami-chin, right?

"Uh, actually, Princess," Camie said nervously, "Nami-chin is just her nickname and the –chin part isn't part of her name…?"

"I don't mind," the current Nami laughed. "I think its kina cute really."

"Really?" current Sanji asked, his eyes lightening up.

"I meant that it's only cute when Shirahoshi calls me that," Nami informed him and he sighed.

"This is the first time I've met you," Shirahoshi went on, ignoring Camie completely, "But I feel like I've knowns you for years."

"Really?" memory Nami asked lightly. "Well…I guess we have some things in common…don't we?"

"Awww, you two are already good friends," Robin said with a smile.

"Yeah, it's like she's a second sister to me already," Nami said cheerfully.

"As nice as it all is though," Usopp said, "Aren't you guys taking an awfully long time? I mean… the three of us and the king are still being held hostage, after all and…?"

Chopper gasped, "I forgot about that!"

"We haven't forgotten about you," current Nami reassured him. "We just needed to get everything said before we come up with the plan to help you."

Jimbei seemed to have regained control of his emotions and was on his feet before he got their attention again.

"Well then," he said, "Sorry that took so long. So here's what we have to do. We have to find out what's happening at Ryuuguu Palace. Hody and his crew had attacked it and taken the King and the soldiers captive. Also, four of your friends are missing, and we don't know what they're doing. That's all the information we have so far."

"You guys were ok, right?" present-day Chopper asked the three worriedly.

"Yeah, we were just left hanging around in a cage the whole time," Brook reassured him. "After all that, I know now why the cagebird sings! Yohohoho!" and he stopped for a moment before saying, "You know? I think that could be the opening to a new song!"

"Nyuu! Jimbei," Hachi moaned out suddenly. "If things are going to Hody's plan then the entire county could be falling into chaos as we speak."

Jimbei looked over at him and asked, "Do you know what Hody is planning?" He thought it over for a moment before adding, "I always suspected that he was plotting something in the Fishman District ever since he left the army but he never gave me an opportunity to find out."

"Yeah," Hachi said grimly, "I know what he's planning. Hody hates the human race even more than Arlong does. It's like he's grown up by feeding off all the anger and hatred of Fishman… an embodiment of pure accumulated hatred… but there's one way he's different from Arlong."

"Really?" current Luffy asked in confusion. "Well, he was a lot tougher than Arlong…?"

"But I think that was only because of the drug," Franky spoke up unconcerned. "Yet something tells me that's not what Hachi is talking about."

"You're right," current Nami sighed, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Even though Arlong despised humans," Hachi began, "he would never harm his fellow Fishmen… but with Hody… Hody will kill any Fishman or merfolk who even just want to live in peace with humans… in cold blood!"

"That's terrible," Brook said angrily, thinking of how cruel that those generals of Hody's crew who started to kill their own men when they found out that they were losing the battle… trying to spill as much blood as possible. What good would killing your own men do? He knew better than anyone what it was like to die and that when you leave this world, all you can leave behind are your bones… and your memory.

Why would anyone ever want to leave behind such a dark memory for a future generation?

"As much as I hate Arlong, Hachi was right about that," Nami sighed as she thought back. "He couldn't care less about what happened to any human… even with me… I'm just barely above that level because he needed me. But he would never have harmed another Fishman."

"This year is the year of the Reverie," Hachi explained worriedly. "We have more than enough signatures for the petition! This was going to be the year King Neptune intends to tell the world that the people of Fishman Island want to emigrate to the surface."

It took only a second for Jimbei to understand.

"Don't tell me," he cried out, his eyes wide and sweat starting to form on his face. "Are you saying that Hody intends to prevent that from happening?!"

"This Reverie, that's where all the world leaders gather together?" current Chopper asked.

"Yes," Robin nodded solemnly. "And it's a very delicate affair at the best of times. These meetings are held every four years at Mariejois, and the leaders of nations from all over the world come to discuss matters that could affect the rest of the world. And since this is a meeting of leaders of nations, a full scale war could be initiated just simply if one leader insults another. And, of course, the Celestial Dragons hold the greatest sway at the Reverie."

"Of course they do," Franky said darkly.

"And the next Reverie is some time this year?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Yes," Robin said. "And I have a feeling that this Reverie is going to be an unforgettable one… considering all that is happening in the world already."

"No," Hachi croaked out to Jimbei's question. "It's much worse than that… he intends to…?"

But before he could finish, memory Chopper let out a loud shout and they all looked at once to see what the problem was. It was the form of an enormous Transponder Snail coming out of the forest and went straight up towards them.

"L-LOOK!" memory Chopper cried, "ITS A GIANT TRANSPONDER SNAIL!"

"I've never seen one so big," current Chopper said, wondering just where they had to go to get one that size.

"That's a Projector Snail!" Den exclaimed, still on the deck of the Sunny with Franky. "What's it doing here?" It went on a few more feet before its red eyes began to glow and the monitor appeared on the inside of the bubble they were safely in.

"Look!" Camie cried out, "It's projecting something on the bubble layer!"

And what came up was Hody's face…

"Who wants to see that?" Zoro asked sarcastically.

"It's him," Jimbei hissed angrily when he saw that face and memory Nami gasped.

"Nami-san," memory Sanji asked, coming forward to stand with her. "You know that guy?"

"Nyuu… Hody…" Hachi croaked out.

"Huh?" memory Chopper asked as he ran back to Hachi's side. "That's him?"

"He looked different when I fought him," current Luffy said, thinking back to how Hody looked when he was fighting him at the plaza. "He didn't have blue skin."

"Again, I think it was those stupid drugs," Zoro reminded him. "I mean, that stupid Octopus swordsman was just shoveling those things into his mouth and it changed him too."

"And that should be a sign that you shouldn't even be touching that stuff," current Chopper said darkly.

" _To all the citizens of Fishman Island,"_ Hody said to them all. _"Can you hear me? I am the Captain of the New Fishman Pirates, from the Fishman District… Hody Jones."_

 _"_ _Attention, citizens of Fishman Island!"_ Hody said to them all and they knew that this broadcast was reaching everyone on the island. _"I have an announcement to make! This kingdom…will soon be destroyed… and then, it will be reformed underneath a new king! Behold…your new King!"_

"And look at what would've happened," current Sanji said in disgust, remembering how he had tried to kill them all. "The guy hadn't been in charge for a few hours and almost wiped out all of his own people on the island. What would he had done if he was the last one?! Not much of a future for the 'master' race now would it?"

" _And the new Fishman Island that I rule over will have absolute laws!"_ Hody continued _. "Those who still wish to be friends with the humans…will have to go!"_

"That is what makes it all the sadder," Robin sighed. "He had become so used to his people hating humans that the thought of forgetting it and making peace scared him more than anything. Even seeing the entire island destroyed was preferable over peace."

"That is seriously messed up," Usopp said angrily.

" _The Fishman master race will not extend its hand to the humans, when they are too stupid to realize their place in society,"_ Hody announced. _"Soon, the new citizen from the Fishman District will be coming here! They all hate humans, and are comrades who wish to change this island like we do!"_

"But he doesn't care about any of them," present-day Luffy said angrily, hating this guy all the more. He was going to kill his own friends that day too! What kind of captain would do that?

 _"_ _You all witnessed the death of your beloved Queen Otohime!"_ Hody continued on. _"Even if you trust humans and welcome with open arms and smiles… all that awaits you is betrayal! What will it take to make you fools understand that?!"_

"And it wasn't even a human who did that!" current Nami said angrily, thinking back to Hody's declaration to the whole island. He didn't have any guilt or grief about it… he was bragging.

"In his mind he didn't see it as anything wrong," Robin sighed out.

"That is just cruel," Brook said bitterly. "He was just trying to get the entire island to hate humans by doing that!"

"Luckily, the queen's children were stronger than he ever will be," Robin agreed with him. "

 _"_ _The Neptune Family has lured you all down a path that leads to death!"_ Hody shouted. _"Their naïve ideas are just pretty words that could never come true. Wishful thinking that will lead to your destruction!"_

"…That's not true…!" Shirahoshi whimpered tearfully.

"Yeah, look at what his idea of 'salvation' was," Zoro reminded them all. "Was everyone in Hody's crew completely insane?"

"Looks like it," current Franky agreed. "Man, makes me wish I could punch his lights out when I had the chance. I hope you gave him an extra hard beating for me, Luffy!"

"Don't worry, he wasn't getting up again after that last hit!" current Luffy said proudly as he punched his fists together.

"Kinda defeats the purpose of not resorting to violence for us all to get along though," current Chopper said softly.

"I'm afraid that there are times where peace talks just wouldn't work," present-day Nami reminded him gently. "It had to be done. And it's not like they were killed. They were just locked up where they wouldn't hurt anyone again. And even then, the worst damage done to them, were their own fault."

 _"_ _Behold!"_ Hody declared as his face was gone, and moved on to King Neptune, who was beaten bloody and was bound in thick chains.

"FATHER!" Shirahoshi screamed in horror.

"He's in chains again," Zoro said, a twinge of guilt stirring in his stomach.

"He really had a tough day, didn't he?" Usopp said, thinking about how he was also tied up and shoved in a cage. "Then again, so did we."

" _Even the once great King Neptune has fallen to old age," Hody informed them as he strolled over to taunt the king. There is no future for Fishman Island if an old man is allowed to stay on the throne."_

"I guess it really was kinda our fault that the King got captured," past Nami muttered seriously.

"What?" Jimbei asked, glancing back down at her.

"Or Zoro's fault, actually," she finished.

"Hey!" the current Zoro snapped back.

"We tried to warn you," Usopp reminded him. "You were the one who went charging in, attacked them all, and had them tied up."

"Which wouldn't have happened if they didn't attack us first," he retorted.

"Don't worry about it Nami-san," memory Sanji reassured her. "I'm sure the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of that unrefined Moss-Head."

"And what would you have done if you were there?" Zoro asked darkly.

"At least I'm not the one who was breaking Shirahoshi's heart by seeing her father tied up like that!" he yelled back. "I should kill you right here and now for that!"

"SHUT UP!" current Nami shouted.

"WHAT DID YOU PEOPLE DO BEFORE YOU CAME HERE?!" Jimbei shouted out at them in horror.

"B-B-B-But Boss Jimbei! You don't understand!" Camie cried out, getting between them and trying to explain what happened. "The Neptune Army attacked them first! They had no choice!"

"I know it's true, but I have to admit that it sure sounds very difficult to believe," Usopp sighed, wondering just why everything had to turn out so dangerous for them wherever they went.

 _"_ _It is time to say goodbye to the old Ryugu Kingdom,"_ Hody said with a malicious grin, getting their attention again. _"In three hours in the Conchcorde Plaza… we will cut off the head of this worthless king!"_

Shirahoshi gasped in horror upon hearing this.

" _The Great Pirate Era we're living in began with the execution of Gold Roger, the so-called Pirate King. Since then, humans have persecuted Fishmen more than ever! So now that I have the chance, I shall execute Neptune and usher in the Great Age of Fishmen where we will rule over the humans!"_

" _You've probably figured it out already, but I'm in Ryuuguu Palace,"_ Hody confessed before he passed his trident over to one of his men and added, _"We found something very interesting here."_ Another of his men passed him a document and he looked over at it with mock interest. " _It's the piece of paper that Queen Otohime risked her life to get from the Celestial Dragons ten years ago!"_

He then showed it to them and they saw the mark of the Celestial Dragon at the bottom of the page.

"I would love to know what Queen Otohime said to get those stuck-up monsters to listen to her," the current Nami said as she thought over more of what kind of people that the Celestial Dragons were.

"She must have been someone incredibly fearless and gifted with words," Robin offered with a smile, wishing that she could have met her. "Given how much she was loved by the people she must have been a wonderful person."

Yet the happy mood faded at once when Hody went on talking.

" _If it was destroyed, they'd have no reason to give us another one,"_ Hody mocked them as he walked over to an enormous crate. _"Also, we have this. It contains signatures of over half of the subjects of the country."_

He then grinned wildly before he began to crush them in his hand or trampling on them.

" _Surely my eyes are deceiving me! How could there be so many fools who_ _want to be friends with the humans!? You people can stop stepping on the picture now! It's easy to lie and step on Otohime's face!"_ he laughed _. "These signatures are concrete proof of whether you're with me or against me! Everyone who has written their name here is opposed to my new Kingdom in other words… this is a list of TRAITORS!"_

He then began flipping through the pages and naming off names… the first of the people he would hunt down once he was king.

" _Enough!"_

The demand had come from Neptune, who couldn't remain silent any longer as he spoke out at the threats against his subjects.

" _I will not allow you to hurt my people!"_ he declared.

Hody glared at him before he seemed to remember where he was and went on speaking, " _Well, I don't really have time for this either._ _Last but not least…the Straw Hat Pirates! I have something to show you!"_

On the screen… there were the memory versions of Zoro, Usopp, and Brook are trapped in a cage.

 _"_ _I know you're watching this from a monitor somewhere!"_ Hody said. _"These are the humans who thwarted the ambitions of the Arlong Pirates and stirred the rage of the Fishmen!"_

"AAH!" memory Chopper cried, blue in the face. "ZORO! USOPP! BROOK!"

"What the hell are those guys doing?!" memory Sanji questioned, like he couldn't believe that they were messing around during a serious situation.

"How could they have been captured?" memory Nami asked.

"Well, we know that now," current Franky offered.

"I'd love to see you fight while avoid drowning," Zoro hissed back before the cage they were in suddenly began to rise up from a thick chain until they were suspended in the room. Memory Zoro remained calm as Usopp and Brook were both freaking out at the sight of what was going on. And things only went from bad to worse when water began to pour in, already covering the floor.

"Why am I suddenly have a sense of déjà vu?" current Franky said slowly before he remembered and hit his fists together. "I got it! This is just like when you guys were trapped in that cage and almost drowned back in Alabasta!"

"Huh? Oh, right…" current Luffy said, remembering that day. "That did happen didn't it?"

"I guess we should just be glad that we didn't have to deal with Banana Gators this time," current Usopp sighed. As his past self and Brook began to thrash about wildly, trying to get out of their chains—meanwhile Hody was laughing at the sight of it.

 _"_ _By the time the King has been executed,"_ Hody continued, _"this room will be filled to the very top with water! You humans are an inferior race to die from something as trivial as this! Fit to be drowned like rats!"_

Hody then held up Luffy's wanted poster… as he finished, speaking directly to Luffy this time.

 _"_ _Straw Hat Luffy with the bounty of 400 million on his head!" he yelled out, "The heads of you and your crew will serve as warnings to all the humans on the surface!"_

"Yeah right," Zoro said unconcerned. "Even if that weakling _could_ kill us, there are still hundreds of humans who would be more than happy to put him in his place. I'm just glad that we were the ones who knocked him down a few pegs."

 _"_ _Now! It's time to start the cleaning of the Old Ryugu Kingdom!"_ Hody declared as his men all cheered behind him. _"We're gonna leave behind the weakness of the past and start again with a strong future! In three hours, this country will be reborn as a proud Fishman Island!"_

He cackled loudly before the monitor turned dark and leaving them all in silence.

The whole time that Hody had been talking, memory Luffy had stood there quietly. It really did look like he was taking this whole thing seriously… at least until…?

Everyone looked over at memory Luffy, whose were hidden under the brim of his hat…but when he lifted his head up.

"…Hey," he said slowly, and then he raised his head up, smiling proudly and even blushing as he rubbed the back of his head, "He said my bounty's up to 400 million? When did it go up?!"

"That's the first thing you have to say?" Usopp demanded as memory Nami ran over and smacked him in the head.

"NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT, YOU IDIOT!" she barked.

"I couldn't help it!" present-day Luffy said. "I didn't know that it went up so much!"

"Did you really think that all the stunts you pulled during the war weren't going to get their attention?" Zoro asked, jealous—and guilty—that he couldn't go there and help Luffy out during those events.

"I'm more surprised that it didn't go up any higher than that," Robin said lightly, having expected it to have risen to at least 500 million by now. Then again, they had been out of action for some time…?

"So, it looks like he's trying to pick a fight with us," memory Sanji said as he calmly breathed out smoke from his cigarette.

"In other words, he started this whole thing with us," the current Sanji agreed. "He got just what he deserved."

"You have become quite famous after the Paramount War two years ago, Luffy," Jimbei offered him calmly. "Once your bounty reaches 300 million, it takes a lot for them to raise it again."

"Again, what does that have to do with anything?!" current Nami demanded, wondering what was with boys and their obsession with high bounties.

"Anyway," memory Luffy said as he punched a fist into his palm, "if it's a fight that Hody guy wants, it's a fight he'll get!"

"Wait a minute, Luffy-kun!" Jimbei called.

Meanwhile, Shirahoshi was still silent…until…

"Father…" she whispered, and then she began to call louder and louder for her father as tears fell and her voice rose to a shout. She then cried out to Megalo, as she created pools of tears about her, to come to her and she jumped up onto his back.

"Megalo! We have to save my Father!" she cried and it looked like she really would have gone flying off on her own, stopping only when Jimbei called out. She ignored what he said, but it was when he commanded Megalo to stop, did they finally halt.

"I understand her desire to save her father, but this was not the wisest way," Robin said seriously.

"I agree," Brook nodded. "She has a big heart, but she is far too kind-hearted and that Hody character is far too blood-thirsty. She needs to calm down and listen to what Jimbei-san has to say."

"But… Boss Jimbei!" Shirahoshi began as tears fell, "I just can't…?"

"Both you and Luffy-kun need to stop for a second," he reasoned as he walked over.

"Already you're a bad influence on her, Luffy," current Sanji shot to their captain, who smiled back brightly.

Hachi moaned out, but determined to make his voice heard. "Princess, I also think that it's better if you don't go anywhere." Shirahoshi looked down, opening her mouth to try and say something, but Hachi had already gone on, "The thing Hody fears most in the Ryuuguu Kingdom is Shirahoshi's ability."

"Her power?" Usopp asked in surprise. "What power?"

"Huh? Don't you know?" current Nami asked him in surprise. "Oh, right… you didn't hear about it since you weren't here…?"

"Shirahoshi has the ability to talk to the Sea Kings," Robin explained to him and he stared at her in shock.

"What?!" Brook cried out in wonder. No wonder Hody wanted her dead so much… he didn't just hate her, he was afraid of her… not that it excused him for wanting to kill such a sweet, innocent—and beautiful—woman.

"With that kind of power, why didn't she help out before?" Zoro asked as he arched an eyebrow.

"Hold on," Luffy said as he thought back. "Yeah, I think she did! A whole bunch of Sea Kings ended up coming out of nowhere and stopped the Noah from falling! So that's where they came from."

"Oh, is that what happened?" Zoro asked in surprise before he let out a long whistle, "Wish I could have seen that."

"Even if he recreates Fishman Island into the way he wants it," Hachi went on, "It will all be destroyed if Sea Kings attack it."

"He took the king hostage and is now using him as a shield," Hachi explained.

"So in other words, their true goal is Shirahoshi-san?" memory Sanji finished for him.

"Damn them," the current Sanji hissed. "That was a low move…"

"But effective," present-day Franky added. "That's one way to get her attention."

But Hachi was shaking his head, or at least as much as he can from where he lay. "Hody isn't planning to capture her and force her to use her power," he explained. "He prefers that power doesn't exist at all. So he teamed up with Vander Decken, who wants the princess's life. Hody plans to get rid of everything that could stand against him."

"Yes, that's right," Jimbei sighed. "If the princess goes to the plaza, it will be just what he wants."

"At least take me with you to act the part of your bodyguard, princess!" current Sanji sighed. "I'll be more than able to take care of any who even look at you the wrong way!"

"Does that include you?" present-day Nami sighed.

"I've heard about this power of mine," Shirahoshi admitted slowly, having calmed down slightly and slowly sank back down. "But I've never been able to talk to Sea Kings before. I don't even know if I really have this power or not."

"I see," said Jimbei seriously. "Either way, Hody will definitely want to finish you off. But we must make sure Hody doesn't find out you can't control it. We want him to believe that you can use it."

"Right, give him a reason to be cautious," Zoro agreed. "So long as he doesn't know that she can't control it, he wouldn't risk trying to much at once."

"You done yapping?" memory Luffy asked firmly and without even waiting for an answer, he strolled forward and went on, "Well then, hey Shark! Take me to Ryuuguu Palace!"

The shark grunted in understanding before Luffy turned to memory Sanji and added, "Sanji, you take charge of taking care of Weakling!"

"WHOO-HOO!" memory Sanji cheered before he gave Luffy a high-five. "Leave it to me."

"That was an order I had no problems with following!" present-day Sanji sighed happily. Shame Jimbei had to put his foot down to stop it.

"Didn't I tell you to wait, Luffy-kun?!" Jimbei demanded.

"He heard, he just didn't care," Usopp nodded in understanding.

"I didn't see why I couldn't just go off and fight him right away," the current Luffy stated.

"This is why we listened to his story and let him explain," current Sanji reminded him.

"Huh?" memory Luffy asked as he looked back at him.

"I cannot allow you and your crew to fight Hody!" Jimbei said at once.

"What?!" memory Luffy questioned. "Why are you trying to stop me?"

"…Is it because we're human?" the memory versions of Chopper and Franky both asked at once.

"DON'T INCLUDE YOURSELVES!" memory Sanji shouted at them, "YOU TWO JUST COMPLICATE THINGS!"

"What? We're not human in your eyes?!" current Franky demanded.

"You were once human, but you're more robot than human now," Zoro reminded them with a teasing tone. "And you were a baby reindeer from the start who ate a Devil Fruit! Kinda pushing it to be honest…"

"That's right," Jimbei replied as he walked passed them. "Many Fishmen still harbor hatred towards humankind. So, I am asking you to just leave this to me!"

"No! Jimbei, my friends have been captured!" memory Luffy called out. "If I don't do something, then they'll be in serious trouble!"

"Yeah, I am with his plan!" Usopp said as he raised his hand.

"Same here!" Brook laughed as he copied him and also raised his own bony hand.

Jimbei sighed before he turned back to look at memory Luffy.

"You still don't understand, even after everything I said?" he asked.

But Luffy wasn't going to listen.

"I'm going!" he declared.

"You don't understand a single thing!" Jimbei shouted back.

"Blah, blah, blah… shut up!" memory Luffy retorted with his hand on his hat, getting ready to move it to his back so that he could fight. "If you want me to stay, then you're gonna have to force me!"

There was a tense silence between them as Shirahoshi was looking frightened as she looked from one to the other. But then Jimbei's eyes narrowed a little as if he was seeing something from long ago and confessed, "…I fought alongside you, Luffy. So I misjudged. You really are that man's little brother… but if you refuse to listen to reason, then you leave me no choice!"

He cracked his knuckles.

"Are you ready… boy?" he taunted.

"Really… is fighting the only thing that you guys can do?" the current Nami demanded of their own Luffy, who was watching with interest. "Why don't you ever try and talk it out? I'm sure that if you both just listened, then we could've saved ourselves a lot of time and trouble."

"He started it," current Luffy pouted.

"Luffy! Jimbei!" memory Nami shouted. "What are you doing?! Why are you fighting?!"

"I have to go to Ryuuguu Palace to save Zoro, Usopp, and Brook!" memory Luffy barked out. "And I'm gonna kick Hody's ass while I'm at it!"

"Why don't you just wait and listen, Luffy-kun?" Jimbei demanded.

"Hey, hey!" memory Sanji called, trying to come to some kind of peaceful solution between the two of them. "Calm down, both of you! This isn't helping!"

"Yeah, stop it, you guys!" memory Chopper called out worriedly, looking between the two of them. "You're supposed to be friends!"

"Master Luffy! Boss Jimbei!" Shirahoshi cried fretfully.

But nothing that anyone could say would stop them now. Suddenly the two were going at it. Luffy tried to jump up onto Megalo's back, but Jimbei used his Fishman Karate to stop him, sending a shockwave at Luffy and sent him flying back, and hurting him in the process.

"Haki?" Zoro questioned when he saw memory Luffy clutch at his side in pain as the others all shouted out his name.

But that wasn't the case. For Jimbei explained that all living things were made of water, and Fishman Karate could manipulate and control water… a Rubberman was no exception to this rule. Soon, memory Luffy shifted into his Second Gear and went right at him with a Jet Stamp before Jimbei was able to block it with his arms. He then taunted Luffy, asking if that was all that the training he had done for two years could do.

"He knows where to hit it hard," present-day Franky said as he watched as the two of them began charging at the other. But as they charged, memory Robin appeared out of the air and calmly walked between the two of them.

"Robin-san?!" Brook gasped out when he saw her there. Where did she even come from? He hadn't seen her since they were separated on the Sunny!

"I just saw what was going on and I knew I had to do something to stop them," the current Robin said politely.

"ROBIN!?" memory Nami cried out in shock before turning to fear as the two powerhouses were still running at each other.

"How'd she get there so fast?!" past Chopper stated in terror. But Robin was completely calm as she stepped between the two like she was breaking up a fight between a couple misbehaving children and held up her hands as she said, "That's enough."

The two had just realized that she was there, but it was too late to stop the attacks.

"Robin, what are you doing?!" memory Luffy shouted. "Get outta the way!"

"Who are you?!" Jimbei yelled out just as worried. "Move before you get hurt!"

"Oh, I was never in any danger," current Robin replied as memory Sanji, also thinking that she was in danger, came running over to her aid—making that pervery face in the process—as he declared that he would save her. But it seemed that he got more hurt than she did here.

The moment he tried to grab hold of her, her body shattered into flower petals… and he was left between the two as they struck. Both Luffy and Jimbei punched right through Sanji and slugged the other… and it ended with all three of them landing hard on the ground.

There was a moment of silence all around them as they just watched.

"Did… you just knock yourselves out?" Zoro asked, shaking his head as he began to grin. "No way…"

"It was a close thing," Sanji confessed, remembering how he felt afterwards. He knew that the two of them had done their best to hold their strength back, thinking that they were going to hit Robin, but it was still enough for him to see stars.

"That ability never ceases to amaze me, Robin-san," Brook said in wonder.

"It does come in handy from time to time," Robin nodded in full agreement as her past self stepped out of the forest behind them for a second time, getting everyone's attention… with no one understanding how that just happened.

"It was so weird…" current Chopper said in awe. "One minute you were there, and the next you were someone else! It was like you just… teleported or something!"

"As handy as my Devil Fruit is, I'm afraid that that particular ability is still beyond me," Robin answered serenely.

Memory just calmly walked over to where the three of them were on the ground and spoke lightly, like a mother to her sons who were in the middle of an argument, "That's enough you two. I don't know what you're fighting about, but you shouldn't be fighting. You are friends, right?"

"Are you both ok?" memory Chopper asked. "Oh, and Sanji too?"

"Thanks so much for your words of concern," current Sanji retorted.

Both Jimbei and memory Luffy did sit up, with Luffy wiping some of the blood off his lip from that hit, but they both did seem much calmer.

"Will you just listen to me, Luffy-kun?" Jimbei asked firmly.

"Fine," memory Luffy grunted, but it was anyone's guess how long he would wait. If Jimbei was going to talk, he better make it fast.

"Listen," Jimbei began, "I know that you want to go and fight, but tell me, what do you think will happen if you start fighting with Hody here?"

"Considering that he took their king captive and is threatening them all, I don't see them being too upset about that to be honest," Zoro pointed out. "I think that they will overlook it just this once."

"Well, nothing we can do about that now," Franky laughed.

"You have to understand that throughout history, when Fishmen and Merfolk try to reach out to humans, there has been tragedy," Jimbei explained grimly. "This is what they know… 'Humans hate Fishmen', 'Humans cannot be trusted'… that is what the people have experienced firsthand."

The others could all understand his worry, but he couldn't expect them to just sit here and wait it out did he?

"And what do you think would happen if you, the one who defeated Arlong, were to fight with Hody?" Jimbei went on. "Even if you did defeat him, it would only look like another Fishman was struck down because he was rebelling against humans and you were stopping him for no other reason and that things will never change. They may come to believe that Hody was right."

There was silence between all of them, and from Jimbei's words, it seemed that there was no other choice but to leave it all to him… but then…?

"So what do you suggest, Jimbei?"

Memory Sanji had lit up a cigarette and was smoking it when he pushed himself up into a sitting position, his face having been bruised from both of those punches, but he was already brushing that off.

"I get what you're saying, but we still need to save our crewmates," he said casually, as if nothing had happened. "And if we don't do anything at all, then Fishman Island will soon be in Hody's control."

Jimbei turned his full attention to him, letting him say his piece as memory Sanji explained, "We've already made some good friends living here on the island." He then glanced over to Hachi before asking seriously, "Hey, Hachi. You still hadn't told us who it was who attacked you. But you just said that Hody doesn't mind killing Fishman who is friendly with humans, didn't you?"

Hachi didn't say a word, but his body trembled a little, though it was hard to tell if it was from pain or… something else.

"Tell us," memory Sanji went on. "Did Hody do that to you because you spoke up for us?"

"…Hachi," memory Nami said in surprise as Camie's eyes widen with horror.

"Hacchin, is it true?!" Camie cried out, back at his side "Did Hody really do this to you?!"

"It really wasn't that hard to figure out," current Sanji said softly. Now a part of him will always hold to some of the anger that Nami was forced to suffer, but if she could find it in her heart to forgive Jimbei and Hachi, then he didn't see any reason to begrudge them either. Especially since it was obvious that Hachi put himself on the line to try and stop Hody for them. He clearly held a lot of guilt inside for his part of being in Arlong's crew, and it wasn't hard to believe that he would go and face Hody on his own to stop him from carrying on Arlong's legacy.

Hachi groaned out miserably, which all but confirmed it for them.

Memory Sanji then looked back to Jimbei and added, "As for you, Jimbei…" he stood up and brushed himself off and finished, "I think that another reason that Luffy wants to beat Hody is because this is your home to."

Jimbei just looked on but there was some kind of surprise in his eyes at it as Sanji confessed, "Back when our captain was in trouble, I heard you were the one who saved him."

The image of Jimbei shielding Luffy from that mad Admiral and brought Luffy back from the brink of losing his mind.

"We're all indebted to you. Words can't begin to express our gratitude," memory Sanji confessed. "If Luffy feels that way, then we all feel that way as well."

That was all completely true… especially after seeing the events themselves in these memories. Nothing that they ever said or did could ever describe just how thankful they were for all that Jimbei had done for Luffy while they weren't there to help him themselves. But they like to think that saving Fishman Island would be a good way to start it off.

Memory Sanji turned back to look at him as he told him seriously, "We can't just leave this island behind. We have a reason to fight."

Current Nami sighed, for a moment she had believed that he was actually going to say something meaningful. And he had to ruin such a good speech too.

"Because Camie and Shirahoshi are here!" memory Sanji swooned out in joy as he danced about, "This land is the Mermaid Paradise of my dreams~!"

That caused more than several members of the crew to just fall over.

"THAT'S YOUR REASON?!" Usopp shouted out. "YOU AND YOUR PERVERTED MIND?!"

"It's true," current Sanji said firmly, not regretting what he said.

"And here I was thinking that you actually had something important to say," Zoro yawned out. "Shows what I know, doesn't it?"

But before a fight could break out between them, memory Luffy was back on his feet and walked forward.

"Get out of my way, Jimbei," he said firmly. "I said I'm going, so I'm going!"

"I won't let you," Jimbei retorted. "Leave this to me."

"Huh?" Brook asked in confusion as he tilted his head. "I thought you both just went through this?"

Memory Luffy's patience was just about at it's limit and soon he was shouting out, "WHY YOU…! I'LL JUST HAVE TO SEND YOU FLYING AND THEN I'LL GO!"

"IF YOU WON'T LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY THEN I'LL STAND UP TO YOU AS MANY TIMES AS I MUST!" Jimbei roared back.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" memory Nami screamed at the two of them, but they ignored her as they continued bickering.

"…Just get outta my way, Jimbei!" memory Luffy barked. "I said I'm going and that's that!"

"And I say I won't let you!" Jimbei retorted, "I told you to let me handle this, Luffy-kun."

After more arguing, Jimbei seemed to come to an understanding that Luffy wasn't going to be stopped, and so he had to come up with another plan. At last, he managed to get Luffy to calm down as he asked that he just listen.

When Luffy did so, Jimbei asked him simply, "Now then, what are we?"

"Friends," Luffy answered automatically.

"Right, and I don't see why we were still here talking," the current Luffy said in annoyance.

"You hear, but you don't listen!" Nami sighed. "He just told you many times that he's afraid that if you beat up Hody, then it would only help Hody prove his point."

"Exactly," Jimbei said, nodding to Luffy's answer as he walked over and passed him. "But for years now, the thought of Fishmen and humans could be friends has been something that the people here struggled to grasp. When I left that message for you 'Don't fight Hody' I meant, 'Don't fight against him recklessly'."

"He really has no idea who he's talking to, does he?" current Franky sniggered at the thought.

"Don't just jump into things without thinking," Jimbei went on. "If you just rush in and beat Hody up, people on the island will just think you're another violent human bully seeking vengeance. Instead, I want you to become the hero who will save Fishman Island!"

The other memory selves were startled by this request.

"A hero?" memory Luffy repeated. "No way!"

"WHAT?!" Jimbei shouted out with his eyes budging out again.

"We're pirates, Jimbei!" memory Luffy said. "I may like heroes, but that doesn't mean I wanna be one! Do you even know what a hero is?! Okay, look… say that there's this banquet, and the table is full of lots and lots of meat! Pirates have banquets and eat it, but heroes have to share their meat! But not me! I want all the meat for myself!"

"Exactly!" both current Luffy and Zoro said as they nodded their heads.

"What is with you guys thinking like that?! Where do you even get that idea?!" Nami cried out as Robin gently pulled her aside.

"In their eyes," Robin whispered to her, "A hero is someone who is completely selfless. But they want to be greedy. So they don't see themselves as heroes. You see?"

Nami frowned as she thought that over, well… she supposed that simple minds needed simple answers.

"Is that really how he defines a hero?" memory Nami questioned.

"So in the end, it all comes down to meat?" memory Sanji asked.

"Look, Luffy-kun," Jimbei reasoned. "I'll give you as much meat as you want if you do as I tell you, alright?"

"Deal," memory Luffy said.

"WHAT?! THAT EASY?!" memory Chopper questioned as Camie smiled.

"Well, it's like we're getting paid for our services," current Sanji offered with a shrug. "And it is nice not having to do all the cooking from time to time. That banquet was wonderful…"

He sighed as he thought back to that happy day, not even paying attention to how the others were reminding him that he hardly ate anything at the feast… just spending his time drooling over the mermaids.

"Now then, here's what we're going to do," Jimbei explained to him. "First, Megalo and I will allow ourselves to be captured and we'll in infiltrate the plaza with you stowed away inside Megalo's stomach."

"Oh, so he was the one who came up with that plan," Usopp said, wondering if their influence on him is already taking hold… for this plan was just insane… something that you would expect them to come up with.

Megalo cried out in shock that he was going to do this without being asked.

"Meanwhile, someone will steal the Document of the World Noble," Jimbei continued, "as well as the key to King Neptune's shackles from the enemy!"

Luffy was confused to the importance of this paper, since he fell asleep so early in Jimbei's story, and they had to quickly explain to him that it was just a very valuable paper that they needed to get back. But memory Nami cheerfully volunteered herself and Robin to steal back the key and the document for them.

"Good," Jimbei nodded. "Once the king is freed, I will call for Luffy-kun's help. Who will then emerge from Megalo's stomach so that everyone can see us working together to fight Hody. The princess will stand by in a safe place outside the plaza, and once we've obtained the document, we will help Neptune and the princes escape."

"Sounds reasonable," Usopp said slowly as Jimbei looked to Sanji.

"The rest of you must go to Ryuuguu Palace and save your crewmates," he told them. "And as soon as you rescue them, you must hurry to the plaza to join us. As for your plan on how to save them… I'll let you work it out yourselves."

"WHAT?!" Usopp and Brook both cried out.

"YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT US AT ALL, DO YOU?!" memory Sanji barked, questioningly.

"Now once the citizens see this, what do you think they'll be thinking?" Jimbei went on as if he hadn't heard what Sanji said.

"Nyuu!" Hachi moaned out. "Everyone from Fishman Island and the Fishman District respects Boss Jimbei."

"Yeah!" Camie agreed happily. "And if they see Boss Jimbei trusting Luffy enough to save the king, then they'll all start cheering him on!"

Memory Luffy didn't look too happy about this part of the plan, and they knew him well enough to know that he would probably have refused everything right off the bat. But because he made that deal with Jimbei, he knew that he had to go along with it, for now at least.

"Look, Jimbei!" he snapped. "I'm only doing this 'cause you asked me to, but I don't like being cheered by anyone!"

"It really is annoying," Zoro agreed. After all, how is he supposed to fight if people were shouting in his ears the whole time?

"Right," memory Nami said, sarcastically. "Because it so rarely happens."

"For people who claim to hate this, as much as you idiots do, it sure does seem to happen to us a lot, doesn't it?" the current Nami asked them.

"That's what makes it all the more annoying," Zoro answered calmly.

"I'll fight even the Devil himself if those beautiful mermaids cheer me on!" memory Sanji cheered.

Jimbei looked amused by this as he looked around at them all.

"Thank you, all of you," he said but then he turned serious again as he seemed to be thinking this over.

"What's wrong, now?" memory Luffy asked.

"…This plan needs a codename," Jimbei answered.

"IT'S FINE WITHOUT ONE!" memory Sanji barked. "LET'S JUST GO ALREADY!"

"Yep, Jimbei is going to be fitting in with us just fine," current Franky roared with laughter.

Once the last few details of the plan were made, they were ready to go. Den promised that he and Franky would have the Sunny ready to go in just a few minutes, but he would stay here with Camie and Hachi, praying for them and cheering from a distance… though he didn't say this part loud enough for Luffy to hear.

Current Franky grinned. It really was an honor for him to work with Den… it was almost like working alongside Tom again… the two of them really were brothers, and he had picked up on a few tricks that he never knew about before. He looked forward to going back to Water 7 one day and telling that Ice-for-brains about Den. He wondered how that idiot was doing right now.

Camie promised that she would remain here and take care of Hachi for them, and memory Chopper was already giving her advice on what she needed to do while he was away. Once that was taken care of, memory Nami used her weapon to cast a mirage over herself and Robin, causing several gasps from everyone but the Straw Hats when they saw the women vanish.

After informing them all of what was going on, they climbed up onto Megalo's back, promising that they would be right there, but out of harm's way. Which now left Luffy to get inside Megalo's stomach. At first, it didn't seem like it would be that bad for the shark, at least not when he was forced to have Shirahoshi shoved inside his mouth. He just opened wide and Luffy went inside… accidently kicking around a few times and causing poor Megalo terrible pain as he was trying to get comfortable and wait.

The memory versions of Franky, Sanji, and Chopper all promised that they would have the others back in no time and that they just try to leave some of the pirates for them to fight by the time they got there. Everything was ready to go.

"Jimbei-chan!" memory Nami's voice rang off from the direction of Megalo's back, "We're all ready!"

Jimbei nodded in agreement before he turned to the princess and said that she was to come with them. She agreed and carefully climbed up onto Megalo's back, with Jimbei at the head. As they began to kick off, Den waved from the deck of the Sunny and Jimbei called for Camie to take good care of Hachi for them, which she happily agreed.

At last, Jimbei ordered Megalo to turn around and head to the plaza, which the shark did at once. But as they left with it, some of the more observant Straw Hats noticed how Shirahoshi was looking back down at them… looking at her mother's grave. For once, she wasn't crying… nor did she look sad… it was as if she was trying to ask for some of her mother's strength for whatever laid ahead… and soon, the entire group was heading back to the main island.

 **(Sorry for the long wait once again. But this week is going to be really rough. I mean, Monday and Tuesday I have to go to school from five to one in the morning for these two days. And on Thursday and Friday, I've got 12 hours… seven at night to seven in the morning… this is gonna be a rough week. Next chapter we will get to see the battle taking place at the plaza and hope you're looking forward to it.)**


	8. Floor 7: Friends or Foes?

**Floor 7: Friends or Foes?**

The present-day Straw Hats could see citizens from all over the island beginning to gather at the plaza as they flew overhead behind Jimbei and the others. There was fear spreading all over as news of the king's upcoming execution was heard, and even more so when the people heard that the three princes had been defeated and captured as well.

The news that her three brothers were also in danger caused Shirahoshi to start whimpering in shock, unable to believe that her strong big brothers could lose a fight.

Present-day Luffy understood that feeling all too well. He remembered how shocked that he was when he first heard about Ace being defeated by Blackbeard. His eyes sadden at the memory, a boiling anger in the pit of his stomach grew as he remembered how Ace was executed after he lost. He didn't want Crybaby to go through that kind of pain of losing your big brother… if only he was this strong two years ago… he may have been able to save Ace.

Jimbei and Shirahoshi, along with the invisible Nami and Robin—with Luffy inside Megalo's stomach—all remained surprisingly quiet the whole way. In fact, they were so quiet Shirahoshi had to ask about them more than once, in fear that they may have fallen off without them noticing.

"Don't worry about us, Shirahoshi," memory Robin's voice reassured her. "We'll be right here if you need us. Right now, you need to focus more on helping your family."

Shirahoshi sniffled, but nodded as she kept her eyes forward, determination there mixed in with her tears. If they didn't hurry then she was going to lose her whole family, as well as her country to Hody.

"We are almost at the plaza!" Jimbei called. "Hurry Megalo!"

Megalo grunted in understanding as he kicked his tail even harder, forcing himself to go even faster.

"Father," Shirahoshi whispered worriedly. Sanji glared, hating that anyone could make such a sweet and innocent girl so upset. While the big guy may have seemed a bit like an idiot, he liked Neptune, and he knew that he would have fought through hell to save the old man if he knew that Shirahoshi was counting on him.

"Hey!" called a sudden voice, "It's me-jamon!"

"Is that Neptune?" Brook asked in surprised as he looked about.

"Yeah, I thought I heard him when I was in the shark's stomach," Luffy said as he tried to squint through the clouds around them. "It was weird though, because I didn't sense him around?"

Nami sighed as she said, "Not quite. You'll see."

And they realized that while the voice did sound like the king, there was something off about it… like they were hearing it over the end of a Transponder Snail.

"Boss Jimbei! Megalo!" Shirahoshi gasped out suddenly, her eyes wide when she heard it. And a shadowy form appeared before them.

"Hey!" the figure called. "Over here! It's me! It's really me!"

"Is that… him?" Usopp asked uncertainly as he moved his goggles down to get a better look. "Why does he look all lumpy like that?"

"You're alright after all?!" Shirahoshi gasped out tearfully as Jimbei looked on with confusion. But as Usopp looked, he managed to see through the haze and saw what looked like a bunch of balloons all tied together like a giant balloon animal in the shape of the king.

"NO!" Usopp cried out in warning. "IT'S A TRAP!"

"That's a… balloon…?" Zoro asked with his eyebrows raised when he also spotted it. "No one could fall for that!"

"Father!" Shirahoshi cried out, her eyes shut. "I'm coming!"

"Or… maybe they can," Zoro said with sweat-drop hanging about his head.

"And I thought she couldn't be more naïve?" Franky sighed. She's got a lot to learn about the world, didn't she?

Meanwhile, Megalo let out a happy cry as he went charging right for the dummy, not even guessing that something was wrong.

"This is like when we rescued Hachi two years ago and Pappug-san and Camie-san both thought that they were taking a snack break instead of waiting to ambush us," Brook said as he thought back to when they first met the mermaid and the starfish.

"And that's why they kept getting eaten," Usopp sighed.

"No! Wait!" Jimbei called, realizing too late that this was a trap.

"Thank goodness you're all right!" Shirahoshi called tearfully, holding her arms out wide like she wanted to hug it. But when they got close enough, the balloon dummy exploded into a thick net that wrapped around them all, the heavy weights entangling them at the ends before they dropped out of the sky and onto the coral ground.

"Wow… you guys walked right into that one," Zoro said, not sure if he should feel embarrassed for them, or fascinated that they fell for something so pathetic.

"The plan didn't work out exactly like we thought it would," Robin said good-naturedly, "But it did save us the trouble of rushing into the plaza in the end."

"Hey, yeah! Where were you two?" Chopper asked looking up to her and Nami.

"Oh, we were still there," Nami reassured him. "We just stayed quiet and let them carry us the rest of the way to the plaza. Once we were out of the net, I went to work trying to find the document from the Celestial Dragons and the keys before passing them off to Robin."

Usopp was privately impressed that someone with such a big mouth was able to stay so quiet for so long. Then again, it was a miracle that Luffy hadn't caused any problems in Megalo's stomach up till now. If it had been him, there was no way that he could stand being inside a shark for even a minute before freaking out.

Jimbei thrashed against the net, and they knew that he could have broken out easily… but just then some members of the New Fishman Pirates appeared, holding up a pair of sea-prism stone handcuffs, warning him that if he tried anything they would kill Shirahoshi.

Though he wasn't a Devil Fruit User, not even Jimbei could break free of those chains, which were harder than diamond. But with Shirahoshi in danger, he had no choice but to allow them to put the cuffs on him.

Once they finished putting chains on Shirahoshi's hands, which caused Sanji to fume silently at how they dared to treat a lady in such a way, the three were then rolled up into a much thicker net. If he had been there, Sanji would've kicked each and every single one of those bastards so hard that they wouldn't ever be able to walk again.

"I don't see why they went to the trouble to have a trap," Franky said with a shrug as three sharks were suddenly brought in to finish taking them the rest of the way to the plaza. "I mean, you guys were already on your way there. It would've saved them a lot of effort."

"I guess they just wanted to make sure we didn't get lost on our way here," Robin offered with a slight smile. The rest of the way was pretty quick, with them eventually entering an enormous area with high cliff-like walls surrounding them almost on all sides. There was a large stone platform set up in the center, with Neptune and the princess all being strapped and suspended by chains and left unable to move. All four of them were a mess, looking like they were beaten to within an inch of their lives as there was enough crowd standing at the top of the walls and watching like they were looking into a pit where warriors were gathered to fight to the death.

As soon Jimbei and the others were brought into the plaza, some of the pirates were calling to Hody, like little kids expecting treats for doing something right.

"We've got her, sir!"

"We've got Princess Shirahoshi! And Jimbei, too!"

They then unraveled the net and the three bound in chains were tossed out, falling hard to the ground; causing the crowd around them to gasp at the sight of them there.

"You weren't hurt in the fall were you?" Sanji asked Nami and Robin at once.

"We were just fine," Robin reassured him as she looked worriedly at Shirahoshi and Jimbei. "We were able to land safely and right now we were hiding in the crowd. There is no reason to worry about us."

"They fell into our trap! Just like you said, Captain!" one of the pirates called proudly.

"What a bunch of fools!" another said with a smug smile.

As soon as they saw her there, Neptune and the three princes cried out her name in horror.

"Father! Brothers!" Shirahoshi cried back when she saw her family there.

"Man, they're all a mess," Usopp said, looking at Neptune and the princes. "They must've gotten beaten pretty bad. Was it serious, Chopper?"

"They were all badly hurt, but out of all of them, Fukaboshi had the worst injuries," Chopper said, having looked over them once the banquet was over. "Thanks to the wounds that Hody gave him. Thankfully, they should've made full recoveries given enough time."

"That's good to hear," Brook nodded. "I know that they were alive and well when we said goodbye to them, but it's a relief to hear it again nonetheless."

Hody, meanwhile, was laughing at the sight of the two of them tied up and brought straight to him.

"What luck! My two main targets, caught at the same time!" he roared out mocking. "This is almost too good to be true!"

"And in the end, he didn't suspect that something was off," Zoro sighed as he shook his head. Really, what made this guy think that he had a chance to enslave the whole world? He really was nuts, wasn't he?

"I'm so sorry about this," Shirahoshi apologized to Jimbei tearfully. "Because I fell for their trap, even you ended up…?"

"What's done is done," Jimbei said firmly. "Don't trouble yourself over the past."

"I agree, don't worry about your mistakes," Brook said gently, like he hoped that Shirahoshi could hear him. "Just try to find a way to turn them into a good thing! At least now you know that your father and brothers are still alive, dear princess! And now Hody thinks he's won!"

"Which will make us kicking their asses all the sweeter," Sanji smirked as he pulled another cigarette from his pack and stuck it in his mouth.

"So you came after all, Jimbei," Hody said with a wicked grin. "I used to like you. Back when you were ruthless."

"What's happened to you, Hody?" Jimbei asked as the crowd gasped and started murmuring amongst themselves. "You look like a different person!"

He indeed looked different than how he looked when he first came to the palace and how they saw him on the screen when he broadcasted to all the island. His blue skin and black hair had both turned a deathly shade of white, and he bore a large scar on his chest, similar to the one that Zoro bore. But most of all, there was that glint of madness in his eyes that seemed to shine even more intense than it did before.

"I'm guessing that he overdosed on those stupid drugs," Franky said bitterly. "Let this be a lesson to you, kids! It doesn't do you any good! It turns you into a freakin' fish monster!"

But Hody only laughed again as he went on, "Alright, we have all the players here! It was much easier than I thought it would be. Now, the only ones left are the Straw Hat, and I don't know what they'll do."

"Most do wonder that," Nami said with a sigh. "In fact, I wonder about that more than half the time."

"But that's what makes us so great to have around! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed.

"Yeah! It's great!" Luffy grinned as Nami rolled her eyes, but also fighting a smile.

"I'm guessing they're at a loss, trying to find a way inside Ryuuguu Palace," Hody said. "Even if they come here, enraged by their companion's deaths, we'll be ready for them."

"Oh really?" Zoro asked darkly. "Even if we did die, they wouldn't have stood a chance."

"He's certainly not lacking in confidence in his abilities, is he?" Robin asked with a frown. She had been able to stay alive in the underworld for twenty years because people had a tendency to underestimate her. But when you overestimate your own powers, which is just as bad, then you are just setting yourself up for severe disappointment.

At that moment, more Pirates appeared, both human and Fishman alike… thousands of them, with the human pirates chained around their necks as they were forced to walk alongside the Fishmen like trained dogs. With all of them there, Hody went on speaking to everyone in earshot, glad to finally have a chance to brag about his plans and what he had been working on for years. He explained that he had been capturing up human pirates for the last month, about 30,000 in all—and added them to his own 70,000 of his own armed men from the Fishman District.

Soon, his entire crew filled up the plaza, leaving only the platform that Hody stood on, and the area around Shirahoshi and Jimbei untouched. Hody only laughed again as his men all cheered.

"There are some women and children around the plaza," Hody went on as he leaned back in his chair. "But they can't fight. We'll take care of them once things have settled down."

Nami's eyes narrowed angrily at those threats against the children just as Sanji looked furious that they would even suggest harming the beautiful mermaids of this island.

"Of course, our number of human slaves will continue to grow! But for now, we have 100,000 men!" Hody confessed.

"And they won't be getting anymore!" Chopper called angrily, remembering what he didn't like about this guy.

"Those who are a disgrace to our species will be forced to surrender their homes to us!" Hody called threateningly to the citizens, who were forced to keep watching. "The choice is yours! Either run away or die here!"

At those words, the citizens let out cries of fear, staring down at him and not knowing what they could do to stop this. But now, seeing their king, the princes, Shirahoshi, and even Jimbei all chained up in front of them and unable to move… they didn't see any hope of being able to avoid this future that Hody wanted. At least until…?

"You're causing quit a ruckus out here in public," said a calm voice.

"Huh? Who was that?" Brook asked in surprise as he looked around.

"Whoever it was, it was the voice of a beautiful lady!" Sanji said at once and when he looked up, they saw that he was right. Madam Sharley was there, and out of all the people in the crowd, she alone, was completely calm as she watched on. She looked just like how she did when they first met her, sitting on a bubble like it was chair as she held her pipe in her long fingers. "How undignified," she finished.

Nami smiled, liking with how she was treating Hody like he didn't scare her in the slightest.

"You shouldn't let yourself get carried away like this," Madam Sharley warned as bubbles drifted from her pipe and he looked up at her in annoyance, "Hody Jones."

Hody looked ticked off when he saw her. "Long time, no see," he snarled. "What do you want?"

"I'd like to say something to you, since you seem to think you've already won," she told him coolly. "I foresaw a certain man would destroy Fishman Island."

"Right, and because of that prediction, she caused us a fair amount of trouble," Usopp muttered darkly.

"I wonder just what it was that she foresaw that scared her so badly," Robin said curiously. Did she actually see Luffy destroy the island? Or was it possible that the so-called vision she had was lying?

"We might end up destroying it," Hody mocked unconcerned as he grinned evilly. "So you saw me?"

"No," she answered back, and it was satisfying to see his smirked wiped off his face with just that one word. "The man I saw destroying the island…" she explained, "was Straw Hat Luffy."

"Huh? But why would I do that?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head. "I wouldn't do something like that to the island!"

"I wouldn't give it too much thought, Luffy," Robin reassured him. "We all know that you wouldn't do it after we all worked so hard to protect it. I don't know how her visions work, but I don't think that it's something we need to worry about."

"Oh, ok," Luffy said agreeably as he looked on watching.

"What?" Hody demanded of her.

"What will the boy with the straw hat do now?" Madam Sharley asked, maybe asking herself for an answer rather than explain it to anyone. "Even I cannot be sure."

"What are you trying to say?" Hody demanded.

"That it won't be you!" she called and soon all of Hody' men were looking ticked off at her daring to speak. "One thing is certain," she went on, "Somebody holds the fate of Fishman Island in their hands. But Hody, I know this much… it is not you."

"I see," one of the townspeople gasped, "Madam's predictions are never wrong!"

"In other words, the future where Hody reins over the island… has no chance of happening!" another gasped out, and slowly a tiny spark of hope seemed to be blossoming right before their eyes as they all began to talk amongst themselves about this news.

"The future hasn't happened yet," Brook stated. "So it's impossible to say what will happen. I don't like that she had such a prediction, but I don't think that we should be punished for something that we may never do."

"Like I said before, predictions are always very suggestive," Robin said slowly. "It all depends on how you interpret it. Maybe it meant that the _old_ Fishman Island would be destroyed… such as the old way that they felt about humans and starting over again. If that is the case, then her prediction had already come true."

"Really?" Chopper asked before he sighed in relief. "That's good to know!"

"Right," she smiled. "So let us just push the matter to one side."

And so they did just that, though it was very easy to do so when they saw how Hody made sure that Madam Sharley paid dearly for her daring. He got up from his chair and turned to her direction before sending more Water Shots right at her, hitting her in the stomach and her blood was splattered about as she was knocked to the ground. Perhaps the only reason he left her alive was for her to see that she was wrong.

Sanji let out a series of swearing threats when he saw how cowardly Hody had dared to hurt her and the citizens cried out in fear, like they thought they would be next.

"Ridiculous," Hody snarled out, "What were you implying, Sharley?!"

"I thought it was obvious!" Franky roared out, wishing that he could hit the bastard for attacking someone who was just speaking her mind. "She said you won't win!"

"Are you trying to get back at me?!" Hody roared out. "I'm different from your brother! True, when I was a kid, everyone in Fishman District looked up to your brother, Arlong!"

"WHAT?!" Brook cried out, his jaw falling open so far that it almost touched the ground.

"She's his sister?!" Usopp cried out in shock, his eyes budging out of his head. How could anyone have made that connection?

At this news, Sanji looked over to Nami, who hadn't said a word the entire time that Madam Sharley spoke. There was an unreadable look on her face as she looked up.

"Nami… are you…?" Sanji asked her worriedly.

Nami didn't answer at first as she continued to look to where Madam Sharley was now laying on the ground, clearly in pain from that hit. It had surprised her greatly when she heard it. She had been so stunned that she had frozen where she stood as she secretly continued searching the pockets of everyone in the plaza. While she had been forced to work for Arlong, she did hear him mention that he had a younger sister… whom she had supposed was just as vicious a monster as he had been.

But madam Sharley wasn't at all what she had expected. She wasn't at all like Arlong had been, and Camie had greatly looked up to her as well as being the one who offered them a place to stay while they took care of Sanji.

"It's alright," she said finally. "She may be his sister, but like I said to Jimbei before, my hatred is for Arlong. I have no reason to hate madam Sharley. She may have caused us some problems with that prediction of hers, but I don't think that she made it to spite us. I think she was really afraid that we would destroy the island."

Besides… Madam Sharley also must have known that Luffy was the one responsible for putting Arlong into prison, but she still helped them out before. And anyway… anyone who could talk down to Hody like that couldn't be all bad.

Nami smiled and said to her crew, "It's alright."

Sanji smiled back as he said graciously, "If you say so."

"But we have gained power!" Hody went on smugly. "By now, the mark of the Arlong Pirates is just an empty symbol to unite us. Arlong's name is completely unnecessary now! The only ones who can crush this country down to its foundation, and recreate it… IS ME!"

"He sounds like a little kid," Nami muttered, reminded of a child throwing a tantrum when he didn't get what he wanted.

"And he fights like one," Zoro added.

"I have the power to do this!" Hody roared out as his men all cheered at his woreds. "Behold! The size of this mob! This is my strength! This has been in the works for ten years!"

"And it was all defeated in an afternoon!" Sanji called out loudly. "That's not something you should be proud of!"

"Shall I tell you… who killed your beloved Queen of Ryuuguu Kingdom?!" Hody went on, his eyes wide with a wild joy. Every single person in the area was now looking right at him. "Your beloved Otohime was killed… BY ME!"

The rest of the Straw Hats only watched on darkly as the declaration rang all over the plaza, everyone too shocked to even move.

"What did you say?" Jimbei croaked out, in a tone of stunned disbelief—a tone that they were unfamiliar with hearing from him. People were falling to their knees all around them, even Hody's underlings were taken completely aback by this news.

"Then…?"

"It was Hody who did it the whole time?!"

"But I thought it was a human who shot her!"

The entire crowd above began screaming and crying at this revelation, Neptune and his sons were all equally as shocked, and seemed unable to even speak. But Hody's commanders were all snickering as the people continued to cry out.

Daruma laughed as he hopped about, calling out, "You're all fools for not realizing it!"

"On that day, I paid a human pirate to snipe the signature box and set it on fire," Hody explained with pride in his voice. "While everyone was busy with that, I shot Otohime myself! Then, I killed that pathetic pirate afterwards!" He roared with laughter as he added, as if he was just explaining a great prank he pulled off and no one guessed that it was him all along, "Every single one of you all bought it!"

Jimbei was struggling against his bonds, anger burning clearly on his face as he glared at Hody, who seemed to enjoy the cries of grief and remorse came from the townspeople.

"DAMN YOU, HODY!" Neptune cursed, having found his voice, and was trembling with fury. Hody spun about, throwing another water shot at him, blasting a hole right through his chest, causing blood to burst, and screams of terror from the citizens.

"Father!" Fukaboshi cried with his brothers and there were even more screams ringing out for their king from the townspeople.

"She was quite a nuisance," Hody said without any trace of guilt or remorse. "Right, Shirahoshi?"

"How dare that bastard even face her after what he did?" Sanji snarled out. Not only did he kill a woman, but he had the gall to mock her death in front of her daughter? This heartless bastard didn't deserve to live!

Hody turned back to the princess, who held her head low and her lip trembled like she was about to cry out, but she hadn't broken down just yet.

"Claiming that revenge against humans was evil…" Hody mocked. "Preaching all around the island that we should get along with humans… and that woman almost realized her dreams. I hated every little thing about her! No, she was the kind of person whose influence wouldn't fade even if I killed her! But to me, your mother… was someone who had to die!"

"How cruel," Brook said angrily as people from the crowd above were yelling at Hody to stop mocking the princess. But Hody just went on louder than ever.

"Since I couldn't just kill her… I made an excellent plan to turn her death to my favor!" he declared. "To renew Fishman Island's hatred for humans and to break that ridiculous dream Otohime and the citizens shared! Both of them shattered in an instant! It was a flawless plan!"

"Well, not as flawless as you like to think since it didn't work!" Usopp yelled.

"Yeah! Exactly!" Chopper added heatedly and Brook, Franky, and Luffy began booing at Hody.

"He thinks highly of himself, doesn't he?" Zoro said with a nod.

"Namely, to have a human kill Otohime!" Hody roared out. "If I blamed the humans, the citizen's hatred for humankind would flare up again. And you all fell completely for my plan like I thought you would! It truly was worth killing her! You hear that Shirahoshi?! It was not some human who killed your mother. It was me, a fellow Fishman! I! The very person before your eyes was the one who killed her!"

"This guy is pure evil," Usopp spat out. "I knew that he was a monster, but this is a new low!"

Hody waited, expecting her to start crying out in shock and despair at his declaration, to start shouting and cursing him in anger. But instead, she too him and everyone else by complete surprise as she raised her head to reveal her tear filled eyes and whispered, "…I already knew…"

There wasn't a single person around them who wasn't staring at her with their mouths wide open. She knew all this time and never said anything? It made no sense, no sense to any of them.

"You mean she knew that her mother was killed by that guy and she never did anything about it?" Usopp asked in bafflement.

"Shirahoshi!" Neptune gasped, his eyes wide.

"You knew this whole time?!" Jimbei questioned, unable to believe it.

Everyone was staring at her in disbelief; even Hody was shocked by this revelation. But Shirahoshi only sat on the ground, crying softly to herself.

"What do you mean?" Hody asked angrily, really not happy that he didn't get the reaction he wanted. "You knew all along that I killed your mother!? What is this nonsense, Shirahoshi?!"

Neptune wheezed and panted as he began to hunch over, looking as if he was about to drop dead at any moment. His sons tried to speak, but he ignored them, for his attention was focused on Shirahoshi, who explained that a few years after her mother's death, Megalo had told her the truth in secret. He had used to be the mascot of Neptune's Army, and he had seen everything that happened that day. This was confirmed as Megalo glared at Hody and began to snarl out at him. Chopper heard a series of words he never thought he would hear from a shark.

"And that shark never told the rest of her family or anyone else about?" Franky asked.

"I think that maybe Shirahoshi told him not to mention it to anyone," Nami said softly.

"Ok, but even if she did, I don't understand why Megalo didn't tell anyone else right away," Usopp pointed out. "She said it happened a few years after the incident right? If he had seen the whole thing, why didn't he tell anyone right away? He could've gone to Neptune and explain what he saw, couldn't he? Why tell only Shirahoshi? And why wait years after it happened?"

But no one knew how to answer that.

"How do you expect us to know how a shark thinks?" Zoro asked.

Usopp frowned, but he wasn't dumb enough to say, 'But you are like a shark, and Nami is another kind, so you would think that you would know.' But he kept quiet as he turned back to watch the scene.

"Megalo…!" Jimbei whispered in surprise as Megalo growled viciously at Hody. "In that case, if you knew this whole time…why didn't you tell your father and your brothers about it?!"

"If I did," Shirahoshi cried out before she started to weep openly again, "if I told anyone…you would've tried get revenge on Sir Hody…and that would've only made Mother sad!"

"What does she mean?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"It was the final promise I made to my mother," Shirahoshi sobbed out. "I promised her that no matter what… no matter who killed her… I would never bring myself to hate them! We mustn't be angry and we mustn't hate them!"

"I honestly don't know what to say to that," Sanji said softly as the rest of the crew just looked on.

"Shirahoshi… you…" Manboshi croaked out.

"You've known all this time…?" Ryuboshi asked, his eyes wide.

"You mean to tell us…that you have been faithful to Mother's last wish this whole time?!" Fukaboshi asked at once, still struggling against his bounds. "You knew this, all along, and yet you held it inside you, all alone in the Shell Tower?!"

"…Yes…!" Shirahoshi whimpered.

"…Oh…oh, Shirahoshi…!" Fukaboshi whispered, tearfully. "You brave soul!"

"She doesn't resent the person who took her mother from her? Even if it was her dying wish, that's practically impossible," Franky whimpered as he started to sob as loudly as she usually did. "Oh, you sweet thing!"

"What a respectful, brave daughter!" Brook also sobbing out loudly.

"To think that she bore it all on her own for all those years," Robin said softly as her own mother's face came to her mind's eye. She looked down as she actually felt tears wanting to form. It had been years since she cried about her mother, but now she messed her so badly that it was painful. She bore both hate and fear towards the World Government for taking her mother and her home away from her. She knew that she could never forgive them for that. Shirahoshi truly was strong indeed to be able to find a way to let go of the past.

But Hody didn't see it that way. He started snickering, and then it burst into full laughter as he learned this.

"Don't laugh, you scum!" Jimbei roared out as Luffy glared ahead at Hody, wishing that he could hit him all over again.

"How could I not laugh at this?!" Hody cried out. "Right, Megalo?! If you just attracted everyone's attention and raised the alarm when it happened, you might have revealed I was the assassin all along! I'm amazed you were able to remain silent! And then you chose to tell this stupid girl! Had you told anyone else, my plans would've been ruined before they began!" He then pointed at her as he yelled, "Listen well, Shirahoshi. In the real world, we call that 'idiocy'! Because you refuse to hate me, this entire kingdom will fall!"

"Whatever buddy," Sanji snarled. This guy didn't deserve to be forgiven by such a kind-hearted woman. He was nothing but scum at the bottom of the ocean and deserved to rot in hell for what he did. If nothing else, at least it would shut him up, his voice was giving him a real headache.

"Because of you…" Hody grinned, "your father, your brothers, you and your people will all die… Shirahoshi!"

"He's wrong! Don't listen to him, your Highness!" Jimbei shouted at her. "What you did was not a mistake!"

"Yes," Brook agreed. "You have a kind and gentle heart, dear princess. That is something truly special and we need more like you in the world. Don't be ashamed of that!"

But Hody just laughed again as he asked, "What else does that make?!"

"Naivety," Zoro stated calmly. "But you think he would feel a little more sympathetic towards her mercy."

"He's too far gone by this point," Robin sighed. "I doubt that he knows how to feel anything but hate now."

Hody then spun about and shot handfuls of water shot at the king and her brothers, hitting them over and over until their blood was splattered on the ground. He ignored the screams from the citizens, pleading for him to stop, as well as Shirahoshi's face which was filled with pain. Finally, her family hit the ground, still bound and bleeding, with Neptune's crown falling off his head and rolled away from him.

"Father… Brothers…!" Shirahoshi screamed out in panic. The New Fishman Pirates only laughed as the citizens screamed, completely horrified but helpless to do anything. Hody then decided that there was no reason to delay any longer and demanded that someone pass him a sword. He was going to finish off the royal family right here and now.

But just then…?

"Hey, Straw Hat Luffy!" a man shouted from the crowd. "If you're here and if you're gonna destroy island, then do it now!"

"Yeah! Destroy everything, here and now!" another agreed.

"Please! If you're here on the island, then you've got to destroy everything now!" a third shouted and soon everyone around the plaza was chanting Luffy's name.

"STRAW HAT LUFFY! STRAW HAT LUFFY! STRAW HAT LUFFY! STRAW HAT LUFFY!"

"They really rather see their homes destroyed then see the royal family die," Brook said softly. "That's something special, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Robin nodded. "It is good to be reminded that not all nobles are cruel to their people."

However, Hody did not seem impressed by this. Rather, he seemed taken aback and irritated that the people were cheering for a human to come and fight him. Like Hody couldn't understand why they didn't want to see their king killed.

"Unbelievable," he said in disbelief. "I've heard of grasping at straws, but this is just ridiculous! Besides, Sharley's prophecy has to be wrong, this time!"

He approached Neptune's barely breathing form.

"Time to drag those deluded men back to reality," he hissed under his breath as he grabbed Neptune by his hair, and at this movement, the citizens stopped their chanting as they realized what was about to happen.

"Hear me, citizens!" Hody declared to everyone in the plaza. "Now, the former King Neptune's execution with commence!" Everyone glared with either horror or fury at him. "Watch closely… as the former king's head goes flying! When it happens, a rotten king, who held no ancestral pride, will be gone! A new Fishman Kingdom, where we will rule over the humans, will be born!"

"Stop talking already!" Zoro yelled out, growing more and more irritated by this guy; didn't he know how to do anything but talk and brag? He hated dealing with enemies who talked too much. Let him fight a strong, silent warrior any day so long as they were able to back up their threats.

"This is the end of the shameless Ryuuguu Kingdom!" Hody finished as he then brought his sword swinging down, aiming straight for Neptune's neck.

"…Master Luffy…" they heard Shirahoshi whisper in horror, saying his name like a prayer. "Master Luffy…!"

Most of the townspeople were turning away, not willing to watch this deed… but just when Hody was about to follow through on his promise…?

"PLEASE PROTECT MY FATHER!" Shirahoshi screamed out as loudly as she could as tears flooded down her face. "MASTER LUFFY!"

At her words, just before the blade connected with Neptune's neck, he froze. For a sudden noise had stopped him. They all looked back at Megalo, where the noise was coming from and saw how the poor shark gagged and gurgled as something seemed to be bouncing around inside his stomach, and then… his mouth opened up and something… or rather, _someone_ … fell out of the giant shark's mouth and into a puddle of saliva.

"Not the best of entrances there," Franky couldn't help but point out.

"That had to be the most disgusting of appearances I've ever seen," Usopp nodded as Luffy shrugged.

"I wanted out anyway," he said, "I was getting bored sitting in there."

"You heard everything said?" Zoro asked curiously.

"Yeah, I could hear it," Luffy admitted. "And I just… wanted to punch the guy already!"

"Good thing you did or Neptune would've had a lot more than hair taken cut off," Franky said with a nod.

Hody tried to get look at whoever it was, but the figure in the pool of saliva disappeared before he could even blink. Memory Luffy had vanished and next reappeared a split second later when he charged up and kicked Hody right in the gut. Hody roared in agony, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he was suddenly sent flying back and crashed into the plaza wall, hitting it so hard that it was as if a cannonball had been fired.

The entire crowd around them was gasping in disbelief.

"It's…it's…!" a Fishman stammered.

"IT'S STRAW HAT LUFFY!" they all screamed out. Memory Luffy touched down, covered in shark spit and his Second Gear burning about him like a powerful aura, his face deadly serious as he glared after Hody.

"HE'S REALLY HERE!" they all screamed out before they began to cheer.

"He save the King!"

"Did you hear that?! Princess Shirahoshi called him and he showed up to help!"

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi sobbed out in relief.

"He came out of the shark's mouth!?" Zeo, the purple-striped Fishman questioned.

"KYAA!" Daruma, the ugly, short one with the big mouth and scrawny limbs cried. "Has he been hiding in its stomach the whole time?! But why?!"

"Because Jimbei has a strange mind," Sanji muttered with a roll of his eyes. "He'd be a good addition to our crew because he's as nuts as the rest of us."

"You came out already?!" Jimbei questioned Luffy before rationalizing, "Well, I suppose he didn't have much of a choice."

"Yeah, I don't think that we could've cut it any closer," Chopper sighed in relief.

Jimbei then called out loudly, "Hurry up! Do it now! All of you!"

"Huh?!" Ikaros, the squid-guy, questioned. "Who's he talking to- _ich_?!"

"Don't worry!" memory Nami's voice called out from seemingly nowhere. "We were ready from the start!"

"Of course! We all knew that this would happen sooner or later," the current one laughed. "And knowing Luffy, it was going to be a lot sooner. But I am surprised that you managed to stay still for as long as you did, Luffy."

"I was only doing it because Jimbei asked," Luffy said firmly. "But I'm glad I came out early! Now we're in for a real party!"

Memory Nami suddenly appeared out of thin air, having been spinning her staff about like a windmill. Her body slowly coming into sight before she allowed it to drop completely and she stood back to back with Luffy, taking them all by surprise. She then held up a piece of paper and called out, "This is it, right Jimbei-chan? The document from the Celestial Dragons?"

"Yes! Well done!" Jimbei praised.

"Huh? No way!" one of the pirates called as he searched his pockets—obviously been the one who had been holding onto it. "The form's gone! Where did she…?"

"It wasn't easy running through all those pockets," the current Nami stated. "I had to go through hundreds of them trying to find the right one."

"Right," Zoro said suspiciously, highly doubting that she didn't bother taking anything else from them while she was at it.

And that was confirmed as she added in complaint, "Most of them didn't even having anything of value on them anyway! How is a girl supposed to make a living stealing off pirates if they're dirt broke?!"

"You really are scary, you know that right?" Usopp asked annoyed. But then again, so long as she wasn't stealing from him, he supposed that she could do whatever else she wanted.

"You fool! What were you doing?!" another pirate shouted to the one who had been holding onto the document.

"I also gave the keys to Robin!" memory Nami called smugly.

"No way!" that same pirate screamed out before he began searching his own pockets to realize that he had also been robbed. "The keys are gone!"

"What were you doing?!" the first pirate shouted at him.

Just then, they heard the sounds of locks and chains clattering before the royal family were all starting to sit up, freed from their restraints. At that same moment, the chains had slipped off Shirahoshi's hands and she stared at them before looking behind her to where Robin had appeared with a smile. Her brothers were at the king's side in a flash, but then one of Hody's men got everyone's attention skywards, where something was flying towards them.

"Look! Up in the sky! What is that?! A whale?! And a lion?!"

"Close," Franky grinned proudly. For right above their heads there were two figures flying towards the plaza. One of them was the whale named Hoe, whom they had found at the palace, and the lion had actually been the Thousand Sunny being supported with a large bubble over the sails like a hot-air balloon.

"No! It's… a pirate ship!" exclaimed another as the light shone from the cannon when Sunny opened its mouth.

"Gaon Cannon!" memory Franky's voice shouted. "FIRE!"

"Take 'em out!" the current Franky cheered as he punched the air. The Sunny then fired out a beam, which caused the current Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper to cheer and their eyes sparkle at the sight of it. "That never gets old!"

The beam hit the plaza, taking out a large portion of the pirates at the same time as well as creating a huge hole in the wall behind them as Hody's men were blown around like dandelion seeds in the wind.

"Now! Get going, whale!" memory Franky ordered as Hoe roared and dove at the king's side.

"Princes!" Jimbei called, "You must take the king and escape from here!"

Fukaboshi looked startled but nodded in understanding as he and his brothers pulled their father onto Hoe's back. Hody's commanders tried to stop them, but they were too slow. Hoe had already flown off with the four on his back, and out of harm's way. Just then, the Sunny came in for a sharp landing, skidding across the ground until it stopped right near the very center of the plaza, and causing all the pirates to scatter about to avoid getting run over. As everyone stared, the rest of the memory Straw Hats had appeared on the deck.

Memory Chopper came out in his Walk Point form, looking over the railing as he gasped out, "Whoa! Look at that! There are so many people out there!"

"Hey now… don't tell me that all these guys out there are our enemies!" memory Usopp said.

"It's more than likely," said the past-version of Sanji. "It looks to me like there are at least 70 or 80 thousand of them. No…better make that close to 100 thousand."

"So you can count, big deal," current Zoro yawned out. "I still took out more than you did."

"You wanna bet?" Sanji demanded hotly. "I bet I took out hundreds more than you did!"

"Enough!" present-day Nami scolded.

"YOHOHOHO!" memory Brook laughed. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"In that case, feel free to go to your room and take a nap," memory Zoro offered. "I'll take them all out for you."

"What the hell did you just say, Moss-head?!" memory Sanji questioned.

"Can't you two get along for just one day?" current Nami sighed.

"Well, it looks like you're all itching for a fight," memory Franky said, "so let's give these guys one hell of a show, men!"

"And boy did we," the current Franky grinned.

"A great way to end things before heading for the New World!" current Luffy beamed happily.

"Hard to top all that," current Zoro nodded in full agreement. "Though I had been hoping for more of a challenge, I guess it served as a warm-up for the New World."

Their past selves disembarked from the ship, the eight walked side by side as their captain approached them, his hat covering his eyes. They ignored all the cries and questions from the crowd above them, who wanted to know who side they were on, and if they were a friend or foe of the island.

Memory Robin had just succeeded in freeing Jimbei, who had gotten to his feet, of his chains. A slight pause came… but then Luffy turned to the crowd with his hand on his hat.

"…Friends or foes, huh?" he asked before he looked up and crossed his arms. "You guys can… decide that for yourselves!"

"Now, we look damn cool," Franky said as he gave them all the thumbs-up. "That is much more like it."

"Yes, I think that it may have won the people over," Robin said as she looked up to the people, who seemed to have made up their minds and were cheering.

"Straw Hat saved King Neptune!"

"Yeah! And before that, Shirahoshi called Straw Hat for help!"

"They must've had this planned with Boss Jimbei to save the island!"

"Already they got the wrong idea about us," current Sanji stated as he looked about.

"Yeah! Go get 'em Straw Hat!"

"Already, they're treating us like some kind of freakin' heroes," current Zoro sighed grimly.

"Is that really such a bad thing?" present-day Chopper asked curiously.

"Of course!" current Luffy said firmly. "We're pirates! Not heroes! Simple as that!"

"You are so simple-minded," current Nami shrugged tiredly.

The purple-striped Zeo was chuckling at the sight of the townspeople cheering.

"Well, well," he said. "It seems you're quite the popular man, Straw Hat Luffy… but don't think that you've won, just because you rescued the king for the moment! You worthless human pirate scumbags!"

However, everyone ignored him both in past and present. Instead, they watched with bright interest at how Pappug jumped from the ship and into memory Luffy's arms in a hug before he began to tell on the others by informing Luffy that he was almost killed by his crew. While that was happening, as soon as memory Brook saw her, he went right up to Shirahoshi.

"Yohohoho! So you must be the Mermaid princess!" he gasped in awe as he bowed politely. "What a beauty! Excuse me, but may I look at your panties?"

Memory Nami went running in out of nowhere and gave him a hard punch to the head as she yelled, "Don't ask the princess that!"

"Then show me yours," memory Brook offered.

"He's digging his own grave again," current Usopp said, though he had to admire Brook for his boldness.

"WHY SHOULD I?!" both Nami's demanded in fury before they hit both the past and the present version of Brook, leaving them whimpering in pain on the ground.

"That is such a bad habit of yours, Brook," current Robin stated to their Brook, who still in terrible pain. "I think that you would be saving yourself a lot of pain and suffering if you learn to break that habit."

"But, Robin-san… it's like an instinct! Like fighting! Or running for your life! I can't help myself sometimes!" present-day Brook sighed as Chopper nursed the bump on his head.

Memory Luffy put Pappgu down, merely commenting that it looked like everyone made it here safely.

"Nami, my dear!" memory Sanji sang and spun about to her. "I rescued those idiots! Do you love me now?"

"Yes, yes, Sanji. Thank you very much," memory Nami sighed.

"Really?!" the current one gasped in joy as she rolled her eyes and told him to shut up.

"Idiot," memory Zoro hissed. "We escaped on our own before you got there! You didn't save anyone!"

"Ha! You weren't looking too impressive when you almost drowned!" current Sanji retorted smugly.

The two glared at each other as their past selves explained about how Brook became a ghost and found Pappug, who had managed to find Zoro's swords, who then cut through the chains, bars and even the walls of the tower they were in before they were picked up by the Sunny.

"I see, so that's why the tower was sliced apart when we returned to the palace for the banquet," Robin said thoughtfully. "Why did you go that far?"

"It was quick," current Zoro shrugged unconcerned.

"Zoro," present-day Nami sighed. "You were in a palace, which was underwater. It kinda defeats the purpose of escaping a cage before drowning if you're just gonna let in more water, doesn't it?"

He just grunted as their past selves continued to ignore everyone else around them, citizen and pirate alike, as memory Nami handing Shirahoshi the document.

"Here, Shirahoshi!" she said as she held the form from the Celestial Dragons. "I think it's safest with you."

Shirahoshi gasped excitedly as she took it, making it look like a tiny scrap in her giant hands.

"Thank you, so much, everyone!" Shirahoshi told them gratefully. "This is the hope for Fishman Island that mother left behind!"

"Yeah, but Crybaby gonna be in trouble just by staying here," memory Luffy pointed out.

"Indeed," Jimbei agreed. "Her capture was not part of the plan."

"But the unexpected problems are what are the most fun!" current Brook said lightly.

"Now is not the time for fun!" Usopp whispered to him. "It would've been difficult to keep her safe no matter who we were up against because of how big she is."

But Shirahoshi just realized what Luffy said.

"What did you just call me, Master Luffy?" she asked in surprise as he looked up to her. "Up till now, you've always called me Weaking?"

Memory Luffy just smiled back. "Yeah," he admitted, "But it turns out you're not as cowardly as I first thought you were. So, I'm just gonna call you Crybaby from now on."

"She does need to toughen up a little," current Zoro nodded. "It would be good for her."

"Well, she did promise she wasn't going to be a crybaby anymore when we next saw her," current Chopper pointed out.

"Yeah, so you may have to come up with another nickname for her then, Luffy," present-day Franky laughed.

"Oh, yeah," Luffy nodded as he thought that over.

"Why not just call her by her name?" Nami suggested.

"Because it's too long and hard to remember," he pointed out like it was obvious.

"You really are bad with names, aren't you, Luffy?" Usopp snorted with amusement. "Makes me wonder how you remember ours half the time?"

Soon the two of them were laughing together.

"…Master Luffy…!" Shirahoshi whispered in surprise, before apologizing for keeping quiet about what Hody did before. But the others wouldn't hear of it. They reassured her that they did not blame her and that it was a remarkable thing that she did not wish for revenge. Jimbei said that they liked her just this way, sweet and brave, and that one day there will be a future where they could all live in peace. Until then, they would protect the tiny ray of hope that she nurtured all this time. Which moved her to tears once more.

Memory Luffy smiled at that. "Well, she may not be a weakling, but she's still a crybaby."

Now that it was all settled, the townspeople all started to cheer for them again, yelling at the Straw Hats and Jimbei to kick Hody's ass. Of course, with the bastard buried in the rubble, it looked like he had already done so. At least until he pulled himself out—though there was a dent in his gut where Luffy kicked him, he was still able to get up and walk.

"He's built like a freakin' tank!" current Usopp said darkly.

"Tank? Please! We have a real tank on our side!" current Franky said proudly. "And this guy has nothing on it!"

"That's not what I meant!" Usopp answered, "Though you do make a good point!"

Hody was looked ticked off as he walked forward to return to where his chair was as he shouted out, "That damned Vander Decken is completely useless!"

"Captain Hody?!" questioned his underlings fearfully.

"He's still able to get up after taking a hit to the stomach like that anyway?" current Luffy asked suddenly. "I hit him pretty hard but he kept getting back up."

"It must be the drugs again," current Sanji answered simply. "If they were forced to take those things before a fight, then that just proves they weren't' that strong to begin with. Just forget about it."

"I told him that I wanted Shirahoshi dead!" Hody shouted as he glared at them all. But his eyes lingered on Jimbei, who was standing right at Luffy's side and his anger seemed to grow. "And you, Jimbei! You had me played for a fool! I should've realized it the moment you were captured so easily!"

"Yet you didn't," current Franky smirked.

"You seem awfully fond of this human trash!" Hody yelled. "You're nothing but a traitor to your own kind! You, who grew up in the Fishman district with Fisher Tiger and Arlong, your sworn brothers! But they both were defeated by humans! You're siding with the very human who stopped Arlong instead of avenging him! You disgust me, Jimbei! You're nothing but a coward, just like Neptune!"

Jimbei only glared at him.

"Even after all this, he just doesn't understand," current Nami sighed softly. She could see now why Queen Otohime had made such a request to her children as she was dying. She must've been afraid that something like this would happen.

"Yeah, and Hody is the only traitor to their kind since he was willing to practically wipe out the entire Fishman and Merfolk race!" current Chopper said angrily.

"But know this!" Hody said, grinning wildly again. "When I'm the king, everything will change! The Reverie will be held this year and it will be the perfect opportunity to show the world! All of the kings of the world will gather in one place at Mariejois! And it will be there that I kill them all! That will be the day that I drag all the humans underwater and they will become our slaves! No one will dare to defy Fishmen ever again! It will be just as it is in the pirate world!"

"He honestly doesn't believe that, does he?" current Sanji asked in annoyance. "Even if he did succeed here and go up to Mariejois, they aren't gonna just let him walk over them! The admirals for one thing could take him out… and armies from all over the world will gather to put a stop to them. This isn't a fight that they could ever hope to win."

"He's got no brains, he clearly didn't think that far ahead into the future," present-day Zoro shrugged. Hody then gestured around him at all of his men, including the human pirates he had enslaved.

"Look around you!" he shouted out, as if trying to prove that he was right and everyone else was wrong. "Look at all these ferocious barbarians at my command! This will be your future, Straw Hat! I ALONE AM FIT TO BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

Memory Luffy lowered his head to the point where his eyes were hidden by the rim of his hat.

"…King of the Pirates?" he whispered calmly, yet anyone who knows him knew that he had just hit a sore point with him.

"Well, now he's done it," current Zoro smirked as he remembered how Luffy responded to that.

Hody's next laugh was the loudest one yet. "Look at you all! What can you possibly hope to accomplish with a measly little crew of 10?! We have 100,000 men on our side!" They all roared in approval. The people, meanwhile began cheering for Luffy and Jimbei to take them out before Hody looked all around him at his 'kingdom' and declared, "NEW FISHMAN PIRATES! ATTACK!"

The New Fishman Pirates roared as they charged at the memory Straw Hats and there were mixed reactions from the whole crew.

Memory Chopper and Pappug screamed, hugging each other as he cried out, "100,000 men?! We're all doomed!"

"This is why I didn't wanna get involved with you guys!" Pappug hollered in terror, "I don't know why I came here?!"

"Go hide in the ship then," current Zoro said, before remembering that there was no point in trying to talk to him.

"Where was he during the fight anyway?" current Luffy asked suddenly.

"Well, he was with us in the tank for a while…?" present-day Usopp said as he thought back. "But after we were flung out…?"

"No idea," the present-day versions of Nami and Chopper both finished for him as Nami added, "Probably hiding though."

"We might all get beaten to death before we get a chance to fight," memory Robin said casually as she raised up her arms and looked about.

"WHY YOU GOTTA GO AND PUT IT LIKE THAT?!" past-version Usopp questioned in terror.

"Seriously, woman… why do you go out of your way to scare us?!" the current Usopp demanded as she giggled back. "You're gonna scare me to death one of these days!"

"100,000 enemies?!" memory Brook questioned, his sword at hand. "My word! I feel as though my eyes will pop out from the shock! Only… I have no eyes. Yohohohoho!"

"100,000 is nothing!" memory Nami said confidently, "We can take them!"

"Don't say things like that while hiding behind us!" memory Usopp roared out as she put him, Sanji, and Zoro around her like a wall.

"Seriously, do we look like human shields to you?" current Usopp demanded.

"I'm not gonna lie to you," current Nami confessed. "Yes, you do."

"What? Why you…!" he began angrily before memory Franky jumped from the ship and began to flex.

"So my time has finally come!" he declared proudly. "Super ARMORED ME!" He then opened his hand to reveal his smaller one and began to taunt them, "Now then, come at me whenever you want!"

"We have ten people," memory Sanji said as he did the calculations. "So that means that each of us has to take out at least ten thousand."

"Superior numbers don't always win," memory Zoro said, his hand at his sword. "It's not like they're navy elites or anything. You're cowering for nothing."

"What the hell did you just say, you Moss-head bastard?!" memory Sanji questioned.

"You heard me, you bloody-nosed, two-bit cook!" memory Zoro shouted.

"Now, now boys," present-day Robin chided in. "There's more than enough for everyone. You need to remember to share."

Just then, and without warning, memory Luffy shoved his way in between the bickering duo and walked straight towards the horde of charging Fishmen, much to their surprise. He ignored everyone as they tried to question what he was doing; but they let him go on ahead as the New Fishman Pirates hollered and roared, running in for the kill, thinking he was gonna be easy prey.

"They're in for a nasty surprise," present-day Sanji smirked as Hody cackled at the sight and yelled for them all to kill him.

Suddenly, memory Luffy raised his head up and his pupils expanded ever so slightly as a huge, unseen force pulsated from him, stopping charging army in their tracks. They all froze, as if time had stopped for that moment… and then, wave upon wave of pirates all had their eyes roll back and they collapsed where they stood… out cold.

Soon, at least half of the army had already been taken out in less than a minute.

The cocky attitude that Hody had was instantly wiped off his face as he stared in horror, actually trembling when he witnessed this and he questioned, "W… what is this?!"

"Not so high and mighty now are you?" present-day Luffy smiled back.

"He took down half of our army without even doing anything!" one of Hody's men called in shock.

"Hey!" someone else shouted to the ones lying on the ground, "Pull yourselves together!"

"I can't believe it!" more people began to shout out. "He took out 50,000 of our men with just one stare?!"

Even the citizens were shocked at this, but once they realized that Luffy had already taken out half of the army, they began to cheer again.

"That was…Conqueror's Haki!" present-day Robin said in mild surprise.

"He can do this after only two years of training!" Jimbei asked, sounding deeply impressed.

"Yeah, Rayleigh was ruthless on me learning them," present-day Luffy said with a laugh. "He made sure I learned it… or else he'd beat me senseless!"

"That's a lot coming from you," current Usopp whispered, terrified at the idea of what Rayleigh considered to be ruthless?

"What else do you expect from a former member of the Roger Pirates?" present-day Franky laughed. "I bet someone like him could've knocked out the entire 100,000 at once!"

"The Colors of the Conquering King," memory Sanji muttered. "I always knew that he had it in him."

"Well, of course," memory Zoro said with amusement. "I wouldn't expect anything better from him. If he couldn't do this much, then I'd have to take over as Captain."

"Yeah, I would have been left with no choice," the current one added to their Luffy. "But since you can use it, no use in me trying to take over for you."

Luffy laughed as he said, "Good to hear!"

"…Master Luffy…so amazing…!" Shirahoshi whispered, her hands over her mouth and eyes wide.

"Hey, you!" memory Luffy shouted, turning his attention directly to Hody, who was staring at him with his mouth wide open. "You're Hody, right? Well, I'm gonna kick your ass! You can talk big and play at being king all you want… but there's only room for one King of the Pirates!"

Well, he certainly got their attention. Now almost all of the rest of Hody's crew was too scared to go near him, some even backing away like they were afraid he would go after them next. Which they had a good reason, for the rest of the Straw Hats were still standing and ready to fight as well.

Memory Zoro then sighed as he took his bandana off his arm and tied it onto his head while he let his kimono fall from his shoulders so that he was bare chest.

"Luffy," he scolded. "50,000 is going too far. At least leave some for the rest of us."

"That's rather inconsiderate of you, captain," the current one added. "You have to share with us, too you know."

"Yeah, kinda forgot about that," present-day Luffy answered as his past self said, "Sorry about that."

"What're you so fired up for?" memory Sanji asked bored, with Zoro barely glancing over at him. "I'm gonna take out 30,000. You got that Moss-Head?"

"Shut it, Mr. Nosebleed," memory Zoro retorted as one of the Fishmen tried to get up, with Sanji not even looking down at him as he gave him a hard stomp on the head and knocked him out again.

"Hey, is that guy saying something?" current Brook asked as he looked to the purple-striped Fishman again, who seemed to be yelling out loud about something or other.

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked as he looked up. "I don't think so."

"I think it's just best we ignore him," present-day Nami stated unconcerned.

Meanwhile, memory Brook suddenly pulled out his sword and waved it about excitedly as he called, "This goes out to all the beautiful ladies in the audience! OK! I hope you all enjoy this performance! OH YEAH!"

Roars came out from all over.

"I don't think they want to hear your songs," memory Robin said.

"Yohohoho! Robin-san! As always, you are so cool!" memory Brook cheered.

"You really are, Robin-san!" present-day Brook added happily. "How you do it, I don't know, but it really is a gift if you ask me! Yohohoho!"

"It's all about timing," she smiled back.

"Let's go!" memory Luffy yelled and he jumped up into the air, the first to throw the first punch… literally. "Third GEAR!" and he blew into his thumb until his arm grew to giant-size, causing screams of panic to the enemy below him. "Bone Balloon!" He hovered there in the air for a moment before he pulled it back.

"I don't care how many thousands of you that come! Bring it on!" memory Luffy declared. "Gum Gum… GIANT PISTOL!"

"AWESOME!" present-day Luffy cheered out. "That's so cool-looking when you see yourself from the outside!"

"At least we don't need to worry about you shrinking anymore," Franky laughed out. "You were kinda ruining our image there with that puny form of yours!"

Memory Luffy threw his fist down with an almighty crash, taking out at least several hundred in just that one punch and creating a massive towering dust cloud. Only the Straw Hats and Jimbei remained calm as they watched.

"Right," Jimbei said, "Shall we get started to?"

"Waiting for an invitation?" present-day Robin asked with a smile.

"Nah, just wanted to see them squirm," current Zoro smirked as his past self sighed, "He went out and did his own thing again."

"Because of those bastard, Shirahoshi cried," memory Sanji said darkly. "Any man who can't wipe away a lady's tears, isn't a real man at all! Time to go wild." But then he turned back to Shirahoshi and said blissfully, "Once I've taken all these losers out, we can go on a date at the Mermaid Café, Shirahoshi-chwan!"

"I think she has had enough problems with a persistent stalker," present-day Nami sighed as she shook her head.

"Really, Sanji, you keep giving these damn cool speeches, but then you go and ruin them by acting all goofy like that," current Usopp muttered softly.

"What can I say?" present-day Sanji asked dramatically. "I am a slave to love!"

Thankfully, memory Sanji was snapped out of it when he heard their opponents shout out death-threats and he went running in. He jumped up into the air before landing a deadly kick to a Fishman's, soon he was kicking all around him, and he went nuts.

"I won't let you destroy this mermaid paradise!" he declared.

"For this is my heaven which delivered me from hell!" the current Sanji added proudly.

"Surrender or be annihilated," memory Zoro said with an almost detached voice before he raised his swords, creating a giant cyclone of blades and wind at them. When the dust cleared, the pirates that had been in front of him had been blown to the winds and the way had been cleared.

"They're still coming," the current Zoro added, slightly impressed. "Well, I gotta give them credit for being persistent. You think they would've realized that it's not the smartest thing to do."

"Some never learn," present-day Robin shrugged just as her past self was suddenly surrounded.

"What are you looking at woman?!" one of the pirates demanded to memory Robin, was just looking on calmly.

"This island, is filled with irreplaceable pieces of history," she said as she slowly raised her arms. "It is not something for you to destroy! Not the people… nor the country… nor the history!" And then, she caused a set of arms to grow out of each of their backs and grab hold of their necks until they heard the familiar cracking and they dropped at once.

"Robin, your powers are so awesome!" present-day Chopper cheered out with wide eyes. "Scary, but awesome too!"

"I try," she smiled back.

"Yohohohohoho!" memory Brook chortled. "It's getting hot! The perfect kind of weather for a concert!" And suddenly he began to shake his hips, and for some reason, the enemy started to do so. Like hypnotized, the group of pirates that went after Brook were doing whatever he did. Brook then spun about happily as he called, "Everybody say 'Whooo'!"

"Whoooo!" they all chanted. Shirahoshi laughed and then Brook disappeared in an instant, moving so fast that no one saw him cut those men.

"Today's audience is simply spectacular!" memory Brook declared as he re-sheathed his sword.

"I don't know what's more embarrassing," current Zoro couldn't help but speak out. "Dancing in the middle of a battle, or being tricked into dancing by your opponent."

"What's wrong with dancing?" current Franky demanded before he began to dance and spin about. "It's cool as hell!"

"Yohohoho! I couldn't have said it better myself, Franky-san!" current Brook said as the two of them began spin about together.

"I caught him!" someone shouted and they looked to see that memory Chopper was being held by one of the pirates, soon calling in others, ready to help tearing the little guy apart. What they didn't see coming was him transforming into his new Kung Fu Point, and he kicked them about wildly, taking them all completely by surprise.

"He transformed?!" they cried out.

"Bring it on!" memory Chopper declared confidently. "I don't care how many of you there are!"

"Hey, did that form used to be your Arm Point?" present-day Nami asked him curiously.

"Yeah," current Chopper admitted with a smile. "But I decided to change it around a little. I still have the strength from that point, but I also learned Kung Fu during the last two years, so I sorta mixed them together."

"Very cool," present-day Franky grinned, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Huh? D-Don't think that you're gonna get me to thank you for that, you jerk!" Chopper said as he smiled and danced about a little. "Praising me won't get you anywhere!"

Memory Usopp was also starting to let loose, shooting out some of his man-eating plants, with the florae grabbing hold of the pirates and started to eat them.

"How'd you like that?" he bragged proudly. "I am the master of the Pop Greens! They call me Captain Usopp!"

But without him realizing it, one of the pirates tried to sneak up on him with a sword… until he was struck by lightning. They looked to see the hazy form of a thunder cloud start to fade away, with memory Nami standing directly underneath it, lightly hitting her shoulder with her staff.

"You did well, but you need to remember to pay a little more attention in battle, Usopp," current Robin informed him lightly as he sighed.

"Yeah, I guess," he nodded as his past self grinned and moved up his goggles to see memory Nami, thanking her for her help.

"I thought you had gotten a little tougher," she answered back, "But it seems that some things never change."

"That's cold," present-day Chopper winced.

However, it seemed that Usopp hadn't been the only one who hadn't been paying attention either. For there was another large group of pirates behind Nami, but it was hard to tell if they had been going for her, or for memory Franky… who took them all out with a single blast from the cannons in his shoulder. When they were all looking at him, he added, "Looks like everyone's pretty fired up!" he said with a grin. "An army of fifty thousand… this is an ideal stage to reveal my latest surprises!"

"Surprises?!" memory Usopp questioned at once.

"What are you talking about, Franky?!" memory Chopper asked with wide eyes.

"The Sunny's got some new weapons!" memory Franky grinned. "Two of them!" He caused his small hand to come up to make a peace sign before asking, "Anyone want to come along?"

"Hey! Why didn't you tell us about them before?" present-day Luffy asked suddenly. "On our way down to Fishman Island! You didn't tell us you had such cool stuff!"

"Oh? But that would ruin the fun part of a surprise if I told you about them right away!" present-day Franky grinned.

"I don't see what's so cool about them to begin with," current Nami sighed. What was with boys and flashy weapons anyway? But at the words 'new weapons' both memory versions of Usopp and Chopper looked up at once.

"New Weapons?!" the two cried out, their eyes sparkling like stars. They happily went running about Franky, who continued to pose. Even memory Nami was walking forward, but it was more out of the hope that it was safer inside than staying out. Shirahoshi, meanwhile, was looking down at them with amazement in her eyes.

"You're all so amazing! Everyone!" she gasped out happily.

"Thank you, princess!" present-day Sanji beamed proudly. "I live only to serve you! I would gladly face down an army of a million barbarians just for that sweet smile of yours!"

But as he happily cooed over her, he didn't notice how malice seemed to be seeping out of Hody, who had turned his attention towards Shirahoshi. He sent a large Water Shot straight at her this time, who gasped and flinched when she saw it. But then, another Water Shot seemed to come out of nowhere and hit the one Hody made, causing them to collide in midair and explode at once.

"What the?!" Hody questioned in fury.

"Whoa!" memory Luffy said, who had been nearby and looked ready to start fighting before he relaxed. "Guess I didn't need to do worry!"

Turned out that the other shot had come from Jimbei, with another large water drop hanging from his hand, ready to be fired out should Hody even think of trying something like that again.

"Huh?!" Daruma questioned as he hopped about. "The captain turned into a monster and made his Water Shot insanely powerful, but Jimbei deflected it with a Water Shot of his own! He's a monster, too!"

"Humph!" Jimbei scoffed. "I don't where you got this power from, Hody, but your Fishman Karate lacks discipline!"

Present-day Zoro nodded, for he had sensed that right away. There was some force behind their strength, but there was no substance in it. Kinda like a bamboo pole… strong on the outside, but more hollow on the inside… meaning that it could crack easily.

But now that Jimbei had made his presence on the battlefield known, the Fishman Pirates were even more nervous at the thought of fighting against him. Jimbei was the first Fishman in history to become a Warlord, and after his resignation his bounty had gone up 412,000,000 Beri.

"I can't wait for Jimbei to join us!" present-day Luffy pouted. "I want him to join us now!"

"I wouldn't worry," current Robin chuckled. "After all, he did promise us he would once he finished taking care of everything that he needed to do, didn't he? The next time we see him, he did say we could ask again. All we have to do is be patient."

"Yeah, I know," Luffy sighed. "I still hate waiting thought."

"Well, then you might want to try and get your bounty up higher before he joins us, Luffy," current Sanji teased. "It be embarrassing for the captain to have a smaller bounty than someone else in the crew."

"Oh, I don't think we need to worry about that," Robin smiled again. "I have a feeling that it will only be a matter of time before the government starts to take notice of us again. In fact, I think we may be receiving new posters with higher bounties sooner or later."

"Great," Nami sighed as Sanji realized that he hadn't had the chance to be able to send the government those pictures of himself so that they could get it right. He would have to do that when they got back to the ship… though he didn't see how his wanted poster could get any worse.

"Shut your mouths and fight me!" Jimbei barked at Hody's men. "You'll have to kill all of us if you want to harm the princess!"

"That's right!" present-day Sanji cheered out. "We'll protect Princess Shirahoshi with our lives! Come at us, you bastards!"

The pirates were all conflicted on retreating or listening to Hody. Though he solved that problem right away, for them.

"Why are you hesitating?" Hody demanded. "I thought you all said that you'd never retreat!"

Meanwhile, memory Zoro took out the swords of several dozen pirates, the broken ends now lying imbedded in the ground.

"How dull," he grunted with his sword in his mouth, hardly even working up a sweat. Just then, another force of pirates were facing off against him, each one holding up a shield in the form of a sea turtle shell.

"Don't get cocky," Ikaros ordered. "If your gonna talk like that… then do so after you've cut through the New Fishman Pirates impregnable defense force!"

"We're gonna shatter those swords you're so proud off!" someone else declared as they continued to hit their shields with the hilt of their swords, like they thought it would intimidate him. But something changed over Zoro's face as he glared at them all.

Of course… the current Zoro remembered clearly what happened to them when they were overly confident with their skills. Sabaody… he gritted his teeth. He was never going to allow that to happen again. He made a vow to never lose again!

"Three Swords Style…" his past self whispered. The ghostly form of a dragon seemed to be forming behind him as his swords glinted with an unholy light, making the whole effect look rather… demonic. "BLACK ROPE DRAGON TWISTER!"

He brought his swords down to create a whirlwind of blades from his swings, and the pirates were swept up like leaves in the middle of a tornado, and were getting cut to ribbons… their shells being chopped up like how Sanji cut up fruit.

"ZORO! YOU ARE SO AWESOME!" present-day Chopper cried out, jumping about just as excitedly as when he first learned of Franky's new weapons.

"You never fail to amaze me with how strong you become, Zoro-san," current Brook added in awe as Zoro grinned evilly.

"So you can cut things up," current Sanji said in annoyance. "Please, I dice and slice things in the kitchen every single day! It's nothing special."

"Jealous?" present-day Zoro asked with a grin.

"In your dreams," Sanji retorted as the pirates around them shouted in panic as their crew members fell around from the sky along with the sliced up pieces of their shields.

"And to think that there was a time you couldn't cut through steel?" present-day Robin reminded him. "What do you plan on learning to slice through next?"

"We'll just have to wait and see," current Zoro said. "Though, I did wonder about a mountain in one shot…?"

"W-What kind of attack is that?!" one of the pirates was screaming. "It was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper or something…?!"

He was right, and they only just realized that the tornado was still going, slicing apart anything unfortunate enough to get swept up into its flow.

"Run! It'll cut you to shreds!"

"How far is it gonna chase us?!"

Memory Zoro heard the question and answered grimly, "To the very pits of Hell…"

That worked in scaring them half to death, running away with tears in their eyes.

"Why does everyone here have such cool one-liners?" current Brook asked in admiration.

"Again, it's all about timing," Robin reminded him just as a large group of mermen had caused their bubbles to grow, allowing them to fly overhead and over the battlefield as they headed straight for Shirahoshi. Thankfully, memory Sanji was the first to notice these. At least it was hard to tell since he took the time to puff on his cigarette.

"What an obvious tactic," he grunted just as Daruma called in another one of their 'special' forces, and this time they looked like moving pin cushions.

"Sea Urchin Spike Unit, led by Captain Harisenbon!" shouted Daruma as they surrounded Sanji, even going as far to spike their own men who were unlucky enough to be in the way. "Skewer that man with the fancy footwork!"

"How many of these forces do they have?" present-day Luffy wondered out loud. "How'd they manage to keep track of everyone?"

"No idea," present-day Nami responded. "I think that they just thought they sounded cool and they needed to know where to put everyone."

The captain of this new squad seemed to be a pufferfish Fishman, who inflated with his spikes sticking right out as the rest of his men prepared to charge in. But memory Sanji remained still while casually smoking a cigarette as he allowed himself to become surrounded on all sides.

"Sanji-san? How are you always able to stay so calm like that?" current Brook questioned in wonder.

"I'm always calm," Sanji responded as if it was obvious.

"Except when a woman's around," Zoro added darkly as the others all nodded in full agreement.

Memory Sanji ignored the potential danger he was in as he looked up to the sky, watching the smoke drift upwards, like he was lost in thought. The current Sanji knew why. He had been thinking back to his days in hell… he remembered how he had been forced to run from those ugly creatures every single day for two years. He ran and ran as fast as his legs could go. He couldn't let them catch him… death would've been preferable to that. Through the rain, snow and thunder he continued running. He was never going to let them get the better of him ever again. He could never forget the fear he felt on Sabaody and he never wanted to go through it again.

The Sea Urchin Spike Unit went straight for him… but he disappeared a split second before they collided with him… instead impaling each other and blood soon soaked the ground as they tried to figure out what happened.

"Not a very smart tactic to begin with," current Zoro couldn't help but speak up when he remembered how he had done that very same thing back as Whisky Peak way back near the beginning of the Grand Line. He disappeared as those bounty hunters ended up shooting each other.

They were all howling in pain as they stared about, trying to figure out where memory Sanji ran off to… and then…?

"UP THERE!"

Memory Sanji was right above them, running straight upwards until he was in the sky and standing there so that it looked like he was standing on the air.

"Sky… WALK!" memory Sanji proclaimed, and soon everyone was focused on him, staring in shock at what he was doing.

"Awesome!" memory Luffy cried out excitedly when he saw him. "Sanji's flying! Just like those other guys!"

"CP9's Moon Walk ability," memory Robin noted as she caused the necks of several other to crack.

"You'd be amazed what you can learn with desperation and the right motivation," current Sanji sighed, thinking back to how he had been so desperate to escape that he chose to just keep running upwards until he was out of their grasp.

"Really? What kind of desperation are you talking about?" present-day Chopper asked curiously as Sanji shivered at the memories.

"The desperation to remember who you are," he answered back vaguely. "That is all I have to say on the subject."

Chopper never had a chance to ask him what he meant, for memory Sanji went running off until he stood between Shirahoshi and the pirates.

"Hey! You guys!" memory Sanji proclaimed, taking the pirates completely by surprise since they couldn't see how he was supporting himself in the air without a bubble.

"What?! He's flying?!" they cried out.

"If you've got any business with Shirahoshi-chan, you're gonna have to go through me!" memory Sanji declared before he gave Shirahoshi a loving thumbs-up, adding, "Worry not, Shirahoshi, for I, Sanji, your gallant knight is here to protect you!"

"Oh, Master Sanji!" Shirahoshi said, happily.

"That arrogant bastard!" one of the mermen called as the others booed.

"For once they're right," present-day Zoro muttered knowingly.

"Shut it if you want to keep breathing," Sanji snarled back as his past self snarled at the pirates, "Now to cook these small fry." He was glaring at them before he began to spin in mid-air, which his legs were soon glowing like hot embers

"Diable Jambe…" he began, getting right above them all. "POELE A FRIRE: SPECTRE!"

With seemingly endless rapid-fire kicks, he began to give those pirates a vicious beating, hitting them all with a barrage of flames that glowed like rainbows when they made contact, filling the sky with light like fireworks. He never missed a single hit as they were sent flying violently back to earth and left deep craters there.

There were excited cheers from some of the present-day Straw Hats at the sight of it all. But soon, the focus was back on Luffy, who had turned back to face Hody and his officers.

"You!" memory Luffy called to Hody, getting everyone's attention. "Just you wait. I'll take care of you in a second!" He then began to run forward as he declared. "You can bring on a hundred thousand men, or even a million! We'll send 'em all flying!"

"Hell ya!" current Franky and Usopp both applauded together. The battle waged on. The Straw Hats were barely drawing breaths as they continued to take out the Fishman pirates, who were dropping like flies. There really was no comparison… memory Luffy went charging ahead and used his punches to take out a hundred at once, while Jimbei backed him up and dealt with anyone who lagged behind with one shot. Then there was memory Sanji, who seemed to enjoy taking his time and kicked out dozens at once before stopping to draw a breath on his cigarette… at least until he noticed memory Zoro, who couldn't get through them fast enough… turning to him with a taunting grin, who grew angry.

"This isn't over yet, Moss-Head!" he yelled out.

"As if I'd lose to you, Nosebleed!" memory Zoro roared back and they went charging into the battle, tearing up anyone dumb enough to get in their way.

Jimbei just watched on, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Why are they competing with each other?" he asked, not noticing how another tried to sneak up on him and cut him down. Thankfully, memory Robin noticed and stopped him by causing several arms to grow out of his body and hold him in place before the familiar cracking noise rang out and he dropped like a sack of stones.

"Don't mind them," she answered, appearing at Jimbei's side and spoke as if informing him why a couple young boys were fighting. "They're like that all the time."

Jimbei sighed, looking like he felt pity for them for having to put up with that. Meanwhile, memory Franky was getting their attention by telling them that his new weapons were ready and if anyone wanted a ride, then they're to jump onboard while they had the chance. In the end, the memory versions of Usopp, Chopper, and Nami all bolted straight for the ship… no one else paid them much mind for they were dealing with the past versions of Zoro and Sanji, who were both knocking anyone in range out.

In the end, they both sent one particularly large Fishman flying back, actually launched over the heads of everyone else until he crashed at Hody's feet, who was looking both disgusted and furious at this. And even more so when the Fishman croaked out, "They're… too strong…"

"What did you just say?" he snarled at the Fishman before he reached down and grabbed his face, causing him to start thrashing about, trying to get free. "You think humans are strong?" he demanded in outrage. "And you dare call yourself a Fishman?"

"C-Captain!" he whimpered. "Please… I-I'm sorry!" The other members of the New Fishman Pirates were looking up at Hody with frightened eyes. They were scared of the Straw Hats, but they were also scared of what Hody would do to them if they didn't do as he bid. They didn't know what to do anymore.

"You shouldn't disappoint me so much," Hody warned menacingly, "I have no need for an underling… WHO'S AFRAID OF HUMANS!"

And he actually threw the poor man a fair distance away before Hody marched over to his chair and sat down. "Go," he ordered, "Kill Shirahoshi already!"

With no other choice, another group, this time carrying a bunch of cannons went forward and pointed their weapons at Shirahoshi, hoping to kill her from a distance.

"The problem is that she's so large," present-day Franky stated. "It'd be kinda hard to miss a target that big."

"Well, good thing she's got the rest of us there to help protect her! Yohohoho!" current Brook reminded them all proudly. "Like Jimbei-san said, they'd have to get through us before they could even touch her!"

With a familiar laugh, memory Brook came running in and jumped up to position himself between the princess this time as he cried out, "I'm afraid I can't allow that! How could you try to hurt the Mermaid Princess, who is beloved by the whole world?!" He put his bow up onto his violin and called, "Party Music!"

He began to play a cheerful tune, it was light and exciting and suddenly Brook appeared in front of a full moon.

"Hey, what's going on?" current Luffy asked as he looked about, the entire area seemingly becoming hazy.

"This is what happens when I draw them into my world of music!" current Brook laughed as he pulled out his microphone again and began to start singing. Everything around them began to change and shift about. The battle faded until they were surrounded by an aurora of bright lights and colors as the sky was filled with stars. Buildings appeared around them in a multitude of different colors and shapes as the lights began to take on the forms of animals such as a giraffe and an elephant like floats from a parade. Forms of beautiful women dressed in party clothes soon began to dance around them.

"Whoa! Do all those girls have the same face?" Usopp gasped as the women began to circle them and danced invitingly. It was true, for all the girls were dressed just identically, with only colors on their feathered headpieces being the only thing different.

"Oh, this must be a part of what heaven looks like," present-day Sanji sighed before adding, "Come to think of it though, you have a better idea of what that looks like more than any of us."

"I really don't remember too much about what I saw when I died," current Brook said thoughtfully. "Oh well! I'm happy anyway! Yohohoho!"

It had been like they had been dropped right into a party in the middle of an amusement park, with memory Brook still up in the sky and continuing to play.

He was getting the New Fishman Pirates to start celebrating, even dancing along with the dream girls, believing that they merely dreamt up the battle rather than this paradise. Memory Brook then ordered them to shoot some fireworks into the sky, and they did so, shooting their cannons straight up.

"Oh, so that's why they were doing that," present-day Zoro said as he watched the fireworks explode in a barrage of colors. "I was wondering why they seemed so happy."

"So none of you could see this then?" current Brook asked curiously.

"No, but that's probably a good thing," present-day Robin admitted.

"But dude, you should do that next time we have a party!" present-day Franky said with a grin. "That would be one hell of a time!"

At last, memory Brook seemed to have had enough fun and the images faded until they were back at the battlefield. The new Fishman Pirates were still celebrating as everyone watched in confusion as to what was going on. Some of the commanders were yelling at them to snap out of it and continue to kill the princess, but they didn't understand what they was talking about, only that they were having a party… meaning that they didn't see memory Brook charge in and cut them in one quick swipe.

"Quinte Tierce…FANTASIA!" he shouted… taking them all out in one shot.

"And now we take a bow!" present-day Brook said happily as he did so and some of the Straw Hats applauded him.

Yet soon, another mob went running at Shirahoshi, having been able to avoid getting hit by Brook's spell. At least until memory Robin came walking in until she was position right between them this time.

"Such a large crowd to attack one woman? What brutes you all are," she scolded as she folded her arms up and legs began to grow up around her, thousands of them, all of them merging together until they were a pair of gigantic legs… the pirates didn't know what to do as they stared up at the legs… until Robin brought them down and stomp all over them like she was stepping on cockroaches.

"Pardon me," memory Robin apologized, smiling.

"You are scary," current Usopp gasped out.

"But at least you have manners," present-day Nami smirked.

"Not very polite the way she's stepping on them," Zoro pointed out reasonably.

Memory Robin began having her legs kick out until they called in a poison unite, and a crowd appeared, fishmen with a variety of poisonous fish types arrived at his call. They were holding up different weapons of spikes and spears; laughing as they taunted her that it didn't matter how big they were, they could still kill her with one prick from their poisoned weapons.

"That's a cheap shot," present-day Zoro said darkly. He thought back to how Luffy fought against Megallan at Impel Down and how he was brought down because of all his poison. In a pirate's world, there's no such thing as fair or foul… but still… it seemed low to strike someone with poison instead of fighting with your own skills.

"Now wait just a minute!" called a voice from the Sunny. It sounded like it was on a speaker and they all turned to look as memory Robin had her giant legs disappear in a storm of flower petals. The side of the Sunny's ship slowly turned, the numbers changing until they appeared on 4.

"Soldier Dock System! CHANNEL 4!" Franky's voice rang out again, as a distant roar began to rang from inside and the door opened up. It brought to mind the growl of some beast coming out of its lair to fight. The New Fishman Pirates all turned their attention to that, yelling to take out whatever trick they had next, but as they ran to the ship, the lights flashed from inside… with Franky at the wheel of his latest toy.

"By the way, Franky, did you ever finish working on some of your other stuff?" present-day Usopp asked as he thought back to some of the designs that Franky had been working on since they left that last freaky island that showed them memories.

"Hey, you can't rush perfection," present-day Franky scolded.

"Introducing…the Black Rhino FR-U 4!" memory Franky shouted. "OW!"

A giant black motorcycle with three wheels and the armored head of a rhino, with Franky's trademark star on the two back wheels. And with a roar of the engine, he went flying out of the ship, riding atop of his latest invention, literally flying over their heads before he landed, spun about on its two back wheels before it fell with a crash and he skidded to a stop. He pulled up his goggles and gave a cocky grin as the light shone off his new bike.

"WOW!" memory Luffy cheered with stars in his eyes. "A RHINO BIKE!"

"Amazing!" memory Brook added as Franky smirked as he revved up the Black Rhino's engine.

"What's with all this talk about venom?" memory Franky asked before turning to face the enemy. "Just try it on this metal monster!"

Some of the present-day Straw Hats were cheering while others just watched on with unreadable expressions, like they just didn't see the point of this. Memory Franky went running right over a large portion of pirates, driving the Black Rhino straight through the crowd before he skidded to a stop in front of memory Robin and asked her what she thought. She didn't look the least bit impressed or interested as she looked at him without a word.

"Hmph, everyone's a critic," present-day Franky said darkly. "Girls just don't understand."

"I hate to insult a piece of art but…?" present-day Robin stated before trailing off. The fact was, she just didn't see the point in this thing or why they were making such a big deal about it. Still, it was nice to watch when one of the burlier pirates stepped forward with an enormous spiked ball and chain to try his luck. But no sooner did the two glare off with the other did they hear a loud honking noise and then a blast was fired from the ship and taking down the pirate with one hit.

Out of the Sunny came a tank of some sort. The mouth of its gun looked like the head of a Brachiosaurus, while the main body was round-shaped and brightly painted as it moved with ease thanks to the treads.

"Did you really have to give the tank a sound like that?" current Sanji sighed.

"What's wrong with it?" present-day Franky asked. "It looks damn cool and that's all that matters.

"Cool? It's like someone stepped on a squeaky toy or something. And the tank here looks like a kid's toy…?" Sanji retorted with a roll of his eyes.

The top of the tank suddenly opened up to reveal the inside of the lid had the Straw Hats mark, and Chopper was waving about.

"Another new weapon of mine!" memory Franky said. "Introducing…the Brachio Tank 5!"

"AWESOME!" memory Luffy cheered, practically drooling over the sight of it. "A DINOSAUR! I WANNA RIDE IT TOO!"

"I never did get a chance to ride it!" the current Luffy pouted.

"Don't worry!" Franky promised. "When we get out of here, I'll give everyone a free ride!"

"REALLY?!" present-day Luffy cried out in happiness. "THAT'D BE SO AWESOME! THANK YOU FRANKY!"

"Just leave it to SUPER armored me!" Franky said with a thumbs-up.

"That's incredible!" memory Brook added as he stared at the rumbling tank make its way across the battlefield while memory Chopper was sobbing happily as he started saluting.

"…I am… COMMANDER CHOPPER!" he cried before he pointed at some enemies. "FIRE!"

And so he took charge and called orders to memory Usopp, who was inside the tank, and together they continued firing at all the pirates around them. As Chopper was crying tears of joy at how cool he thought it was, memory Luffy went running at the tank's side and was waving up at them like he hoped to be picked up.

"YOU'RE SO COOL, COMMANDER!" memory Luffy cried.

"HEY YOU! GET BACK TO FIGHTING!" memory Zoro shouted at him when he was stopped throwing punches.

All around the plaza, the citizens watched in shock and astonishment at the Straw Hats' display of strength against the New Fishman Pirates. There were shouts of encouragement from all around, some of the people even tried bribes such as offering for them to eat and drink as much as they want if they won.

"That's my kinda bribe," present-day Zoro smirked as he thought back to how delicious the ale was here.

"We really would save the world if it meant a good meal," current Nami said as she shook her head. She wasn't sure to laugh about that or not. Meanwhile, Hody sat in his chair with his commanders all watching with sour expressions on their faces. But at last, Hody stood up and turned behind them to shout, "Kraken! Get down here, now!"

At his command, the form of giant tentacles appeared from over the wall and something enormous was making its way into the plaza, getting everyone to stop what they were doing and look up.

"Hey! It's Surume!" present-day Luffy cried out excitedly.

"I wonder how they managed to bring him all the way here?" present-day Robin wondered out loud. "Did they go as far as the north pole to find him and bring him back? Or… ah, but I'm distracting everyone again."

"Oh please, keep doing so!" current Sanji sighed lovey-dovey at her.

"There are only 10 of them, Kraken!" said Hody commanded loudly. "Crush them and put an end to this, once and for all!"

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that you wanted to make him a pet," present-day Nami said to Luffy with a smile. "Not that it mattered since you three were able to fight that thing even in the deep sea."

"Size isn't everything," present-day Zoro shrugged.

Surume seemed hesitant to want to fight… but then he slowly slithered down into the plaza, much to the shock of the citizens, everyone already thinking that Hody had won with it there. The New Fishman Pirates began to burst into cheers at the sight of their 'secret' weapon.

"What the hell is taking you so long?!" Hody questioned when Surume didn't move right away. "Don't hesitate, Kraken! I brought you all the way from the North Pole just for this! You're my slave! Now serve your master!" He looked monstrous as he glared up at the octopus and barked, "You can do it, can't you?"

Surume looked like he rather be anywhere but here, but he did as he was told. With a great jump, he pulled his body forward until he was flying over their heads and landed with a loud thud on the ground in front of the Straw Hats.

At first, Surume started to attack, forcing memory Brook to run and the Straw Hats in the tank to back off as they tried to avoid his waving tentacles.

"I never expected this would be the place where we saw you again!" memory Robin called up in surprise.

Yet Surume didn't seem to recognize any of them… at least until memory Luffy stepped forward, his hands in the air as he proclaimed excitedly, "Hey! Hey, Surume!"

At the sound of his voice, Surume stopped dead, his front tentacles held over Luffy's head as he stared down him.

"It's me!" memory Luffy went on happily. Surume let out a loud grunt of confusion as he remained positioned right above Luffy.

"Huh? You forgot?" memory Luffy asked. "You're just hopeless!"

"Hello Pot? It's me, Kettle," present-day Usopp couldn't help but mutter.

"It would be hard to forget the little shrimp who beat him up," present-day Sanji sniggered. "That, or he was horribly traumatized by the beating he took."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Nami nodded sagely.

"Don't you remember? I made you my pet! We're friends, right?!" memory Luffy called. "C'mon! Let me up on your back!" He laughed as Surume's eyes went wide… and then brought down his tentacles right on top of him. There was another dust cloud, with some of them fearing the worse… or Hody, who was grinning like he believed it was over… at least until they heard Luffy's laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! S-Surume, stop!" memory Luffy laughed as Surume held him up under his armpits by two tentacles and was smiling widely. "That tickles! C-Cut it out!"

"Who would've thought that tentacles were so good at tickling?!" present-day Luffy laughed out loud, wishing that he could ride on Surume's head again.

Surume grunted happily as the New Fishman Pirates jaws dropped and stared in horror as Shirahoshi was smiling in relief to see that he was alright. Surume then went and plopped memory Luffy onto his back as he called, "Aright… Surume! Let's get going!"

Still with that smile on his face the octopus turned at memory Luffy's command and went about smashing the pirates all around him as memory Luffy continued to laugh. Cries were coming from all over at the site of it all.

"WAAAAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL IS IT DOING!?"

"Kraken, stop!"

"Damn you, you stupid octopus!"

"Now, go get 'em, Surume!" memory Luffy called and the Straw Hats couldn't help but laugh as they saw Hody's frustration grow even higher. All his high and mighty plans were coming apart at the seams in a single afternoon.

When memory Luffy rode Surume around the plaza, he then ordered him back to Sunny, and as he did so the many tentacles waving about as more of the pirates ran away in complete confusion. When memory Luffy finally commanded him to stop, Surume had his tentacles wrapped around Shirahoshi, the Sunny, and Megalo.

"Okay, Surume!" memory Luffy said, standing to rejoin the battle on the ground. "You stay here and protect Crybaby, okay?"

Surume grunted and nodded his head as Shirahoshi's eyes went wide when she understood. Everyone else was watching with smiles, glad to see that they wouldn't have to worry about her anymore with such a bodyguard.

"I can't believe you're friends with the kraken," Jimbei said as Luffy jumped back down to join them. "You always seem to take me by surprise."

"Really?" memory Luffy asked happily as Jimbei grinned at him.

"It's one of your greatest specialties," present-day Robin informed him as their Luffy laughed.

"Um…" Shirahoshi began shyly as she reached up to touch one of Surume's tentacles, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Master Surume."

At her sweet words, Surume blushed red and current Brook laughed, wishing that he had tentacles to wrap around her, "I think the princess may have a new pet herself. AH… you are so lucky Surume-san!"

If Hody looked angry before, it was nothing to how he was now. He was now seething with fury, looking like he wanted nothing more to do than to rip Luffy's head clean off his neck.

"They're still plenty of them left," memory Luffy said and he was right as he looked about. He was right, for there were still a large number of pirates left… and it didn't seem like they were going to quit no matter how many of them fell. But sooner or later they would have to realize that it didn't matter how many there were, they were no match for them. "Right! Let's do this!" memory Luffy continued.

The fighting went on, with the memory Straw Hats continuing to crush all the pirates around them. They were winning, with the one problem was it was just taking a while even though they were taking dozens—or even hundreds—down at once. This may take a long time. At least until the ones in the Brachio Tank got into a spot of trouble.

"Huh? What's this?! Everybody's getting out of our way!" memory Chopper called as he looked about to see that they were clear of pirates on all sides. "They must be afraid of my new tank! Now then, let's take out the enemy commanders while we have the chance!" He let out a loud battle cry before shouting out, "Forward!"

They continued onward, ready to run down anyone who jumped in front of them when one of them, Daruma, dug himself out of the coral beneath them and was now facing them.

"Enemy Commander spotted directly ahead!" memory Chopper called. "Prepare to fire!"

"Roger that!" memory Usopp's voice sounded off from inside. "Preparing to fire!"

"You boys seem to be enjoying this a little too much," present-day Nami muttered wonderingly.

"Whatever makes them happy," present-day Robin added with a shrug. "It's the robot that I have to question."

They were having trouble with Daruma, who kept diving underground like it was water. What they didn't realize was that he was digging deep tunnels right underneath them… at least until it was too late. With the weight of the tank on top, it was finally too much and the ground gave way. With screams, the tank and everyone in it went tumbling over the edge and sank out of sight into the pit.

The present-day Straw Hats went to the edge to look down and saw Pappug and the three Straw Hats who had been inside all spilled out and scattered about.

"I think that your 'toy' ended up doing more damage to them then the pirates did," present-day Robin spoke to Franky.

"Only because they drove her right into a pit!" he retorted firmly.

"How were we supposed to know that he could do that?" current Usopp demanded.

Their past selves didn't seem to be hurt, but the pirates gathered around and shrieked with laughter at the sight of them all and Daruma began to brag as he showed off his sharp teeth. It seemed that Hody's commanders were almost as bad as he was when it came to talking too much.

"Hey! What's going on?!" memory Franky called as he turned his bike their way. "Chopper?! Usopp?!"

"No word about me I noticed!" current Nami retorted.

"Hey! You didn't even appreciate it! You just wanted to be in there because you thought it was safer!" present-day Franky replied.

"Is there a problem with that?" current Nami asked. "I'm the cute one! So of course they would come after me! I needed to be somewhere safe!"

Daruma turned to face him as the bike was speeding closer towards them. "Now, I'm gonna drop that idiot on the bike!" he laughed. But memory Franky went riding right past him and heading straight to the pitfall. He didn't seem to see what was happening until the ground disappeared beneath him.

"Oh crap!" memory Franky screamed out in panic and thrashed about in midair before falling. "It's a pitfall!"

And he landed on top of the others with a loud crash.

"IS HE A MORON?!" Daruma screamed out as they all stared with their eyes budging out of their heads.

"Really, what was the problem?" current Zoro had to ask. "Didn't you see the giant hole in the ground?"

"All part of my plan!" he answered back causally. Though in reality, he knew that he was so worried about the others, and his weapons, that he forgot all about the fact that they were in a hole and went dashing off to help before he could stop and think about it.

"H-Hey! Franky, you okay?!" memory Usopp asked worriedly as the others were trying to shake themselves out of their stunned states.

"Damn you! This is SUPER unforgivable!" memory Franky shouted as he got to his feet and was yelling at the pirates around him. He then turned to the rest of them and shouted out, "Everyone out!"

And he then tossed them all up and out of the pit and onto solid ground. Not everyone was happy about this.

"Hey! What's with you, Franky?!" memory Nami demanded.

"How dare you throw out the Commander!" memory Chopper demanded.

"Hey! I got you out of there!" present-day Franky pointed out as his past self added, "Sorry, but there's only one room for one in this thing! It's time… to transform!"

And that was when he showed off his two toys by combining them together. The two pieces broke up and shifted into different forms such as how the Black Rhino seemed to spread apart like the arms and the torso of a body… while the barrel-head on the tank suddenly changed out for a head and legs appeared from the back.

"WHOA! HE TRANSFORMED!" memory Usopp and Chopper cried out.

"Brachio Tank V and Black Rhino IV…DOCKING!" memory Franky called, getting Usopp and Chopper to gasp in shock at those words as the present-day Goofy Trio all began to cheer out, wanting to see more.

A giant robot stood up and emerged from the pit.

The head, legs, and torso are made up mainly of the Brachio Tank V, while the arms are mainly the Black Rhino. Its overall appearance resembles Franky with old hairstyle, with a large collar and the Brachio Tank's caterpillar treads on its back, as well as the BF-38 on its left collar and a modified Straw Hat jolly roger in the middle of its chest.

"Iron Pirate! General Franky!" memory Franky declared.

"ALRIIIIIIGHT!" the two past selves screamed out.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" the pirates screamed out.

"AWESOME!" memory Luffy screamed out his eyes sparkling and drool falling from his mouth and for once it wasn't because of food.

"THERE IT IS!" the two memory versions of Usopp, and Chopper cried with stars and tears of amazement in their eyes as they ran about excitedly. And a few from the crowd also seemed to lose it when they saw it… mostly little boys, to be honest. "It's the giant robot of our dreams!"

All four of the Namis and Robins watched on unblinkingly. This really was ridiculous to watch… thinking it better to just let the boys gush over it and move on… really all they could do right now anyway.

The New Fishman Pirates were all went running at General Franky and jumped, trying to cut it apart with their bare hands. But with a loud cry, memory Franky got his robot to knock them aside like a little kid kicking over stuffed animals as there were still more cheers from his new admirers.

"Don't be impressed, yet!" memory Franky called from inside the robot as his hands went up, reaching for the katana sword upon it's back. "Have a good look at the sword of the Punderer! FRANKEN!"

"Do you have to name everything you make after you?" present-day Sanji asked.

"Of course!" present-day Franky said proudly. "If you're proud of it, why not put your name on it?!"

Seeing the sword seemed to cause another round of drool from Franky's biggest fans… but the rest watched on as memory Franky spun about, the sword swiping at the pirates and forcing them to jump to avoid it.

"Remind me to give you a few lessons," Zoro sighed. "That's a bit low to go below the belt."

"Low, but effective," present-day Franky said as all the other pirates called that it was as dirty as it was deadly.

"Now that you're up in the air," memory Franky said, "I can shoot you all down with the cannons in my shoulders!"

"SHOULDER CANNONS?!" memory Luffy repeated, excitedly this time as the current one jumped up onto their Franky's shoulders and tried to open them up so that he could see the cannons there. As that Franky laughed, his past self opened up the front of his robot so that he could come out and shoot them down himself.

"YOU'RE FIRING THEM?!" memory Usopp shouted but he and Chopper pointed at him and added, "But you're still so cool!"

"Dammit!" one of the New Fishman Pirates cursed. "This guy is too tricky!"

"Well, you're unexpected, so I guess that's one good thing," present-day Sanji said as he thought that all over.

Memory Franky laughed as he moved back inside. "And I still have more weapons!" he called out through the metal and he started walking forward. The pirates all started to panic as he approached them, and Usopp and Chopper were screaming out like little kids at Christmas at the thought of new weapons. The boys were overjoyed, like they had just seen the answers to the universe as the two versions of the women just watched on… perhaps slightly embarrassed on their behalf.

"General WEIGHT!" Franky shouted, and he simply fell forward, crushing anyone who was dumb enough not to move.

"How is that cool?" memory Nami demanded before a dark shadow appeared over her head. A pirate with a sword appeared and was laughing as he brought his sword down.

"NAMI! NO!" present-day Sanji cried out in horror, looking ready to go running in to help.

"I found a weak one!" the pirate declared, but memory Nami spun about with her staff and managed to block it before leaping away.

"Weak? How rude!" she yelled at him as she took her staff apart. "I'm just a scaredy cat, that's all!"

The pirate turned to face her as she held up one of the three pieces of her staff, pointing it directly at his face. He stopped, seemingly confused that she was just pointing the single part of her broken staff at him.

"Sorcery Clima-Tact!" she smiled before adding, "Be careful of gusts!" She lowered it until it was pointing right at his chest and a bubble formed at the tip.

"GUST SWORD!" she called as the bubble popped. And then a great gust of wind burst from the little end. The pirate was suddenly flung backwards like he had been run over, forcing all the pirates behind him to run as flew at them. He hit the ground hard, his eyes already in the back of his head when he hit it.

Present-day Zoro was slightly impressed by this as he told her, "You got him good, Nami."

Current Nami just smiled, though a small part of her wondered if she had been this strong before, could she have dealt with Arlong long before if she was now strong enough to take out a full-grown Fishman on her own. She shrugged, knowing that there was no point in dwelling over it anymore as she watched herself start to scold the fallen pirate.

"Do you understand now?" she demanded. "This is the weather science of Weatheria!" She then put her taken apart staff into a holster at her belt before reprimanding, "Don't underestimate it!"

Memory Usopp was looking about for Chopper, who seemed to just disappear. But when they realized he was on his own, another mob of pirates went running at him. "Damn it… I was thrown out of the tank," memory Usopp sighed as he managed to dodge them. "Guess I've got no choice but to fight."

He then pulled out one of his many Pop Greens as he added, "Well, there's no need to fear!" He held up his Black Kabuto and called, "I'm not the same weakling I used to be!"

He moved his goggles up before he called as he placed the projectile into the sling, "Certain Death: Green Star…BAMBOO JAVELIN!"

He fired one of his Pop Greens to the ground, almost at once a grove of bamboo burst from the ground, impaling the pirates and sent them flying.

"That looked like it hurt!" current Brook gasped out, hugging his body. "My skin hurts just looking at it! Ah! Not that I have skin anymore! Yohohoho!"

"I'm really not the same weakling I used to be!" the present-day Usopp proclaimed proudly. "I haven't exactly been lying around on beaches for the last two years!"

"Master Heracles!" memory Usopp shouted up to the sky. "I spent two years fighting for my life in that forest! I couldn't rest for even a second! I won't ever forget it! Now it begins! The second chapter of the Great Captain Usopp!"

"And it's gonna be even better than the first chapter!" current Usopp added, grinning broadly. Just then, something came shooting up out of the ground. At first, one would think it was another of Usopp's bamboo stalk's, however, this one was screaming as he left the ground and they saw that it was that ugly little Daruma who had been launched out, taking the New Fishman Pirates by surprise.

Daruma twisted about in midair and landed as he demanded, "Who the hell did that?!"

A mysterious shape came shooting out of the ground, clearly the cause for having kicked Daruma out like that.

"It's me!" called a familiar voice before he landed and they saw that memory Chopper had shifted to his Horn Point. It was very different to how it used to look, with him standing on his two legs and the sharp ends of his horns growing larger but more curved and thick so that they really did look like the horns of a stag beetle. His forearms were large and bulky, much like how Franky's used to look, and he had a long mane of thick fur that ran down his back. He landed lightly on his feet, his hooves making clicking noises on the coral-like ground.

"Horn Point!" he called with a cocky grin. "I'm good at digging through earth too!"

"If I didn't know better, I never would've recognized you," present-day Brook stated. "Your transformations all look so different than they did before. Why is that, Chopper-san?"

"I trained a lot and found ways to manipulate my different forms while able to practice with them until I figured out exactly how to shift in each form," present Chopper explained. "I still need the Rumble Ball for my Monster Point, but that's to be used for a worst case scenario."

"Then why did you use it here if there was no need to?" current Usopp asked in surprise.

"I guess I wanted to show you all that I didn't want you to worry about me anymore!" he answered. To be honest, he wasn't sure what made him want to take a Rumble Ball and fight since he hadn't been pushed to a serious point yet. Did he just want to show off? Or maybe scare the enemy? Well, he was a monster, and wasn't ashamed to admit that anymore so why not? But yeah… he did want his friends to see that he would be there to support them from now on. He wasn't going to let someone else protect him all the time if he could do it himself.

"Chopper!" memory Luffy called, getting their attention. "Why didn't you tell me you could turn into a stag beetle?"

"I'M NOT A STAG BEETLE, LUFFY!" memory Chopper snapped.

"But you got to admit, you sure do look like one," the current Luffy pointed out.

"And you wonder why no one thinks you're a reindeer?" present-day Robin chuckled as she patted their Chopper on the head, who pouted at that.

"I renewed and improved my seven forms over these last two years!" memory Chopper declared out loud. "I only need the Rumble Ball for one transformation now! I can change into the other six whenever I want!"

Daruma barked out a shout of harsh laughter as he snapped, "You pain in the ass bastard! I'll tear you to shreds!"

"These aren't coral! They're horns!" memory Chopper shouted, pointing to his antlers. "And I'm… a pain in the ass MONSTER to you!"

"That's right!" the current one said proudly. He used to hate it when he was called a monster before, but now he knew that it was ok to be just that. He was a monster who could protect his friends from now on and he was going to brag about that.

The battle was quickly starting to turn into a one-sided one, with the Straw Hats continuing to take out Hody's men in large numbers, all of them enjoying the whole thing like this battle was what they had been waiting for their entire lives to fight.

But suddenly Hody's voice called out over the din, "KRAKEN!"

The giant octopus, who had created a kind of shield in front of Shirahoshi with his tentacles, froze at the ferocity in Hody's voice before he looked over and his former 'master' was glaring at him.

"Well done, I didn't think you had it in you," Hody told him darkly. "They believed you and you captured Shirahoshi. Now… crush her!"

"He doesn't really think that, does he?" current Chopper asked.

"No," present-day Robin said. "He's just trying to turn a bad thing for him into an opportunity to kill Shirahoshi. We all know how he was controlling Surume, remember?"

Surume looked down at Shirahoshi, and it was clear in his face that he was torn between wanting to protect her and his fear of Hody.

"Remember your brother stilling living up at the North Pole?" Hody reminded him smugly, and fear flashed across Surume's face. "I know exactly where he is! We can go there any time and kill him easily. Your species is legendary, so even your corpses should fetch a high price, don't you think?"

Present-day Luffy's eyes narrowed and anger formed on his face at the threat. He was outraged that someone would dare threaten someone with the life of their brother…

Ace… Sabo… their faces flashed in his mind's eye and he felt his heart ache painfully just thinking of it. He knew better than anyone what it felt like to want to protect your brother… Ace had always been there to protect him and… he couldn't save him… he hadn't forgiven himself for that… even if Ace didn't blame him for it. Knowing that Ace had forgiven him and never blamed him for his death felt like it had been a weight lifted off his shoulders… but a tiny part of his heart will always blame himself for not being strong enough for Ace to feel like he still needed to protect him.

Present-day Zoro looked over at him with a sad look in his eye. First proclaiming that he was going to be the Pirate King and would threaten someone with the life of a brother…? Hody seemed to be going out of his way to tick Luffy off. He was just hitting all the wrong buttons.

He had wanted to ask Luffy if he was alright, but he knew that he wasn't. They talked about it before, but he knew that it was going to take a long time for Luffy to fully be able to leave behind the trauma of what happened that day at Marineford… with a good chance of him never fully getting over it. Though Zoro couldn't help but hope that his chance to speak with Ace again was able to help give him a sense of peace them that he didn't have before.

He hoped so.

Surume started to sweat and shook with either fear or anger… most likely both.

"Are you telling me that's what you want, Kraken?" Hody asked as Surume lowered his head.

"Unbelievable," Jimbei asked, who had heard them from nearby just as he grabbed hold of another pirate and was squeezing his head as he lifted him off the ground. "He's been forcing the Kraken to obey him by threatening his sibling?"

"That's disgusting," current Nami hissed, thinking back to all the times that Arlong threatened to hurt her sister if she didn't do what he wanted. Her heart went out to poor Surume.

Memory Luffy, who heard every word that was said, walked forward, his eyes full of anger as he learned of this new development.

"I'm telling you for the last time," Hody snarled. "Crush Shirahoshi!"

Surume shook as he shut his eyes, slowly wrapped his tentacles around Shirahoshi, who didn't realize what was going on until too late. Once his tentacles tightened around her body, she gasped out, "M-Master Surume…that hurts! I can't breathe?!"

Hody smirked as it really did look like Surume would strangle her… at least until…

"SURUME!"

Surume looked down at memory Luffy, who placed his hat upon his mop of black hair.

"…You're only listening to that jerk because you're trying to protect your brother?" he asked. He didn't sound the least bit angry at him for what he was trying to do… merely curious.

Surume stared at Luffy, as if he was afraid that he would be mad at him for doing this, his arms still wrapped around Shirahoshi before he nodded.

"Hurry up and get her free," current Sanji whispered out, hating seeing a woman in any pain at all.

"I see," memory Luffy said calmly. "Of course you want to protect him. Is he your older brother? Or your younger brother?" Surume stopped and stared at him as Luffy looked back and grinned reassuringly at him, "Let me protect him too!"

Surume just continued to stare at him as Luffy turned his back on him and walked off before asking, "Did you forget again? We're friends, right?"

Surume's eyes went wide in shock and disbelief… and tears began to form in his eyes as he let out a long echoing cry.

"Oh, the poor guy," current Usopp whispered as he felt happy tears form in his own eyes too. "I hope that he was able to go back home and see his family again."

"You know, we're the only crew that I know off that could call the Kraken a friend," current Robin chuckled.

"Hey, we're one of a kind, alright," Brook offered happily. "At least we can never say we don't know some interesting people! Yohohoho!"

Surume then ended up letting Shirahoshi go, and she was looking up at him happily as she proclaimed with gratitude, "Master Surume!"

The memory Luffy continued grinning at least until he turned his eyes on Hody, which was when his expression changed at once from happy to a serious rage instantly. He continued marching forward, a kind of darkness in his eyes as he continued glaring at Hody, who didn't seem to realize the danger he was in.

"…Here comes Straw Hat," one of the pirates shouted out in warning.

"Get him!" another cried. "Kill him!"

"No, don't-dogon!" the muscled hammerhead shark Dosun shouted, holding up his massive hammer as he stepped up.

"Let us handle him-ich!" Ikaros, the squid, added. But memory Luffy didn't even slow down as he continued walking forward. Once he was close enough, Dosun and Ikaros lunged at him.

"STRAW HAT!" Dosun roared, raising his hammer.

"We won't let you near our Captain-ch!" Ikaros shouted, all eight of his arms holding up spears.

"Likewise," current Zoro said casually.

The two thrust forward just as the memory versions of Zoro and Sanji came running in from out of nowhere. Zoro's swords clashed with Dosun's hammer while Sanji kicked Ikaros in the jaw, allowing Luffy safe passage.

"We won't let you…" memory Zoro began sharply.

"Get in his way!" memory Sanji finished, forcing the two away from Luffy, allowing him to continue uninterrupted.

"As always, you boys are working in perfect sync with each other," present-day Robin commented.

"Am not!" Sanji and Zoro both said at once.

The lower ranking men in Hody's crew suddenly charged at memory Luffy, surrounding him. But that Luffy threw his arm downwards and shifted into Second Gear, disappearing in a flash and taking them all by surprise.

"Huh?! W-where'd he go!?" they cried out in shock, staring around in confusion.

"What?!" Hody demanded before memory Luffy reappeared in front of him, faster than blinking. Hody didn't even have time to react, for Luffy then dealt him another kick, this time in his face and sent him crashing into the wall behind him for a second time. Hody didn't even see what hit him as he was sent crashing into the wall, Luffy's face contorted with fury.

"Right in the sucker!" present-day Franky cheered out, striking a pose as he yelled out, "Hope it left a mark!"

"Wish it did," present-day Luffy stated as his past self was now aglow with anger.

"Now I'm really fired up!" memory Luffy roared out.

"Don't go stealing my line, Luffy!" present-day Sanji said at once. "I'm the one here who gets fired up when I'm fighting!"

"Yeah, I still don't get how you're able to get all hot like that?" present-day Chopper said curiously. "How are you able to burst into flames and not get burned?"

"Because while I burn hot, my heart burns even hotter!" current Sanji answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," present-day Luffy said lightly. "I don't really get it. But I got it!"

"Yeah, makes sense to me, though I have no heart with which can get hot, Yohohoho!" Brook nodded with a laugh.

"No, it still doesn't make sense!" current Chopper commented, still so confused.

Meanwhile, the New Fishman Pirates stared in horror after watching their captain get sent flying twice—who couldn't understand how he could get beat so easily when they were told that they were the stronger, more superior of the two species.

"Captain Hody!" one of them screamed out in shock.

"He took so many Energy Steroids that he turned into a monster!" another cried, "But still…?"

"No, wait! He's getting back up!" someone else cried out. Hody was back on his feet, having shoved two boulders off the top of him, already beaten up pretty bad… and it seemed to them all that Luffy just made things personal."

"He's still getting up? Damn you, Hody! What's it gonna take for you to just stay down already?" present-day Sanji hissed.

"Straw Hat!" Hody hissed.

"He sure is tough," memory Luffy said lightly.

"Only thing he's got going for him," current Nami nodded. "Just what is in those pills?"

"I don't know, and I'm not sure I actually wanna know," present-day Chopper spoke up. "The only way I can answer that is if I have one and examine it. But…?"

"But we're not desperate enough to resort to a cursed pill," present-day Zoro said firmly.

"Shirahoshi's over here!" yelled a sudden voice and they looked up to see that a group of pirates managed to make it as far as Surume and Shirahoshi.

"Umm… what do you three want?" she asked shyly.

"We can't let you live or we'll be in trouble!" one of them shrieked up at her.

"Time to die!" another cried. Surume didn't like that. He carefully lifted Shirahoshi up onto one of his tentacles and out of harm's way before he began a vicious pounding on the pirates with at least a half a dozen other tentacles.

"Oww… that's gotta hurt," current Usopp winced.

"Really? How could they not remember that you had Surume as her bodyguard now, Luffy?" present-day Nami asked with a sigh. "I mean, it's not like he's hard to miss?"

"Maybe they thought if they were quiet enough no one would notice?" Brook offered.

"If that's the case, then why yell it out like that?" Nami retorted as she shook her head. Honestly, some men just had a bigger mouth than brains. She would know since most of the men in this crew were just like that.

"Surume!" memory Luffy waved happily at a job well done and Surume seemed to laugh as he waved a tentacle back at him.

"Master Surume! You're so strong!" Shirahoshi gasped in amazement, causing the oversized octopus to blush from the praise.

"Aww, you know what? Surume really is kinda cute once you get used to him," present-day Nami cooed. "That, and when he's not trying to crush us in the middle of the ocean."

"I think you might be a good influence on him, Luffy," present-day Robin added.

"You think so?" current Luffy asked with a smile as his past self grinned and called over, "Take good care of Crybaby!"

"…Straw Hat…!" Hody hissed before he suddenly disappeared… well, for most of the Straw Hats. Both Sanji and Zoro were able to track his exact movements—just like both Luffy's did—and weren't surprised at all when Hody reappeared in front of memory Luffy with a fist held back as he demanded, "Do you have any idea what Fishman Karate can do?!"

"Yeah!" present-day Luffy couldn't help but speak up. "I've seen Jimbei use it and its crazy powerful!"

"Only in the right hands," present-day Zoro finished up just as Hody punched Luffy in the head, quick as a flash, and it almost looked like he punched his head right off.

"Alright! He took his head right off!" one of his men laughed.

"He did it in one shot too!" another proclaimed excitedly. At least until they realized that Luffy's head was still attached to his neck, but was stretched out from the impact.

"Just asking, did that hurt?" current Usopp couldn't help but ask him.

"No," current Luffy admitted. "Which was weird because Jimbei hurt me with his Fishman Karate and he didn't even need Haki with it to do that."

"That's because Hody didn't know how to use them properly," present-day Brook answered. "He knew how they worked, but there was no force put into it. Whereas Jimbei-san had many years of experience and lot of training! Makes me worry for whoever has to fight against our friend in the future, Yohohoho!"

"That won't work on me!" memory Luffy called, smiling as he continued stretching. "Cause I'm made of rubber!" He then looked upwards, still stretched out all that way, as he added, "Your skills are nothing compared to Jimbei's!"

"Of course!" Jimbei called, having heard that. "That's why you shouldn't rely on fake power!"

Hody seethed in rage at them for just declaring that he wasn't as strong as he thought he was. Memory Luffy then spoke out, "Head Armaments!" And suddenly, his forehead turned black and shiny like a chocolate coating.

"Does armaments ways turn black when you use it?" current Brook wondered.

"Not always," present-day Sanji explained. "You can use it so effectively that you don't see anything at all. But when you really want to make it super strong, then it usually does appear as a coat over your body or even a weapon. It really all depends on how strong your spirit is."

"Yeah, and you guys did promise me that you would try and teach me some of it," Chopper added hopefully.

"We know," current Sanji said with a slight smile as Hody ordered his men to step in and try to protect him with their shields. "We'll have to make some time for that."

"Oh, come on," present-day Zoro sighed when he saw them using those stupid turtle shields again. "Those things didn't work before! What makes them think it'll work now?"

The pirates all taunted memory Luffy, saying that he would only crack his skull open… forgetting already that he was made of rubber. But Luffy's head was already retracting and heading right towards them. "Gum Gum…"

His head collided with the shell and a loud gong-like sound rang out.

"BELL!" he finished, leaving an imprint of his face on the shell as the pirates holding them were knocked about.

"HIS HEAD WAS HARDER THAN THE STEEL?!" the pirates questioned in shock and disbelief.

"Normally I would ask if that would give you a headache?" current Chopper said.

"I think that's the least of our problems," present-day Usopp stated. He always knew that Luffy was hard-headed… but now he knew that if they ever needed to, they could use Luffy as a cannonball. He smirked at the mental image… Luffy was more destructive than any cannon.

Memory Luffy gave a cocky grin as he flicked his hair with his thumb, his Haki imbued forehead returning to normal. Hody suddenly reappeared right at his side, already aiming a kick for him. Memory Luffy, however, clearly saw that coming and hardened his right arm before holding it up to block it. The force actually dented Hody's leg when it collided with his arm, with Luffy not even glancing over at him or budging an inch as his right leg suddenly turned black and hardened as well.

He jumped up into the air and brought his leg down on Hody's head, showing him how a real kick is supposed to hurt and ended up cracking Hody's head on the ground.

"Wow! You're so strong, Luffy!" present-day Chopper cried out with sparkle in his eyes.

"You're so like a boss here," current Usopp avowed as he and the current Luffy were laughing together. "He's not even a match!"

Memory Luffy landed lightly as his arm and leg returned to normal just as Hody was forcing himself up again. His glare was more furious than it had been before, and he held up his hand where water was forming.

"SHARK ARROWS!" he roared as he began to throw the Water Shots at him… who barely had to dodge to avoid them. He swayed from left to right, the arrows missing each time, with the closest ones ruffling his clothes or hair.

"What the…?!" screamed another pirate in shock. "They're not even hitting him!"

"How does he know where they're gonna hit?!"

"You're amazing…" Shirahoshi gasped out in awe as Surume's eyes were wide, "Master Luffy!"

"That's the power of Observation Haki!" Jimbei explained. Memory Luffy kept dodging Hody's Shark Arrows before he finally leapt up into the air, stretching his arm back behind him and imbuing it with Haki.

"Gum GUUUUUUM… PISTOL!"

And he landed another hard punch right to Hody's stomach. They could see the pain in his face like he was about to start spitting up blood… this had to be the most painful punch he received yet. Hody froze there for a moment before he was sent flying backwards for a third time, crashing right into the plaza wall, this time with the wall starting to collapse and fall apart from all the times that Hody had been 'introduced' to it already.

"How many times do you have to hit him for him to stay down?" present-day Usopp asked as he scratched his head. "I'll say this much for the guy, he's no quitter."

"No, but that soon becomes irritating," Franky pointed out as the New Fishman Pirates were all screaming out Hody's name in horror.

Shirahoshi and Surume both seemed stunned by how little effort Luffy used to fight.

"Master Luffy… he's unbelievably strong!" Shirahoshi gasped and the current Luffy beamed at that. Though he knew that he still had a long way to go before he would become the King of the Pirates. He still had to get even stronger to reach that point.

The citizens were all watching in awe, hope returning to them all that they were saved… at least until the form of what might've been storm clouds crossed overhead. The sky grew dark, casting everything in shadows and everyone was unable to stop themselves from looking upwards to see what was going on… only to see a massive wooden ship, about half the size of the island, with chains dangling from it that were big enough to knock over houses.

"How come no one noticed that thing until it was right above us?" current Zoro couldn't help but question calmly. "I mean… you can see that thing from miles away so how come it wasn't until now that we saw it?"

"I guess everyone was so focused on us fighting in the plaza that no one else noticed?" present-day Nami offered, though she had to admit that it did seem a bit absent-minded not to have seen that thing falling on their heads until it was this close.

"W-What is that thing!?" memory Nami questioned.

" _Noah_?!" Jimbei questioned. "But how?!"

General Franky's stomach opened up and memory Franky poked his head out to get a look at what was going on. When he saw the ship, he gasped out, "What is that Super huge ship?!"

"You know, now that we're not about to be crushed by that thing, I really wanna meet the ones who built that thing," the present-day Franky said suddenly. Sure, it wasn't as big as Thriller Bark, but it was damn close. That thing was a work of art, and it had to be centuries old! Oh, he wished he had a chance to look that ship over before they had to leave.

Even the New Fishman Pirates were distressed at the sight of the ship heading towards them, proving that this wasn't what they had been planning.

"What's _Noah_ doing here?!"

"Is someone moving it?!"

"But that can't be! That thing doesn't even have the power to move!"

"What is THAT?!" memory Brook questioned in shock as he pointed up to it.

"It's huge!" Chopper cried out with his own eyes wide in a mixture of fear and amazement.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" memory Usopp screamed as he ran about in a panic. "I don't know what's happening, but we're doomed!"

"I wonder, if that thing crushes us," memory Robin began as she watched it with disinterest, like it wasn't the least bit frightening, "will the sea be dyed red with our blood?"

"DON'T JINX US BY SAYING SUCH HORRIBLE THINGS!" memory Usopp barked at her. However, she wasn't the only one who had remained calm and quiet. Both memory versions of Zoro and Sanji were as well, though it was clear in their eyes that they were just as shocked about this new turn of events as everyone. People from both the citizens watching above, and even the pirates they were fighting against were starting to make a run for it.

"Wait! What is that?!" Shirahoshi called suddenly and they all looked up at once to see what it was that she was looking at. And they saw that someone large falling from the ship, screaming on the way down. When it was close enough, almost to the ground, they recognized it as Wadatsumi… who crashed headfirst. As he lay there, a massive bump appeared on his head and rose him up so that it looked like he was positioned on a ball before falling over.

"Ok, now that's gotta be a massive headache," current Brook winced at the sight. "My own head is aching just looking at it! Though I now have a hollow head, Yohohoho!"

"OWIE!" Watdatsumi cried as he sat up, rubbing at the bump on his head like how a child would do. "I slipped!"

"Why was he riding that thing anyway?" current Franky couldn't help but ask as he looked up. As far as he knew, only Vander Decken had been onboard with him. Why not leave the big guy where the rest of his crew was? And… why ride the ship anyway? If it was flying straight for the island and crashed into it… wouldn't it kill that jerk along with everyone else?

"You're Wadatsumi, one of Vander Decken's crew!" Zeo said at once as Wadatsumi stood up and began to wave up at Noah.

"Hey! Captain Vander Decken!" Wadatsumi called up to the ship, ignoring the purple-striped Zeo. "I fell off the ship! Stop and wait for me so I can get back on! I don't wanna die down here!"

"I'd love to know just how he thinks he's gonna be able to get back up there," present-day Usopp whispered before everyone in the memory looked straight up at the name 'Decken'.

"DECKEN!?" Zeo repeated slowly as he glared upwards. "What is this about?"

"That guy, again?!" memory Luffy questioned. "I thought we took care of him!"

"I guess he's not the type of guy who handles rejection well," present-day Robin offered.

"That's an understatement," current Nami muttered darkly.

Hody, whose leg was sticking comically out of the wall, remained there motionless until his underlings were calling to him, asking if he was alright and if the Noah over their heads was part of his plan. At last, Hody kicked out, forcing himself out of the rubble once more before he shouted at his men's questions, "Be quiet! You useless worms!" he glared about for Luffy adding, "Damn that Straw Hat!"

"Huh?" memory Luffy asked when he noticed that he was back. "How is that guy still standing? I even attacked him with Armaments Haki!"

"Oh, I'm sure that attack did a lot of damage," present-day Chopper said knowingly. "The problem is that he just can't feel the worst of it because his body is so full of those drugs. He's able to brush it off."

He frowned a little as he remembered how Luffy had been desperate enough to pull off a stunt like that. Just more proof that just because you can't feel pain doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong with you.

Hody marched out of the rubble before he looked up at the sky to where Noah continued to remain suspended overhead.

"Decken, you maniac!" he seethed at the sight of it. "What the hell are you thinking?! This isn't part of the plan!"

Just then, a slimly laughter began to fill the air before a voice shrieked out from over a speaker on the ship somewhere, "SHIRAHOSHI!"

Present-day Usopp had the best eyes of any of the Straw Hats, was straining them as he tried to make out where the voice was coming from. "I see him now!" he cried out as he pointed up near the bow of the ship. "That Decken freak is right up front!"

Decken continued to roar with laughter and Shirahoshi grew pale, knowing at once who it had to be as she whispered fearfully, "That's…?"

"Princess Shirahoshi…" Jimbei said worriedly before he gasped in realization and finished, "Then that means…? Don't tell me that Decken threw Noah at her, just like all those letters and the axes?!"

"How could he have thrown something that big? He can't be that strong, can he?!" current Brook gasped out.

"I don't see how he could be with how easily Luffy was able to beat him before," present-day Robin commented. "I don't know how the Mark Mark fruit works so I can't say for sure. But if I had to guess, I think that just by 'touching' a certain object would be enough for it to be sent flying at someone."

"Then why didn't he ever use anything that big before?" present-day Luffy asked in confusion. "He could've done it anytime couldn't he?"

"I guess he thought that Shirahoshi loved him too but was being kept against her will in the tower all those years," present-day Nami offered. "Not sure why he would think anyone could ever fall in love with someone like him… but I digress. He knew that if he did throw something like that at her, it would kill her. But when she told him that he 'wasn't her type'…?"

"Even then she's so polite," current Sanji sighed. "Such manners…? She really is perfect."

"He realized that she never loved him and didn't care who he hurt anymore," Nami finished up while ignoring Sanji.

"I've thought of you every day for ten years, ever since you were a little kid! Even if you searched the whole world, you'd never find someone who loves you as much as I do!" Decken went on, sounding truly mad now. "Love! Love! LOVE! LOVE!"

"He's nuts…" present-day Usopp said as they all felt sweat hanging about their heads.

"Yeah, if that's his idea of 'love' I hate to see what he would consider to be threatening someone's life," Franky nodded along with him.

"I'm afraid just to know how he is to someone who he just 'tolerates'," present-day Usopp spoke up.

"Why won't you accept it?!" Decken demanded, "Once I send something flying with my Mark Mark powers, it will not stop until it reaches its target or crashes into something else! This giant ship, Noah… This is my love for you! Accept it! And then die, along with all of Fishman Island, Shirahoshi."

"Kinda hard for her to accept it if it's gonna kill everyone!" current Usopp called while screams erupted all over the island as the massive chains began to drag along the ground.

"Captain Decken!" Wadatsumi called anxiously, "What about me?!"

Again Decken roared with laughter before informing him smugly, "Forget it, Wadatsumi! It's no longer possible to save you now! You will become a sacrifice for Shirahoshi's death just like everyone else on Fishman Island!"

"WHAT?! NO WAY!" Wadatsumi questioned in disbelief.

"Dammit, this isn't good!" cursed one of the New Fishman Pirates. "The bubble's not holding up! We'll all be crushed, for sure!"

"H-hey!" said another. "Where's Princess Shirahoshi?!"

That was a good question. For when they all looked back to Surume, they saw that the tentacle that she had been sitting on before was bare and the giant octopus was searching about, like he thought he had misplaced her by accident.

"What? The princess?!" Jimbei cried out in anxiety. "Princess Shirahoshi!"

"How come we didn't notice her doing that?" present-day Luffy asked in bewilderment.

"Well, I think it's reasonable to say that she left while we were focused on the giant ship about to crush us all," present-day Robin reminded him calmly.

"I'm… right here!"

They all looked up at once to see that Shirahoshi had a bubble around her tail and was now up in the sky, her arms outstretched like she hoped to shield the people below her from harm. The citizens gasped in shock and disbelief at the sight of her there.

"Princess! What are you doing?!"

"Since when did she get up there?!"

"Miss Mermaid Princess!" memory Brook cried, his jaw almost falling to the ground.

"Shirahoshi!" memory Nami cried out, "What's she doing all the way up there?!"

"Because that ship is aiming for her!" Jimbei explained, his eyes going wide.

"Huh? Then that means…?" memory Nami gasped. She never got a chance to finish. Shirahoshi stayed perfectly still in the sky… and that was when they noticed that slowly, ever so slightly, the course of the ship changed. It was still pressing hard on the bubble, but at a slightly different angle as it continued to make its way towards her.

Decken cried, grinning. "It's the love of my life!"

"SHUT IT, YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD!" present-day Sanji roared out. "YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT TRUE LOVE IS IF IT CAME AND PUNCHED YOU IN THE FACE!" And it was true. No man who loved a woman would make her life so miserable! A lady deserves to be cared for and thought about, not to try and force your will over hers.

"Isn't my life your target?!" Shirahoshi asked, panting hard, obviously scared but still standing her ground. "If you just want to take my life then the people of Ryuuguu Kingdom should not get caught up in it! Leave them alone! I am right here!"

"She's got guts," present-day Franky whistled out.

"Too bad that won't be enough," current Zoro added coolly.

"Couldn't she just lie and agree to marry him if he called off his attack?" present-day Usopp asked suddenly. "And then at the wedding he could be arrested before she actually marries the jerk?"

"That might have been a plan… but then… but she might just go through with it because she seems a little too innocent to break a promise like that," present-day Robin reasoned.

"Really? I'd have no problem breaking off a wedding with a guy like that," current Nami stated.

The citizens became even more shocked and terrified by Shirahoshi's words. They couldn't believe that their princess was willing to sacrifice her life for them and cried out to her, trying to figure out a way to help her. Shirahoshi then began to kick her tail upwards, continuing to change the course of the ship the further up she went. But unless she got out of the bubble, then it was only going to be a matter of time before it popped with all this pressure on it.

"Shirahoshi!" memory Nami called anxiously.

"You can't do this, Shirahoshi-chan!" memory Sanji said angrily as the people all began crying out in lament at how they were going to try and help her no matter what it took. Decken however was still laughing the whole time.

"That's the girl I love!" Decken cried out. "Oh, how completely beautiful you are, Shirahoshi! Even your heart shines with it! You're trying to divert this disaster and save your country all by yourself?!"

But even from this distance, they saw the glint of something sharp in his hands.

"You truly are worthy to become Vander Decken the ninth's wife!" he shouted out.

"Oh, sorry if she wasn't 'worthy' before!" present-day Nami hissed in annoyance on behave of Shirahoshi.

"Die at the height of your beauty and live forever in my heart!" Decken then declared and he threw a knife right at her, stabbing Shirahoshi in the shoulder as she screamed in pain. At the sound of her cry, the townspeople grew even more terrified for her safety, yelling at her to just get away as fast as possible and not to worry about them.

However, Shirahoshi wasn't going to stop. She quickly turned and began to swim away, not to try and escape, but to continue to get Noah to follow after her and find a way to get it off the bubble.

"Dammit, Crybaby!" memory Luffy cursed. "Even after I told her to stick close to me!"

"I don't really see how you could've protected her from that in the plaza," present-day Robin reminded him. "I don't see how that bubble could have lasted too much longer under that kind of strain."

"I know that! But she left without taking one of us here with her," Luffy answered back. "Otherwise that ship was just going to keep following her until it caught up!"

His past self started running after her and the ship as memory Sanji, who was still up in the sky, was already given chase.

"Damn the bastard! How dare he do that to Shirahoshi-chan?!" they heard him demand furiously even down this far.

"Sanji, wait!" cried out memory Luffy, getting his attention and the cook looked down at him as he finished, "I'll go! You stay here and help take care of the plaza!"

"Got it!" Sanji answered back, trusting Luffy enough to take care of everything. He stopped at once as he kicked the air beneath him before adding anxiously, "But Luffy… the ship's underwater!"

They all knew he was right. As good as Luffy was, there was no way he could fight Hody in the sea on his own. Memory Luffy suddenly turned to Jimbei and asked, "Do you think the ship is filled with water, Jimbei?"

"I'm not sure," Jimbei confessed, "But I do know that Decken has Devil Fruit powers! Which means that there must be air for him!" He then reached into his kimono and added as he pulled out a bright pink piece of coral, "Take this with you! It's a coral that produces bubbles!"

"Got it! Thanks!" memory Luffy said as he caught it and stuck the end in his mouth before he stretched out his arms and grab hold of Sanji's leg from above.

The gigantic ark began to move away from the bubble surrounding the island, but the citizens begged and shouted for Shirahoshi to go as fast as she possibly could to get away from it. Even from here, they could hear Decken just laugh as he continued to give chase.

"Watch out for Hody, Luffy!" Jimbei warned. "In the water, humans are no match for Fishmen!"

"I would disagree," present-day Zoro couldn't help but smirk as he remembered how he had been able to be more than a match for Hody underwater.

"I know!" memory Luffy said, pulling himself back until he was crouching low, ready to fly. "Sanji!"

"Armee de L'air Assault!" memory Sanji began and memory Luffy was flying upwards like he had been launched out of a cannon. "GUM SHOOT!"

"Wow! That's even faster than when you use your Gum Gum Rocket, Luffy!" present-day Chopper called in wonder.

"So long as I didn't have to be the one who was flying with Luffy, then of course I was going to make it as fast as I could," current Sanji admitted. While it didn't scare him nearly as much as a drag queen… flying along with Luffy during his 'Gum Gum Rocket' was enough to mentally scar him.

Suddenly, all the present-day Straw Hats were flying upwards as they gave chase after memory Luffy, who was still heading skywards and one of the lower hanging chains. They left their past selves continuing the battle in the plaza below as memory Luffy hit the side of the bubble, but as soon as he did, he slowed down considerably. Slowly, he was able to pierce right through it until he was in the space between the inner and outer bubbles before he started falling. Memory Luffy flailed about as he tried to steady himself, but with a wild grab onto one of the links of the chain and clung on tightly.

"If that kick had been any more powerful, you would have launched him straight out into sea," Robin couldn't help but point out as she looked around at the place between the bubbles.

"I know better than that," Sanji nodded. "I had to be careful not to be to hold myself back too much also, however. Otherwise he wouldn't have made it far enough. I have to admit that I hit it spot on."

"WHOA!" memory Luffy gasped. "Damn, these chains are HUGE!"

"Yeah, I'd hate to know how they had to make those things," Zoro said as he looked at them, a part of him wanting to try and cut them just to see if he could.

Looking at it all now, the ship looked even larger close-up, and Luffy was less than half the size of a single link in the chain. Noah was still moving at a snail's pace as they were continuing to tilt upwards, knowing that Shirahoshi was doing her best to take the ship away from the island where it wouldn't do any damage.

Memory Luffy was looking about in interest at where he was as they continued upwards. Yet it wasn't long before something else happened.

"Look!" Usopp called and they immediately looked downwards. Hanging onto a separate chain below them was Hody, but he wasn't the only one there. At the end of that particular chain, citizens from the island had flown up and were now valiantly trying to put a stop to Noah moving in a vain attempt to try and buy the princess extra time to escape.

"C'mon! Pull as hard as you can!" they could hear them call from below.

"Even if we can't stop it, we can at least try to slow it down and give the princess a chance to get somewhere safe!"

"Keep pulling! Every inch counts!"

"Keep swimming, Princess Shirahoshi! Just get away!"

"I got to give them credit for trying," Zoro said, knowing that they could've just chosen to wait below and pray for the best. But no… they were doing their best to help, even if they knew it was pointless.

"Yeah, but they're not gonna be slowing that thing down at all," Franky frowned. He knew that even with all of Fishman Island at the end of those chains, them being able to stop that massive ship from moving was never gonna happen.

"Are you all insane?" Hody questioned in disgust, getting their attention. "There's no way that you'll be able to stop it even an inch." He held up his hand and water formed as he added, "Wasting your lives away for nothing."

"Hey!" memory Luffy roared out, realizing what he was about to do. "Stop it!"

"Damn that Hody!" present-day Luffy hissed out furiously when Hody just went on with the attack, hitting the citizens and blood splattered onto that end link before they fell.

"That was pathetic even for that jerk!" Sanji hissed. Hitting people who couldn't fight back? And a lot of them were mermaids too! Why he outta…!?

But before he could even finish thinking about his threat, Hody just continued smirking down at what he had done. "You pieces of filth!" Hody laughed madly. "Humans look down on Fishmen because of cowards like you! As far as I'm concerned, you're lives are completely and utterly useless!"

"How dare he say that?!" Brook demanded, and if he still had a face, his eyes would've been twitching horribly at the sight of it all. All life was something to treasure! And for him and his commanders to take such a disregard for it all was nothing sort of disgusting to him.

"SHARK ARROWS!" Hody shouted again before he fired more powerful Water down at the defenseless townspeople. "All you do is soil the reputation of fishmankind! The sooner you all die, the better!"

They crumbled and fell off, causing anger to flare up through all the Straw Hats as they did so. But there was only one thing on the citizen's minds even as they fell. One of them looked up and they could hear his one plea before he fell backwards and to the ground.

"Princess… just… run away… please!" he gave one desperate cry and he fell with all the others.

"Even hurt like this, they only thought of their princess…" Nami whispered softly as another image came to her mind. How the people of her village were willing to fight off Arlong and his crew and give their lives. But they wouldn't have her there with them. They told her to just run away from the island and never look back. So long as she was safe, that was all they cared about… even if it mean their deaths.

She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as the memory played itself out. Robin, who seemed to have guessed what she was thinking off, came over and wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulders and held her close, like how a sister would do.

Onwards the memory continued to play, with Shirahoshi still swimming upwards and the ship moved enough for them to be able to look in front and just make out her shape. They realized where she was heading when they reached the top of the bubble, when they saw the Water Road that connected the island to Ryuuguu Palace. So she must've realized that they may have left it open when they left the place earlier. She headed straight for it, and without pausing to think, she broke through the bubble and swam upwards until she was in the middle and popped out into the open sea.

The ship was continuing to change its course so that it would soon be heading straight up and memory Luffy was forced to hang on even tighter until they broke through the second bubble and into the sea. Because of his rubber body, Luffy wasn't crushed right away so he managed to reach for the coral and blew what air was left in his lungs into it, creating a large enough bubble to hold him.

But though he had air to breathe, they realize that he could hardly move and the chain was quickly going upwards and out of his grasp. Memory Luffy tried to swim forward, but he was forced to just thrash about.

"Man, that bubble is causing almost more trouble than it's worth," Franky said exasperatedly. How do those mermaid's make using them look so easy?

"I can't swim anyway so it didn't matter," current Luffy reasoned. "At least I had air."

"You humans really are pathetic," said Hody's voice and he appeared right behind memory Luffy, his eyes glowing red at the sight of him trapped and unable to move there.

"Crap…" Franky hissed.

"That guy looks even more monstrous than before," Chopper gulped down. He knew that taking a lot of drugs could make one a monster at times, but this… just what could've done that?

"In a world dominated by the sea," he began, "a human who can't so much as even breathe underwater can NEVER rule the ocean! You will BEG for your life, inferior species!" He licked his lips, hungry for a taste of blood like a shark.

"You bastard!" memory Luffy roared out as he spun about and tried to throw a punch, but Hody dodged it. With him in the sea and Luffy greatly restrained by the bubble, he now had an advantage.

"He's finally able to fight right now that he's got the cards stacked in his favor," Zoro said bored.

Sanji, meanwhile, couldn't help but add, "Maybe now he'll finally be considered a threat. Not that it'll matter, but he needed all the help he could get to actually be able to fight."

"Where the hell do you think we are?" Hody demanded as he swam on by. "We aren't on land anymore! Compared to humans, who grow weaker in the water, this is the ideal place where a Fishman like me can show off our true strength."

"We get it! Fishmen are stronger in water! Stop bragging already!" Zoro cried out exasperatedly. "Honestly, this guy had more hot air in him than all of Fishman Island! And almost as much as the crap cook does!"

"What was that?!" Sanji demanded hotly, wanting to boil this bastard alive right now.

"Shirahoshi fleeing out into the open sea makes things far easier for me," Hody went on. He swam a distance away before he fired more Water Shots at him, and there was no way for memory Luffy to avoid it… he was forced to bear it until it popped, leaving him in the sea once again.

"Oh no!" Brook cried out, "Luffy-san!"

"How'd you get outta that one?!" Usopp demanded as Luffy watched on with a harden expression. His memory self was struggling for breath, unable to do anything but reach once more to the coral in his shirt. But Hody saw what he was planning and shot more Shark Arrows at him, causing it to slip from his hands and fall away. Memory Luffy tried to reach for it… but it was too much. It took everything he had to fight it off until now, but his eyes rolled back and he began to sink, unable to move any longer as the sea sucked away his strength.

Hody laughed, clearly thinking he won for sure that time as he continued to brag and mock with Luffy still sinking. The others didn't even bother paying attention to him anymore as they focused on Luffy, at least until he threw his trident, which he seemingly pulled out of nowhere. It looked like it was over… but then something came swimming out of nowhere and positioned itself right between Luffy and the trident, knocking it back with its tail.

"Hey! It's him!" Usopp gasped out, recognizing who it was at once.

"That is the eldest of Shirahosh's brothers," Robin nodded. "Fukaboshi."

"Yeah, he really helped me out here," present-day Luffy said cheerfully as Fukaboshi knocked the trident away before grabbing his memory self and dove so that he could catch the coral that was dropped. Hody was outraged at this as Fukaboshi blew hard into it and helped to give Luffy another bubble of air to breathe.

"Are you ok, Straw Hat?" Fukaboshi asked anxiously as memory Luffy coughed and spluttered about.

"Bro-hoshi?" memory Luffy gasped once he got the water out of his lungs.

"Aww, you're already like family," Robin chuckled.

"I guess," present-day Luffy grinned, but it faded slightly as he suddenly saw Ace's face. To be honest, Fukaboshi reminded him a little of his own big brothers. Maybe that was why they were able to get along so well when they first met.

Fukaboshi managed to get them away from Hody and escape. He moved Luffy up so that he was on his back, holding onto his dorsal fin until he was able to catch his breath.

"Hey, thanks a lot! You really saved me back there," memory Luffy told him gratefully. "But what about those wounds you got from Hody?"

"The Royal Family, the soldiers, so many innocent citizens have been injured," Fukaboshi said firmly, though he did sound out of breath. "Even Shirahoshi is trying her hardest to save Ryuuguu Kingdom despite her injury."

"Thankfully, it wasn't that bad," Chopper nodded, having had a look at her shoulder himself after the battle was over. A little medicine was enough to patch it up and he suspected that it had to do with the fact that the knife was so small in comparison to her size.

"I don't have time to worry about any of my own injuries," Fukaboshi went on as they were surrounded by a school of giant fish.

"Hey, I have a favor to ask," memory Luffy added suddenly.

"I think we might have to wait until later for that," Fukaboshi said before they heard something; when they looked back to see Hody speeding towards them. On his back, over his dorsal fin, looked like a curved blade, allowing him to cut through the water with easy and speed. He mocked Fukaboshi about how merfolk may swim faster than fishmen, but to him they weren't even moving.

"Stop bragging already!" the Monster Trio all cried out together, completely irritated by Hody's voice.

"If he has to keep repeating himself over and over, he clearly has some kind of insecurities," Robin sighed, also growing weary of listening to Hody.

"Hurry and take him out already, Luffy," Zoro yawned.

"Shark Slicer!" Hody shouted before he sped towards memory Luffy and Fukaboshi. He quickly caught up to them and almost managed to gut them. Fukaboshi was forced to spin to avoid getting hit and popping Luffy's bubble again. Hody spun in the water as well, the effects of the blade on his back was so strong that it managed to cut off the heads of the fish around them.

"Sushi on the table," Sanji couldn't help but speak out. He could've made something delicious outta that… even if the cuts that Hody made were sloppy at best.

"We can't let that thing hit us!" memory Luffy called.

"I'll slice you up and feed you to the fishes!" Hody mocked. "A 400 million beri head and a prince of the old Ryuuguu Kingdom… you make expensive bait!"

They were forced to swim about to avoid Hody's attacks. Forced to flee as his fin cut through the underwater mountains and trenches that they tried to lose him in.

"He really is strong in the sea! He can cut them up like Zoro!" memory Luffy called.

"Please, that guy has nothing on me!" Zoro said defensibly, feeling insulted just being compared to this guy.

"This is no time to be impressed!" Fukaboshi criticized in mild annoyance. Over and over they managed to avoid getting sliced apart, but then something big caught their eyes. Noah was suddenly there and moving straight up until it was comply vertical and over their heads… from the ship they could hear the wild laughter from that idiot Decken.

"The Noah!" Fukaboshi gasped before they looked up and spotted a familiar shape continuing upwards. "Shirahoshi!" he gasped, fear on his face for his sister.

"Hey, get me to the deck of that ship!" memory Luffy said at once and Fukaboshi did what he was told without a single complaint.

"Is this the favor you wanted to ask of me before?" he asked suddenly. "Why do you want to board the ship?"

"It's just like what Jimbei said," memory Luffy answered with a firm glare at the ship, "There should be air for Decken there, which means for me to. So it should be easier for me to fight there. I want to beat that Hody and that guy who keeps throwing things at Crybaby! I promised I would protect her when I took her out of the tower!"

"Oh, so you still see it as your duty to protect her when you offered to be her bodyguard and took her out of the tower?" Brook asked impressed.

"Huh? Yeah, but we're also friends now," present-day Luffy said in mild surprise. "So why wouldn't I want to help her?"

"Oh, nothing," Brook said gently. "I'm just glad. You know you're a good person, Luffy-san."

"What? Why say that?" Luffy asked in surprise as the crew all smiled around him at how clueless he was.

"A promise, you say…" Fukaboshi repeated softly. "We've made that promise too. His strength is nothing more than a mockery, borrowed from the Energy Steroids. It's pitiful to think I couldn't stand up to those rogues. Forgive us for doubting you're earlier."

"Don't worry about it," memory Luffy answered, "Just get me to that ship, ok?"

"Is there something you want on that deck?" asked a sinister voice.

At the voice, both memory Luffy and Fukaboshi glanced behind them at Hody, who smirked at them before he went right upwards. Fukaboshi just barely managed to avoid him.

"Hody," Fukaboshi hissed as he watched him continue ahead of them now.

"Follow him!" memory Luffy called.

"No, wait Straw Hat!" Fukaboshi said at once.

"What? Why do we have to wait?" memory Luffy demanded angrily.

"You should have learned by now," Fukaboshi said surprisingly calm. "Fighting in the water is disaster favorable for a Fishman like Hody! If we keep going…"

"Yeah, I don't think that if you try fighting him like you did before, it may not end nearly as well as last time," Usopp said. If Fukaboshi didn't come rushing in to help before…?

"So what do we do?" memory Luffy demanded.

"I have a plan," Fukaboshi answered before he spun about and swam off in another direction, with memory Luffy demanding to know what he was thinking of going the wrong way. But Fukaboshi didn't say a word until he got to the direction of the main entrance. That was where they found some knights, who were asking questions as soon as they saw him. But Fukaboshi just told them that they would need air soon and they needed to prepare for it air tank. Memory Luffy was surprisingly quiet as Fukaboshi, who kept it quick before they started to head up again.

But once they were moving, memory Luffy demanded, "It'll be fine! Isn't there air on deck?! I'll just fight him there!"

"Leaving the problem of Decken aside," Fukaboshi said firmly, "Do you think that Hody is going to give you the chance to fight on your terms?"

"No, he'll do everything in his power to make sure that you don't," Nami said knowingly. "He's bound to break that bubble the first chance he gets."

"Yeah, I know that now," present-day Luffy sighed grimly. "Bro-hoshi really does think ahead."

"Take this baby snail phone with you," Fukaboshi said, pulling out a small Transponder Snail with him, "You may need it later. Be careful when you're planning! We're off!"

Fukaboshi was swimming upwards as fast as he could go. Soon they spotted the Noah and were closing in… when they drew close enough they saw it. Shirahoshi was trapped with Hody having grabbed hold of her hair and was holding her there as he spun about his red trident in his hands. He laughed as she was thrashing about until she screamed out at the top of her lungs, "BROTHERS, HELP ME!"

"DAMN YOU! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Sanji roared out when he saw Hody pulling Shirahoshi's hair, ready to land the killing strike. If he was here right now… he would've made sure that not even the fish at the bottom of the ocean would ever find pieces of him.

"SHIRAHOSHI!" both Ryuboshi and Manboshi cried, drifting there badly injured but were about to go up anyway in a desperate attempt to stop Hody from killing their younger sister.

"HOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDY!" memory Luffy screamed up and the two looked down at once as Fukaboshi came speeding up and right passed them. Memory Luffy threw his arm out, wiggling about through the water like a snake slithering its way towards them. "Gum Gum… SNAKE SHOT!"

Hody threw his trident away to grab hold of the arm, but Luffy's hand was still wiggling around and managed to still grab hold of his chest, squeezing hard and probably breaking a rib in the process. Hody screamed in agony and ended up letting go of Shirahoshi's hair in the process, who used this chance to escape out of his grasp.

"Brother Fukaboshi! Master Luffy!" she cried joyfully when she saw them between her and Hody when he finally forced memory Luffy's hand off him.

"Straw Hat!" Manboshi cried out in surprise as memory Luffy withdrew his hand.

"Brother!" Ryuboshi called when he saw him there.

"Forgive me!" Fukaboshi answered, breathing hard. "I was unavoidably detained while I made some preparations!"

"Y-You scum," Hody snarled as the two glared back.

"Thank goodness," Sanji sighed in relief when he saw his beloved Shirahoshi was unharmed. Another second later and…? He didn't want to think about it.

Memory Luffy was glaring down at his hand, flexing the fingers as he shook the water off. "Damn!" he cursed. "If only I weren't in the water, then that attack would've been a lot more powerful!"

"I can't imagine a worse battlefield for a Devil Fruit user to try and fight in," Robin said as she looked about.

"I didn't want to fight there, but didn't have a choice," current Luffy confessed as he looked back to the ship. "That's why I wanted to get to the ship! I knew I could've taken him out if I had air and room to move."

"Which is why Hody was so determined to destroy the bubble around the ship," present-day Chopper nodded.

"More powerful?" Hody scoffed. "Inferior trash! Don't you realize where we are?! We're in the deep sea! You don't stand a chance of winning!"

"Funny… that 'inferior trash' was kicking his ass down in the plaza," current Sanji said as he breathed out a mouthful of smoke. "Did he forget that already?"

"Being in the water made him over-confident again, I suppose," Nami stated with a shrug.

Hody then turned to smirk at the Noah before adding, "Besides, everything will be over soon. Shirahoshi, Fishman Island, and your companions…" he turned back and grinned wildly at him. "A weakling like you can't protect any of them!"

Weakling…

All of the Straw Hats felt anger boiling inside them at the insult. But neither of the two Luffy's reacted at first. And then…?

"You're wrong," memory Luffy smirked, wiping the smile from Hody's face. "I'll protect _everything!_ That's what the last two years are for!"

 **(It's been a long time since I've written a chapter this long! My school schedule is as rough as ever, so here's a long chapter to keep you all busy until I find more free time. Please leave a review if you liked it, it always cheers me up so much to see one, except for those of you who have only been reviewing to complain that the characters are all retards and criticize things that happen in the anime…? Please… I'm not getting paid for this, I'm just doing it because I enjoy writing and to entertain. I don't need to hear that the characters are all dumbasses and retards every single chapter. If you have such a problem with them, then don't read it. It just depresses me to read something like that. If you have a problem, then give me helpful criticism rather than just a rude complaint.)**


	9. Floor 8: Battle on the Ocean Floor

**Floor 8: Battle on the Ocean Floor**

The Straw Hats climbed up the stairs, excited to see more on the next floor, a part of them actually enjoying seeing these events once again. When they reached the next door, Luffy, Usopp, Brook, and Chopper were all falling over each other as they tried to force themselves through the door at the same time.

"Let me through!"

"Get outta my way!"

"Me? You're in _my_ way!"

"I got here first!"

"Shove it!"

"Would you all knock it off?!" Nami called as the rest of them went running after them. "This isn't a game!"

But with much struggling, the four jammed in the doorway managed to squeeze inside the room all at once, tripping over the other as they fell onto a pile on the floor.

"What do you all intend to do if there's a monster hiding in one of these rooms?" Sanji asked with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not gonna come to your rescue if you bozos get killed."

The memory shifted almost as soon as they stepped inside the room and the door shut behind them. They were suddenly back out in the open sea with memory Luffy, Shirahoshi, and the princes. Shirahoshi was now swimming straight up, continuing to lure Noah away from the island while Luffy and her brothers surrounded Hody, ready to stop him should he try to go after her again.

"Keep going, my love!" Sanji called up to Shirahoshi. He then looked down to their own Luffy and added, "If you let any harm come to my dear Shirahoshi then I'm gonna have no choice but to kick your ass, Luffy."

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked, obviously not paying attention to a word that he was saying.

"You say you'll protect them all?" Hody sniggered as if he had never heard of a more ridiculous thing. "Don't make me laugh! You sure have a big mouth, Straw Hat!"

"While that last part is true, I wouldn't be laughing if I were you!" Nami called out.

"Hey!" present-day Luffy said at once.

"What? You do have a big mouth!" Nami retorted.

"But what about you?" Luffy asked, not even thinking about what he was saying. Silence fell around them at Luffy's daring, and Nami's eyes narrowed.

"NO!" Usopp yelled as he and Chopper tackled their captain to the ground, covering his mouth desperately.

"What was that?" Nami hissed menacingly, her eyes practically aglow with rage.

"No, Luffy, you'll die!" Usopp gasped out.

"Don't be a hero!" Chopper cried fearfully, knowing that Nami could kill him very easily here. "We don't want you to die!"

Nami's eyes were twitching in anger, but Hody's dark chuckle caused her to look back, temporarily forgetting about the boys—who were thanking whatever deity that was looking out for them.

"Damn that Hody," Manboshi hissed out as he glared at him. "He's even willing to attack Decken."

"What?" Brook asked in confusion, tilting his head.

"Oh, right," present-day Luffy said, once he got his mouth free, "Hody went and attacked the guy who kept throwing things at Crybaby."

"Man, I guess he's not the type who doesn't mind when an alliance goes bad," Usopp muttered darkly. Though, to be fair… if someone who you made an alliance with tried to kill you along with everyone else, you would probably want to take them out too.

"Run away, Shirahoshi!" Ryuboshi called up to their sister. "Draw the Noah away from the island! Go as far as possible!"

If she heard him, she didn't stop to address him; instead she just kept going straight up as Hody only smirked.

"It's too late," he said smugly.

"Too late? What's he talking about?" Sanji asked in annoyance. "He's up against four people here, and Shirahoshi-chan is already getting away."

"That's not the problem," present-day Luffy threw off Usopp and Chopper. "Hody took that jerk out and that's what happened."

"So? That's a good thing, right?" Franky asked in puzzlement. "I mean, he was annoying. I'm not to heart-broken."

But Robin was frowning in understanding.

"So that's what happened," she said knowingly. "The powers of a Devil Fruit user fades upon death or even just losing consciousness. That's why the Noah started falling back to the island like that."

"Wait, what?" Nami asked her quickly. "You mean that's the reason?!"

Robin nodded back sagely. "Because Hody took Decken out, there was nothing left that was keeping Noah from flying towards Shirahoshin. And since it's still right over our heads when the power of the Mark Mark fruit faded, then…?"

"But it's still following her now," Chopper pointed out. "Even though he attacked Decken!"

"That's only because Decken must still conscious," Robin said knowingly as she looked to the ship. "There is no other explanation. If I had to guess, he's somewhere inside Noah after being injured. He's still awake, and right now, that's the only thing that's keeping the ship going. But, as we all know, that doesn't last for long."

"Did he die?" Franky asked.

"No, he didn't," Nami said as she thought back to that prison where she saw Hody and the others after they aged to old men. "He was beaten to within an inch of his life, but I don't think that he aged at all."

"Meaning that he never bothered to take any of those pills," Sanji said knowingly. "But he'll still be spending the rest of his days behind bars where he won't be able to go after Shirahoshi-chan again."

"Shirahoshi!" Manboshi cried out, he and Ryuboshi clearly figuring out what Hody meant, trying to get their sister's attention.

"If the Noah falls, it's all over!" Ryuboshi screamed.

But Shirahoshi just kept going upwards and Manboshi's eyes widen in horror as he declared, "Oh no! She can't hear us!"

"But even if she did, what could she do about it?" Usopp asked anxiously.

"She tried to move the ship off the island," present-day Luffy explained. "And it almost worked to… but then…?"

"But I'm guessing that idiot passed out?" Zoro asked grimly as Luffy stuck his tongue out sourly as he remembered that. "Damn, and here I thought that he could've done one good thing to have him around."

Ryuboshi couldn't take it anymore and began to go after Shirahoshi, yelling the whole way, "You mustn't swim straight up! To the side! Move off to the side!"

He went zooming passed Hody, who just realized that they figured it all out.

"So they've caught on?!" Hody barked. He went chasing after Ryuboshi, with Manboshi trying to stop him, only to get shoved aside easily.

"Shirahoshi!" Ryuboshi shouted out, not noticing how Hody was right behind him. He turned around to look too late, and the sharp fin on Hody's back cut across him, causing blood to burst out.

"No! Stop it!" Chopper cried out in horror. The three princes were badly injured from before, their bodies couldn't take much more damage.

"Brother!" Manboshi cried out in horror.

"Ryuboshi!" Fukaboshi screamed.

Manboshi was at his brother's side at once, catching him and crying out anxiously for him to hang on. Ryuboshi was lying limp across Manboshi's shoulder, his blood drifting into the water as Hody barked down, "Don't get any funny ideas!"

"If Decken's power doesn't stop working here, then what was the point of killing him?" Hody demanded.

"How badly hurt was Ryuboshi-san, Chopper-san?" Brook asked their doctor at once.

"I can't really tell here," Chopper said carefully. "It was pretty bad when I looked at him later, but it could've been a lot worse."

"I guess his aim sucked," Sanji shrugged.

Zoro nodded in agreement. He saw what happened… at the very last moment, when he realized that he was in trouble, Ryuboshi moved back in time to avoid a fatal wound. He was too slow to move out of the way completely, but it was enough to save his life. He glanced about, and he saw that Luffy and the cook both seem to notice this as well.

Fukaboshi gasped, suddenly understanding what the problem was as memory Luffy looked back down at the island. And judging from the look on his face, it quickly dawned to him as well what Hody was talking about.

"So that's it!" he cried and they all looked down to see that Noah was still directly over the island. "If we don't move, then the ship will crash down onto Fishman Island and everyone there! After Crybaby worked so hard to draw it away from the island!"

Memory Luffy looked back to Fukaboshi and cried, "Bro-hoshi! Let's go after Crybaby!"

"Right!" and the two started off, but with Shirahoshi already so far off in the distance, it was going to take a miracle to catch up with her now, even with the two of them calling out her name. But then Hody appeared in front of them, blocking their way.

"Hurry up and go!" Sanji called.

"I'm sure they're trying," Brook pointed out, "but Hody's blocking the way."

"Not so fast, Straw Hat," Hody snarled. "I won't let you go! Fishman Island will be crushed, along with all of its people! Straw Hat, all your little friends are sure to die as well!"

"And to think that it started off with them standing in his way to stop him from going after her," Robin said slowly.

"Not helping, Robin," Franky pointed out.

"Shirahoshi!" Manboshi cried, supporting his wounded brother but then he began to scream out at the top of his lungs in desperation, "SWIM OFF TO THE SIDE! SHIRAHOSHI!"

Sanji, who kept his eyes on his beloved Shirahoshi, realized that at the sound of her brother's plea, despite being so far away, managed to finally reach her. She turned around at last—perhaps sensing his feelings rather than hearing his words. Sanji got a look at her sweet, innocent and scared face as she looked down at them all. All at once, it seemed that she understood…

"Look!" Sanji called as now everyone in the memory and out were looking up to see that she had turned off to the side instead of going directly upwards. Hody glared up as well, fury in his face as he began to curse her. Memory Luffy and her brothers however were all cheering, encouraging her to keep going.

"Attagirl!" Franky cheered out, punching the air. "Keep swimming!"

"To tick Hody off if nothing else!" Nami yelled out, actually smirking at the look of outrage on Hody's face.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Hody growled out, forgetting all about memory Luffy and the princes for now. "I won't let you go!"

"Oh no, you don't!" memory Luffy shouted as he stretched out his arm to grab hold of Hody's wrist… rolls switching once again as they were now trying to stop him from going after her. The action was enough for Luffy to stop Hody in his tracks, but just for a moment.

"Let go of me!" Hody demanded as he tried to pull himself free.

"Like hell!" memory Luffy snarled back.

"Yeah! Like he would do something that dumb!" Usopp yelled out. But it was clear that just this was becoming a challenge for Luffy just to hang on since the sea was still draining him of his strength. Soon Hody was able to break away and continued going upwards. Memory Luffy retracted his arm, calling for Fukaboshi to give chase, which he did so at once.

"Damn Decken!" they heard Hody growl as they also followed, "Just die already!"

"He must be clinging on to life but it's clear that he's still conscious," Robin stated, though she knew that it was unlikely that it would last for more than a few minutes longer. Meanwhile, Shirahoshi continued moving off to the side… and ever so slowly, the ship began to follow. It was leaning towards the side, steady going where she was, as long as Decken even had a sliver of consciousness left in him, then the ark would continue to change direction. If only they could keep this up long enough…?

"Great! Keep going, Crybaby!" memory Luffy called up at her. As her brothers also called out words of encouragement as they began to follow. Shirahoshi was kicking her tail as fast as she could go, continuing onwards… just a few more minutes than the ship should be cleared of the island so that if it did fall, it would fall someplace safe. It was slow work, but it was steadily paying off.

"If it moves too far, all of this was pointless!" Hody barked in anger until he and Fukaboshi were clashing with each other, ramming into the other over and over like a pair of jousting knights.

"I won't let you go!" Fukaboshi roared out as he blocked every attempt for Hody to go after his sister. At one point though, Hody managed to slip passed them, leaving both Ryuboshi and Manboshi to grab hold of his arms to try and stop him. He tossed them aside like dolls before continuing, only to have Luffy and Fukaboshi blocking him once more.

"Just a little more! You're almost there!" Usopp and Chopper both cheered out.

"Don't give up yet beautiful princess!" Brook added loudly.

"Just a little further, Crybaby!" memory Luffy called up.

"Decken!" Hody growled, glaring down at the ship before up at memory Luffy and Fukaboshi again and snarled, "I'll break through by force!"

"Just try it!" memory Luffy dared as Hody went straight for him. "I WILL PROTECT EVERYONE!"

But just before the two of them clashed again, Noah suddenly stopped moving completely. It was so sudden, yet it quickly drew the gaze of every single person. It stood still for just a brief moment… standing completely vertical… but then, it slowly began to fall backwards.

At the sight of it, Hody smirked… as memory Luffy and the princes were staring in horror. It seemed to take a few seconds for them to grasp what was happening.

"Damnit!" Franky cursed out. "We were so close! If the guy just stayed awake for another minute…?"

"No use crying about it now!" Zoro yelled. Noah hadn't made it out of the danger zone. It had been following Shirahoshi at an angle, but when the effects of the Devil Fruit faded, it began to turn as it sank, straightening out until it was directly above the island again. It was falling slowly, but that was all they had going for them.

"Just in time," Hody smirked as the others all stared down with a mixture of panic and horror. But before they could see anymore, the memory began to shift.

"What?! No! Don't do it now!" Usopp yelled out as the memory turned black.

"Yeah! It was just getting to the exciting part!" Franky yelled out angrily. "Damn! Why does it always cut away at the good parts?!"

"I guess whoever's in charge of this wants to keep us in suspense," Sanji shouted, though he hated turning away without knowing what would happen to Shirahoshi and Luffy and the others. But there wasn't much they could do about it now. The memory soon reappeared around them though, and he recognized it at once.

"Wait! Aren't we back in the plaza?!" Nami asked as she looked around at the weapons and unconscious bodies lying at her feet. It was difficult to tell with all the dust that was flying about, but she was sure this was where they were. Especially when she heard the loud crying.

She looked up to see that Wadatsumi was still there, standing up and crying into his hands as his tears began to form pools at his feet that could very easily drown someone. One would've been worried for the New Fishman Pirates if they didn't have gills.

"I've heard of drowning in tears, but this isn't what I first thought of," Brook said slowly as the men about Wadatsumi's feet were running to avoid getting hit.

"Right! Does this mean we get to watch us kick some asses?" Franky asked excitedly. Oh, he had been wanting a chance to see himself fight! The memories that they had seen before really didn't have much of him really getting a chance to throw down.

Surume, meanwhile, was already looking ready to fight as he waited for Wadatsumi to throw the first punch. The New Fishman Pirates were all begging for Wadatsumi to do something about the octopus, who was now waiting impatiently.

"Wow, he's just like you now, Luffy-san," Brook pointed out as Luffy grinned and laughed.

"Go for it, Surume!" he cheered.

"Wow… I can't believe that guy is being such a crybaby," Usopp said slowly, actually feeling bad for for Wadatsumi. It was like trying to fight with a little kid, you feel guilty at how pathetic they were acting.

His past self however was cheering for Surume.

"Go get him, Kraken!" memory Usopp called.

"You can beat him!" memory Chopper added just as loudly. But Wadatsumi kept crying until one of the commanders showed up. The tall and thin Fishman who was covered with wavy light blue and indigo stripes with the number 02 tattooed on his chest. Tentacle-like feelers hung from his face, where you couldn't tell where his mouth or nose were.

"Him again?" Sanji asked. "He's really becoming a pain here."

"I think they called him Zeo or something like that," Brook pointed out.

"Is he the one who we kept ignoring?" Luffy asked as he tried to think back. "Cause I don't remember."

"I don't think any of these guys were worth remembering, so don't think about it too much," Zoro said knowingly.

"Giant Monk!" Zeo shouted suddenly. "What's all this nonsense about Decken abandoning you?! You just misheard him!"

"What? What's he talking about? We were all here and we definitely heard Decken say he couldn't care less about this guy," Luffy pointed out.

"Yeah, but Wadatsumi has the mind of a little kid," Nami sighed.

"W…what?" Wadatsumi asked, confused as he looked down, another large tear falling right on Zeo, who didn't react at all.

"Remember what he said?" Zeo asked carefully, as if Wadatsumi had merely misunderstood what he heard. " _'I'll leave the plaza to you'!_ Meaning he had no intention of destroying the island with you on it!"

"He shouldn't have been on that boat to begin with," Sanji said as he realized that the rest of Decken's crew and his ship were nowhere to be found. Why didn't Wadatsumi stay back with everyone else?

"B-But he told me I was a sacrifice!" Wadatsumi answered back in confusion.

"He meant you should fight wholeheartedly as if you were going to sacrifice yourself," Zeo corrected. He then looked around at all his men and added, "Isn't that right?"

The New Fishman Pirates looked on confused before they realized what he was doing.

"Huh? Uh… yeah! That's right!" one of them shouted out with an unconvincing smile on his face.

"It's rare for a captain to have this much faith in one of his underlings!" another added, and soon others were calling up to Wadatsumi, letting him know the same thing. That he heard wrong and that now was the time to show them what he was made of.

"He doesn't really believe all that, does he?" Usopp sighed. He was a master liar, and this guy was just terrible at it. "I've told my fair share of lies in the past, but no one could really believe that?"

"Like some of your lies are something to be proud of," Zoro pointed out. "You once said that you practiced painting for fifty years."

"Hey! That was a long time ago!" Usopp retorted. "I can actually do stuff now!"

"Oh, so dat's it?" Wadatsumi asked slowly as he began to smile again.

"That's right!" Zeo said before he held up another of those Energy Steroid. "Now here! Swallow this and fight as our ally! Crush the Straw Hat Pirates!"

He then tossed the little pill up to Wadatsumi's mouth, and it was like a speck of dust or something in comparison.

"An Energy Steroid?" asked one of the pirates.

"Are you kidding? That'll never work on someone so huge," another said doubtfully. However, Zeo just chuckled as Wadatsumi's eyes and skin turned red as he roared out.

"IT WAS SUPER EFFECTIVE ON HIM!" the pirates screamed as memory Usopp and Chopper shrieked in fear.

"Boy, that pill really is some strong stuff," Luffy said slowly. "Just one to make a giant act like that? And Hody kept shoveling handfuls of the stuff in his mouth."

"Something that he's gonna pay for later," present-day Chopper said grimly.

Surume looked taken aback, but he held his ground as he began to curl up his tentacles like how one would do with their fists. But Wadatsumi came running in at him, howling all the way as he pulled back his own fist. The two clashed, but Wadatsumi's punch went right passed Surume's tentacles, striking him right in the jaw and sending him crashing to the ground—out cold in just the one hit.

"Surume!" memory Usopp and Chopper cried out in worry as they went running straight for him.

"That's twice that Surume was knocked out with one hit," Brook said sympathetically. "Poor guy…"

"Cap'n Decken! Sorry I doubted ya!" Wadatsumi roared out suddenly as the New Fishman Pirates cheered out when they saw Surume out cold.

"Damn, open your eyes, Wada-or-whatever your name is!" Franky yelled as the memory versions of Usopp and Chopper were trying to get Surume to wake up. "You don't mean anything to these guys!"

But then Wadatsumi noticed memory Usopp and Chopper.

"Yer enemies too, right?" Wadatsumi demanded as he held up a webbed foot. The two screamed as they ran for it, trying to avoid getting stomped on. And soon he was stomping about, looking for more of the Straw Hats, like a child having a tantrum.

"Where's da enemy?" he demanded at one point as he even began stepping on people of his own crew.

"Why do these guys keep attacking their own crewmates like this?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"Well, they've got enough members so I don't think that they mind it," Zoro shrugged. "Not a big deal, really."

"R-right there, Wadatsumi!" shouted one of the pirates, pointing to Jimbei, who glanced up at the giant as he had a pirate in a choke hold.

"Well, he's not a Straw Hat yet, but he's practically a member of the crew," Nami smiled.

"Yeah, I wonder what's taking him so long for him to join us!" Luffy cheered out. He really, _really_ wanted to see Jimbei again so that he could join. It was gonna be so much fun to sail to the end of the Grand Line with him there.

"I've got him!" Wadatsumi boomed as he reeled a fist back, preparing to punch Jimbei like he did with Surume. "Yer mine!"

Thankfully, Jimbei was a lot tougher than Surume was. In fact, he barely glanced behind him to see who was talking to him, only to go back to choking the pirate he was holding, like he wasn't even bothered that a giant was coming for him.

Memory Nami, who was fighting close-by, noticed this and turned around as she cried out in warning, "Jimbei-chan, watch out!"

Jimbei simply scoffed before he dropped the pirate and readied himself. Already they could feel it, like waves leaving the shore before they came back strong with the tides.

"Seven Thousand Brick…" he began as Wadatsumi's fist came flying in. Jimbei barely drew breath as he spun about, stopping the punch with a single kick. "ROUNDHOUSE KICK!"

Nothing happened for a moment as a shockwave seemed to go throughout Wadatsumi's body. When Jimbei lowered his foot from the giant finger, they saw that there was a deep dent left there with the pattern of his wooden shoes… most likely breaking the finger. It seemed to take Wadatsumi a moment to realize that he was in pain. His eyes widen as he began to yowl, moving back, staggering away as he held onto his hurt hand.

"Oww… I hurt just looking at that," Sanji winced as he gripped his own hand. This was why he would never resort to fighting with his hands. They get damaged far too easily in a fight.

The New Fishmen Pirates were all yelling out in shock, unable to understand how someone so small compared to a giant could do that much damage. Jimbei held up his hands, preparing himself for more, but Wadatsumi ended up tripping over his large feet and fell backwards, causing the pirates below him to scream and run for cover as he created a great shockwave of wind. Which, in turn, knocked over people who weren't underneath Wadatsumi. Memory Nami was one of them, letting out a startled scream, she was knocked forward, her face tasting the dirt as she skidded across the ground.

Memory Sanji happened to see this… and at the sight, fire burned fiercely in his eyes.

"NAMI! How could this happen?! How could she get hit by the shockwave?" he cried out like this was the worst possible scenario. He then turned his hatred up at Wadatsumi before he spun about until he was in the air and he kicked Wadatsumi hard in the head, roaring out as he did so, "GET UP, DAMN YOU!"

"Damn… and the guy didn't even touch her," Zoro muttered.

"Nami was knocked over because of him!" current Sanji snapped.

"Wouldn't that be Jimbei's fault since he was the one who kicked him?" Zoro asked.

"None of it would've happened if that idiot didn't go after him first," current Nami scolded.

"Exactly!" Sanji spat out. "That oversize pufferfish deserved it."

"OWIE!" Wadatsumi cried as he stood up and rubbed the bump on his head, his skin and eyes returning to normal and his rage vanishing, now crying again. "WHO IS IT NOW?!"

Memory Sanji landed on his feet before pointing dramatically up at him, "Hey fatty! If you gave our beautiful navigator so much as a single scratch you're gonna pay!"

"What the hell?!" questioned one of the New Fishman Pirates. "No way! His kicks hurt him too!"

"Wadatsumi is a monster the size of an underwater mountain!" another cried out in bafflement. "How strong are this guy's legs?!"

"He has size and that is all," Zoro yawned out, not seeing the big deal. Nami wasn't even hurt. Then again, he didn't really expect anything for the cook to say to make sense. The guy must've been born without a brain.

"Aww…" memory Nami's voice moaned out as they turned to look. She slowly picked herself up off the ground and dusted herself off as she looked over her clothes. "Now I'm all dirty…" she sighed out.

"You look fine to me," Zoro muttered as he rolled his eye. "You don't even have a scratch."

"You look perfect to me, Nami-dear…" current Sanji sighed lovingly to her, as she merely gave him a pat on the head like a loyal dog.

Wadatsumi continued moaning in pain as he nursed the large lump on his head.

"Don't blame me for dat…" he whimpered out loudly as memory Sanji walked towards him… followed by Jimbei until the two were glaring up at him.

"We will fight you, Great Monk!" Jimbei called.

"I could have taken him on my own," present-day Sanji said just as his past self hissed, "You're gonna pay for this with your LIFE, you Jumbo dumpling!"

"What's with these guys?!" the New Fishman Pirates cried out, finally starting to realize that they were out of their league here. But the excitement was far from over; with the sounds of screams echoing around them. Memory Zoro was taking on dozens of swordsmen at once, cutting them down as if they were training dummies; and he looked about as excited about it. But then a shadow appeared behind him when another swordsman, this time an Angler Fishmen, appeared and was challenging him with a large crescent-shaped blade. Once Zoro turned to face him, he introduced himself as Nuru, claiming to soon become the strongest Fishman swordman in the world.

"If he's the strongest, then they had such a low bar," present-day Zoro stated, completely unimpressed as Nuru and his past self were battling it out. At one point, memory Zoro spun about and caught hold of the curved blade with his own swords and just held it there.

"You're pretty good," Nuru admitted.

"And you're pretty weak," memory Zoro responded, ticking Nuru off.

"Oh, that must've stung," Franky whistled out.

"What? It was the truth," present-day Zoro answered with a shrug. At last, Nuru threw his blade upwards and the light from the strange antenna on his head began to glow brightly.

"That's dirty…" Brook said darkly. "Not that you need your eyes to fight though do you, Zoro-san?"

"Only amateurs depend on eyes to win in a fight," he answered as Nuru laughed as he proclaimed that if he couldn't see him then he couldn't dodge the attacks. Well, that may have been true at one point… but this Zoro was much stronger than he used to be. In fact, he just closed his eyes while in the bright light as he waited for Nuru to strike first.

And suddenly, they watched as the shadowy form of Nuru caught his blade and slashing at Zoro, cutting him in half.

"What was that?!" Nami gasped out as Chopper and Brook both shrieked at the sight.

"Calm down, that was just my Haki warning me of what was going to happen," present-day Zoro answered calmly.

"Amazing," Robin said in fascination. She knew that they had seen a glimpse of what using Haki was like when they watched Luffy's memories. That was what saved him from getting his arms cut off by Mihawk after all.

"That's so awesome!" Chopper cried out, his eyes sparkling. Without that ability, Zoro could've been cut in half! That was so cool and it made him wish that he could use Observation Haki too.

It was over in an instant… with the light fading and Nuru chuckling darkly to himself, thinking that he won… at least until his hanging light was cracked and sliced in two like it had been warm butter. Nuru barely had time to react before it was sliced apart even more.

"You only use your eyes to see," memory Zoro answered darkly. "That's what makes you weak. Go and train before you come back!"

"Let me guess… he didn't impress you?" Robin asked as Nuru was blasted away from him, landing hard yard away and no longer moving.

"Until now, I forgot all about him," present-day Zoro shrugged. "He wasn't worth it. I get now why Mihawk doesn't bother to remember all the names of all the people he beat. They just weren't worth it."

That was when they heard screams of agony and looked up in time to see that the octopus swordsman who confronted them back at Mermaid Bay was there. And he was now cutting everyone around him in shreds. Apparently, he was drunk… but now, his hair was bleached white and had a wild look and twisted grin. In each hand and tentacle was a sword, which he was swinging about with reckless abandon, cutting whoever was close enough. His crew was running away in panic as he went for them, none of them understanding what was going on.

"He can't do that to his people!" Brook yelled in outrage.

"Seriously, why are they going after their own crewmates? They're on the same side," Usopp asked as Hyouzou began slicing through steel to get to his prey.

"I don't get it!" one of the pirates cried out as he backed away. "Wasn't he writhing in pain just a minute ago? Yet no one had harmed him…?"

"No way… this is just like Captain Hody's transformation!" another demanded.

"You mean Hyouzou turned into a monster too?!" screamed a panicked third voice.

"A weak-ass monster," present-day Zoro sighed out as he stretched out. He was wishing that he was out at sea with Luffy, knowing that he would've had a real challenge out there instead of the leftovers here. The New Fishman Pirates were all making a desperate run to get away from Hyouzou, who kept chasing after them with his blades still swinging wildly.

"This is great! My power's overflowing!" Hyouzou grinned out as he pulled out another sword, gazing at his reflection in his blades as he pouted, "Man, I wanna cut down more people!" He then began to call out to everyone in earshot, "Let me cut you!"

"He sounds a lot like you, Zoro," Nami couldn't help but point out.

"I'm not like him!" current Zoro snarled down at her.

"No, but you're just as vicious for something to cut up!" she retorted. "How many times did you cut someone up when you didn't have to?"

"I use the dull side of my sword when fighting average people," he reminded.

"Even that is too strong!" she yelled. "You don't seem to know your own strength!"

It looked like the two would start a full-blown argument when they realized that the people around them were all still running, trying to escape Hyouzou's swinging tentacles. They just ran, crying out for someone, anyone, to help them. Hyouzou didn't seem to care who he cut as he ran wild, at least until he spotted memory Robin, who had grown out several giant arms and was now flinging pirates away from her.

With an evil grin that made Sanji want to break this guy's neck, Hyouzou jumped and went flying right for her. All of his blades ready to slice her apart, and he may have succeeded in chopping her to pieces, for she didn't look up until he was right on top of her…

"Found one!" he roared out gleefully.

"TOUCH HER AND I'LL FILLET YOU, YOU OVERGROWN SQUID!" Sanji roared out.

"I thought he was an octopus?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"WHO CARES?!" Sanji barked loudly at him. "I'LL GUT HIM ALIVE IF HE TOUCHED HER!"

"Don't worry, Sanji," present-day Robin smiled. "He didn't get a chance."

Before Hyouzou could so much as breathe in her personal space, memory Zoro appeared completely out of nowhere and blocked him, stopping all of his swords with his three and holding him back so that Robin didn't get a scratch.

"Bastard," Sanji hissed, feeling torn about this. "If I was there, I could've stopped him myself. I will thank you for saving Robin-san though… you jackass."

"I didn't do it for you, so piss off," current Zoro hissed back.

There was a shockwave from the two as they held the other off, smirking as they felt the strength the other held. Hyouzou grinned as the crew around them all gasped to see him stopped so easily and it was clear that he was eager for a battle with someone who could put up a fight.

"You seem to be a lot stronger than the Angler was," memory Zoro informed him, his one eye wide and full of excitement as his grinned, his third sword still in his mouth as he forced Hyouzou back.

"Zoro," memory Robin said in surprise.

"You really did surprise me there," current Robin smiled at Zoro. "And I don't think I had a chance to thank you for that."

Current Zoro looked away, feeling a slight blush on his cheeks as he answered, "Don't think too much about it. It was nothing."

"Hope you don't mind, but I'll be taking on this guy," memory Zoro explained to Robin, as if they were at a party and he was cutting in with her dance partner. "He might be a good warm-up before we head off to the New World!"

"Boy was I wrong," current Zoro sighed as Hyouzou smirked back at him.

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Luffy answered as he moved his hands up to rest behind his head. "That's a disappointment. I thought that he would be tougher than that when I punched him earlier."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," present-day Zoro nodded grimly. "It's a pity when we think that we're in for a good challenge, only to find out that you're up against a whimp."

Just then they were interrupted by Wadatsumi again, who was whining at memory Sanji that his kick hurt.

"Can it!" memory Sanji roared out. "I'm gonna fillet that giant body of yours!"

"Even Cap'n Decken never kicked me for no reason like this!" Wadatsumi complained as he pointed to his swollen lumps.

"No reason?! I had every reason to kick his ass!" the present-day Sanji spat bitterly.

His memory self also looked ticked off at that statement. "You damn, bastard," he hissed as he raised one of his legs up. "How dare you…" He kicked off until he was back in the air. "KNOCK NAMI-SAN OVER WITH THE SHOCKWAVE FROM YOUR FALL!"

"Payback time!" Wadatsumi yelled as he was heaving back his fist again. But memory Sanji dodged it all as he flew straight at him, throwing out another kick straight to the giant's head, leaving a dent and knocking him over again.

"You do know that you knocked him over again, creating another shockwave?" Usopp couldn't help but point out.

Memory Sanji realized this too late. As he landed, with the wind picking up, he turned and yelled at memory Nami to watch out. Memory Nami was close by and was able to remain up on her feet this time, but she was starting to look put out by all this wind.

"My hair was a tangled mess by the end of this," the current Nami sighed.

"Shows how boring it was if that was the worst you got," Zoro pointed out.

"Another shockwave?" memory Nami asked. "Give me a break!"

When the wind died down, she held up her staff and began to spin it about as the pirates all called out to watch out because she was trying something. She then pointed the end and called out, "Black Ball!"

At once, the end of her staff began to blow out small bubbles with tiny black clouds nestled inside them. One after another began to burst out until she was able to create a sort of chain around her of these strange bubbles.

"Now what?" one of the pirates asked hesitantly.

"Is she a witch?" another asked, eyeing the bubbles with apprehension.

"How rude!" memory Nami scolded. "I'm not a witch!" She then smiled and added with a wink, "Call me an enchantress instead!"

"That was exactly what I was thinking, Nami-swan!" current Sanji sighed lovingly. She truly was enchanting! Her beauty alone was enough to cast a spell over him, one whom he was happy to fall for.

"Moron," Zoro sighed.

Suddenly, sparks began to pulsate from inside the clouds as memory Nami replied, "Though it's not really magic… just a little carefully applied science!"

The sparks grew larger and larger until they all popped the bubbles, releasing a long string of storm clouds.

"Thundercloud Rod!" she cried as she swung about, and sudden the clouds were striking everything that they touched with lightning, especially the pirates—who were all forced to scream and began to run about in pain, and anyone they touched was also burned as well.

That was when Robin spotted another couple commanders right behind them. One of them was Zeo, but the other was the extremely tall squid Fishman. She had to search her memory for her to remember this guy's name… Ikaros? Either way, she watched as he screamed as a couple pirates went running straight to him, still being electrocuted from Nami's lightning. His body was burned and fried as he forced the pirates away from him, all eight of his arms now holding onto spears as he gasped out in pain.

She watched them suspiciously out of the corner of her eye as the others watched memory Nami. She saw how the two commanders hissed softly to each other, realizing that they were looking over at Nami as they did so. That was when the one called Zeo vanished from her view. She blinked in confusion, not sure what just happened… at least until she spotted the shadowy outlined form of Zeo's body slithering across the ground… and heading straight for memory Nami.

"Just leave me alone now," memory Nami warned the pirates, who were all backing away from her, "Unless you want to be roasted!"

She didn't realize what was going on until he had grabbed her by her ankles and she was suddenly stuck. The forms of fingers gripping on her pant legs appeared and she couldn't pull herself free as her eyes widen in fear.

"What?!" she gasped out, "My legs won't move!"

"Huh? What's going on?" Chopper asked in bafflement. "I don't see anything!"

"It was that purpled striped freak," the present-day Nami said angrily. "He can turn himself invisible and was keeping me from moving. That jerk…"

"What? Oh, that rotten…?!" Sanji said firmly but then his eyes widen in horror when the squid Ikaros appeared behind the memory Nami, holding his spears aloft and all of them pointing down at her.

"I'm gonna make you into a fried squid-ich!" he laughed darkly

"Damn them! No honor in ganging up on a woman! And she can't even move now! Those cowardly lowlifes why if I could…?" Sanji then went on in a lot of curses that a lot of the Straw Hats never heard before, but soon fell silent as memory Nami began to cry out in terror.

"W-W-Wait a second!" she cried as she looked back down at her feet, not understanding what was going on as she continued to struggle, her eyes wide with fear. "Why won't my feet move?!" she then turned and yelled out, "Somebody! HELP!"

At first it seemed that it would be too late. She screamed as the squid struck, his spears thrusting straight at her… when memory Brook, who heard her scream, suddenly appeared between her and Ikaros.

"Nami-san… may I see your panties?" he asked. Memory Nami's fear was replaced at once with irritation and not even when Brook was stabbed in the back with the spears and he hollered in pain did anything to curb her temper.

"NO WAY!" she roared out as she punched memory Brook in the jaw, sending bits of his bones flying.

"Hey, he saved your live, I think that's the least you could offer him," Franky pointed out until their own Nami gave him a death glare and he shut up immediately.

"Looking back now, I will offer you my thanks for saving me," current Nami said in a voice of controlled calm before she yelled out, "BUT IF I TOLD YOU ONCE, I TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES! GET A CLUE!"

"Seriously pal," Usopp whispered to a cowering Brook. "I know you died before and everything, but I really don't think that you should be testing your luck like this all the time."

"I'm starting to wonder that myself, Usopp-san," present-day Brook whispered back. "But you must understand that I have done it for so long now that it is second-nature! I can't help myself!"

"Then learn to control it," Usopp hissed, "Because I don't think your Devil Fruit will bring you back to life a second time."

Memory Brook's hat flew up for a few feet before landing softly back on his head as Ikaros demanded, "Is this a friend of yours?" he then smirked smugly as he added, "No matter! I'll just dry you up-ich into dried squid, too! Do your stuff, Dried Squid Spear!"

"Does he not realize that the guy he's stabbing is all bones?" Sanji asked in confusion. How could you miss that?

"Yohohoho, while I do miss having a face, there are some advantages to being nothing but bones!" present-day Brook said happily. "Not to toot my own horn, but I think only someone like me could handle those spears!"

"I don't know about that," Franky said as he patted his metal arms proudly and flexed. "I might be giving you a run for your money!"

"Yohohoho, ah, that is so true, Franky-san!" present-day Brook laughed again.

"Nice, but that still doesn't explain why this guy seems so surprised that he can't dry out a skeleton," Sanji asked again.

"He's got the brains of a squid, I guess," Robin offered with a shrug and when memory Brook didn't react at all to the spears, Ikaros seemed to realize that something was wrong.

"What the hell?" he demanded as he pulled his spear out and began to hit him again and then again… and again. "What's going on-ich?! Why isn't he turning into a shriveled husk!? My spears should be draining the water from your body!" He was tearing up the back of Brook's coat as he was now starting to look freaked out as he yelled out, "Why? Why? Why? WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WWWWWHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!"

"Ah," memory Brook said. "Sorry to tell you, but I dried out a long time ago."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHH?!" Ikaros cried in shock before he seemed to think that this was some kind of trick and roared out, "There's no way that could possibly be true!"

"Does he not see the bones?" Franky yelled. "He couldn't get any more dried up!"

"It's quite a long story, but if you really want to know how I turned into a dried-up skeleton…?" memory Brook offered agreeably. And it really looked like he was going to sit the guy down and tell him the whole story.

"There's no way that could possibly be true!" Ikaros roared out.

"You got to admit that it does sound absurd if you think about it," Nami pointed out slowly.

"Ah, Nami-san, you hurt my heart when you talk like that," present-day Brook said before he opened up his coat to reveal his ribcage and added cheerfully, "Although I have no heart anymore! Yohohoho!"

"Oh, but it is," memory Brook explained to Ikaros. "It all happened fifty long years ago…?"

And he probably would've gone on telling the story if several pirates didn't go running by them, scared by the General Franky, who came marching in.

"Hey! Isn't there anyone here," memory Franky began, "who can actually put up a fight?!"

"Yeah! We get to see more of my baby!" present-day Franky cheered out at the sight of his beloved weapon. "I'm looking forward to this!"

Ikaros was so busy with Brook that he didn't notice Franky there until he turned around… which gave Franky the chance to punch him right in the jaw. He hit the ground hard, skidding across it until his feet were sticking up in the air. His crewmates were all gasping at this, asking if he was alright, at least until Ikaros sat back up, holding onto half of his bruised face as he demanded who hit him.

"It's me!" memory Franky said, giving him the thumbs up.

"That doesn't help-ich!" he roared, back on his feet and waving all eight of his arms around indigently.

"What?! You don't recognize this super robot?!" Franky demanded as he leaned over to look down at Ikaros.

"To be fair, there's nothing special about that robot," Robin offered.

"Yohohoho! You're so cold, Robin-san!" Brook said happily.

"Women," present-day Franky muttered. "Everybody's a critic."

"You could've taken him out easily without that robot!" present-day Nami reminded him.

"Hey, I didn't know that before!" he retorted back, still proud of his General Franky. "One day… mark my words, one day I will get you girls to admit that it is a work of art!"

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all cheered for him, practically drooling over the General Franky… but both women looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. There really was no point in saying anything to that comment. It was never gonna happen.

"Hmm? Now that I look at you, I see that you're one of the commanders!" memory Franky said once he got a better a look at Ikaros. Then you'd better have more backbone than the others!"

"I may be a squid, but I'm also a Fishman!" Ikaros snapped in outrage. "OF COURSE I'VE GOT A BACKBONE!"

"That wasn't what I meant," the current Franky whispered with sweat hanging about his head.

But it still ended up getting memory Brook's attention. "What? You're a squid, yet you have a backbone?" he asked happily, "Sympathy!"

"He didn't mean it literally," memory Nami sighed.

"Hey, skeleton," one of the Fishmen whispered to Brook, looking kinda blue in the face, like he was worried that if he spoke to loudly, something bad would happen "Step to the side real quick."

Memory Brook spun about and asked cheerfully, "What? Why is that?"

"Your feet! Your feet!" another said, pointing at the ground. Memory Brook then stood up on one leg as he looked at the bottom of his shoe, trying to figure out what he was talking about… that was when Zeo finally reappeared underneath him, showing that he had been the reason why Nami was stuck…

And it turned out that memory Brook was standing on his face.

Zoro burst out laughing at the sight of it, and it didn't take much for the others to follow suit.

"You mean you were standing on his face the whole time and didn't know it?" Sanji snorted out.

"That's got to be embarrassing," Franky roared out, slapping his knee in the process. "I don't think he'd want to show his face to his crew again."

"I didn't feel like I was standing on someone," present-day Brook said, realizing just how funny it was now. "He shouldn't have made himself invisible and I wouldn't have stood on his face for so long."

"Yes, it was his fault for being there where it would be easy to step on," Robin chuckled. "It could've been worse. General Franky could've stepped on him and crushed him flat."

"Huh?!" memory Nami shrieked out in shock when she realized that he was holding onto her ankles. "Who's this guy?! He's the reason why I couldn't move?!"

"I knew that there was something wrong," the present-day Nami said firmly. "It was so weird… I could feel someone keeping me from moving, but couldn't see them. So I had no idea how to pull myself free."

"Good think Brook stepped in when he did," Luffy said brightly.

"Luffy-san, you're too kind! Yohohoho!" Present-day Brook said in pleased embarrassment just as his past self looked down worriedly at Zeo, his foot still crushing his face as he asked, "Um… who might you be?"

There was a moment of silence, with Zeo glaring up at him. Then…

"How do you like it?!" Zeo demanded.

"What?" the memory versions of Brook and Nami both asked in confusion.

"The power of my headbutt to the bottom of your foot!" Zeo cried out.

Silence again…

"He doesn't really think that anyone would believe that, does he?" Usopp whispered slowly as sweat hung about everyone's head.

"What?" memory Brook asked again.

"Zeo's eyes were wide and bloodshot as he informed him, "My attack will slowly begin to take effect."

A slight paused.

"Err… I believe I'm only stepping on your face," memory Brook said as he stepped away, leaving the imprint of a shoeprint on his face. "Sorry about that."

"YOU IDIOT! DON'T POINT IT OUT!" the pirates cried out in fright.

"I don't see the point of hiding it," Sanji pointed out. "The idiot has a boot mark on his head. Kinda hard to hide that."

"He just doesn't want to admit that he was stupid enough to let something like this happen," Zoro answered with a shake of his head. "If it makes him feel better, go ahead. He's not gonna change the fact that he was on the ground and Brook come in."

"The name of this attack… Chou Ashiura Zutsuki!" Zeo growled. "Super Sole Headbutt!"

"Even if he did have an attack like that, why would he go for the foot anyway?" Luffy said as he scratched his head. "That won't stop someone from fighting."

"He's an idiot, don't think too much about it," Zoro shrugged.

Meanwhile, the New Fishman Pirates were falling through the ground not too far from them and they looked over when they heard the screams. The smallest of the Fishmen commanders was there, jumping out of the ground and biting through it over and over as he tunneled around. The circular eyes, flat nose and razor-sharp teeth that made it perfect for him to dig… Daruma they heard him being called by the pirates as they pleaded for him to stop digging tunnels since they were sinking into the ground.

"Why was he down there digging so many tunnels anyway?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Because he was looking for me," Chopper said proudly. "I'm really good at digging now too! And I was connecting all the tunnels together!"

"That way I could get him out of the ground!" Usopp added just as proudly, He pulled his slingshot out and posed as he declared, "He was tough! But no force out there can hope to match the mighty Usopp! I could take on an army twice as big!"

"Alright, the next time we have to fight an army of enemies we'll leave it all to you," Zoro said agreeably.

Usopp realized what he said and sweat began to appear on his forehead before he turned about and added with a shaky laugh, "Well, now that I think about it, it would be rude of me to have all the action to myself! So please, don't feel like you have to leave it all to me!"

"Oh, no," Sanji added with a smirk. "We'd love for you to show us what you're capable of, _Mighty_ Usopp."

They would've continued to poke fun at him, but just then memory Usopp was now calling out for Chopper.

"Hey, Chopper!" memory Usopp called as he stomped on the ground. "Are you done?! Get up here!"

"I could hear you, Usopp," present-day Chopper pointed out good-naturedly.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" present-day Usopp answered. "Just making it easier for you to find me."

"You're letting your guard down again," Zoro stated as the hammerhead Commander with the hammer came running up from behind. "You're lucky he didn't flatten you."

"I had complete faith in Chopper," current Usopp said with his thumbs-up.

Present-day Chopper gasped at this before he blushed and said as he danced about, "Shut up you idiot! You know I hate it when you compliment me!"

Dosun stomped down, getting memory Usopp's attention almost too late, roaring out that he was gonna pound him flat as he raised his hammer over his head. But then they heard memory Chopper's voice cry out, "USOPP! GET DOWN!"

"Huh?" past-version of Usopp muttered before he fell to his knees, and memory Chopper came bursting out with his Horn Point, nailing a perfect hit against Dosun. "Horn Cannon…ELF!"

"Right in the kisser!" current Franky cheered. "Bet he felt that one!"

"Hey nice going, Chopper!" memory Usopp said giving him a thumbs-up. "Did you connect the tunnels like I asked?"

"Yep! I sure did!" memory Chopper answered, looking back down at him with a smile.

"Good!" memory Usopp said before he aimed the Black Kabuto inside the hole where Chopper came out of. "Certain Death, Green Star! SKULL BOMB GRASS!"

"This is it people! Get ready for a boom!" present-day Usopp cheered out. His past self had fired a Pop Green into the hole, resulting in an explosion that caused the ground underneath them to glow red and they knew that every single tunnel was connected. And there was a boom alright… forming a huge red cloud of smoke from the holes until it was in the shape of a skull… and sending Daruma screaming outta the ground.

"HAHAHAHA!" memory Usopp laughed triumphantly. "How do you like that?! We've learned how to deal with tunnel-diggers back in Alabasta, two years ago! Experience wins out in the end!"

"Yeah!" memory Chopper agreed proudly.

"Clever, you're talking what you learned from your previous battles," Robin smiled. "It really shows just how far you both had come."

Now both Usopp and Chopper were smiling at the praise, and they thought back on their battle with Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas. Yeah, they really did come a long way since then, didn't they?

"I'll get you for this, coral creature!" Dosun snarled at memory Chopper who glanced back at him.

"They're not coral! They're horns!" both Choppers said proudly.

"Was that you?!" Daruma barked at memory Usopp as he leapt about, covered with burns from that last attack.

The battle partners were picked, with Daruma against Usopp and Dosun against Chopper. Which they both took in stride. As Dosun threated Chopper, raising up his hammer again, Chopper countered, "When it comes to power, I've got an ace up my sleeve!" He then held up a yellow ball in his cloven hooves.

"Gonna scare them?" Franky smirked at their Chopper, who smiled back.

"I just had to do it," he answered with a laugh.

"Oh, we're not complaining," Sanji shrugged. "By all means, keep going.

"I'll chew that nose right off your face!" Daruma threatened.

"That's the best insult he's got?" Zoro sighed. Really, when are they gonna face someone who had good comebacks?

"Why don't you try?" memory Usopp mocked the little shark. "Ok, back me up, Chopper!" when Chopper didn't answer, memory Usopp's face turned pale and he began to sweat. "H-Hey, I need backup!" as he looked about, he realized that he was alone. "Chopper?"

"You worried?" Robin asked teasingly.

"Of course not," current Usopp said firmly. "I was just worried that something bad happened to Chopper! That's all."

"Now, it's time for the counterattack!" Daruma smirked, and all around them, the commanders were tossing another pill into their mouths. Once again their eyes turned red and their muscles budged out, while evil grins appeared on their faces as they faced down the memory Straw Hats, who stood their ground against them.

Meanwhile, Wadatsumi was now up against both Sanji and Jimbei, still hollering about the kicks he received from them.

"Dammit… now I'm angry!" Wadatsumi snarled as he towered over memory Sanji. "I won't forgive ya now, even if ya apologize! I'm gonna crush ya!"

"Why would I wanna apologize?" present-day Sanji couldn't help but ask darkly.

As this is happening, the New Fishman Pirates stood in shock and disbelief as they watched as Zoro and Hyouzou duel. Hyouzou, still drunk, tried to cut Zoro with his many swords, but Zoro kept blocking his strikes every time, and all the while, the swordsman still had that devilish grin on his face!

"Great! This is what I'd expect from a master swordsman!" Hyouzou laughed out. "You're a worthy opponent!"

"Wish I could say the same thing," present-day Zoro sighed. It was so dull…

The battling went on, with most of the New Fishman Pirates on the ground, leaving only scattered groups. The memory versions of Nami and Robin were better equipped with larger groups, so they handled these guys while they let the boys go all out against the commanders, knowing that as long as these guys remained conscious, then the army would keep fighting no matter how many fell. Luffy was really excited at watching this since he missed it the first time they happened, and he was cheering out at the sight of the pirates getting thrown about like little kids kicking leaves around in a pile.

The first fight that the present-day Straw Hats watched was the one where Wadatsumi was still going against memory Sanji and Jimbei. He was having a lot of trouble, because although he was the size of a giant, the problem was that he was just too slow; whereas Jimbei and Sanji were small and quick in comparison. In fact, memory Sanji barely had to dodge while he jumped up into the air again, just keeping him distracted while Jimbei was able to strike from below, kicking him right in the leg and causing him terrible pain.

"Now ah'm mad!" Wadatsumi screamed out, holding onto his hurt leg. He then stood up tall and began to take several deep breaths before he pulled in the air around him, and thus puffing right out like some kind of bizarre balloon. Memory Sanji landed and was standing up on Wadatsumi's head, who had grown at least twice his size.

"Ok… so he's fatter… so what?" present-day Zoro asked slowly.

"He's got the mind of a little kid," Robin reminded him calmly. "So, naturally, he would think that being bigger would make him tougher. I'm only concerned that if he rolls over he may very well crush us."

"Would you stop saying morbid things like that?!" present Usopp demanded angrily. "I don't need help coming up with bad outcomes for dangerous situations!"

"Was there a point to that?" memory Sanji asked coolly, though it was hard for them to hear Sanji from all the way on the ground.

Wadatsumi laughed, but was forced to keep his hands over his mouth and speaking really fast.

"How's dat? Surprised?" he asked smugly. "Ah'm a tiger blowfish fishman! Ya scared yet?"

"He just made himself a bigger target," Luffy pointed out. "Besides, he wasn't as big as that big zombie giant from back at Thriller Bark."

"Hey," memory Sanji asked suddenly to Wadatsumi's sudden squeaky voice. "Why are you talking so fast?"

Wadatsumi looked irritated as he let go of his mouth a little to speak up, "'Cause if ah don't speak fast, da air'll get out!" And even as he spoke, air was quickly escaping as he slowly began to deflate. He quickly covered his mouth again to prevent himself from shrinking.

"The Kraken's way bigger," memory Sanji pointed out.

Wadatsumi's eyes narrowed in anger. "What?!" he demanded as he held his hands up. "Den how's dis?!" He then began to take in more air, growing ever larger and starting to crush his own allies beneath him. Memory Sanji just continued to puff on his cigarette as he informed him, "You're still not as big as the Kraken."

And thus Wadatsumi felt compelled to grow even larger. As that was going on, there were yells of pain from the pirates, and explosions going on all over before the sounds of battle cries came from above them. When they looked up, they saw Neptune's army had finally came to lend their aid. They knew that they were no match for the commanders, however they were able to at least help with the pirates who remained.

But that was when the New Fishman Pirates sent the human pirates in to battle against them now. Neptune's army was completely taken aback by being forced to fight these humans… at least until they saw the shackles.

That was when they heard an obnoxious voice call out, "Go, slaves! You have to fight for us if you wanna live!"

Through the thick cloud of dust, they recognized the fishman they saw earlier at Mermaid Bay, who had tried to capture Luffy in a net. Hammond or something or other… anyway he was sitting on some kind of makeshift rickshaw with cannons on either side of him. But their eyes were drawn to the human pirates who were forced to carry him on their backs, all of them bloody and bruised, like they had been beaten to within an inch of their lives and wearing thick chains around their necks.

"Disgusting," present-day Robin muttered darkly.

"They're acting just like those stupid Celestial Dragons!" Luffy added angrily, thinking back to that bastard who shot Hachi and tried to buy Camie.

"Damn, I wish I could've kicked that guy," Sanji hissed. "He's pissed me off the moment he tried to stop us from getting to the island and to my paradise!"

"Let's go, Slave Tank!" Hammond called as he pointed to a large group of Neptune's Army who were battling it out. "Now, this way!"

With no other choice, the pirates turned, heading in the way that Hammond commanded, but this seemed to finally be too much for one such pirate who collapsed. As the Slave Tank kept going on, the pirate was being dragged helplessly along the ground, choking and coughing the whole way. It was really tough to watch, and the Straw Hats anger only grew when Hammond spoke.

"Ah, crap," he cursed. "Another useless one! Just drag him!" As they were doing so, he realized that he was slowing them down and Hammond called, "Pathetic trash. Cut this one loose and get me a fresh slave!"

As he laughed, memory Robin made her appearance. Though they couldn't see her eyes thanks to her sunglasses, it was clear what she was feeling as she glared forward.

"…What a terrible thing to do," they heard her whisper before she took out another dozen pirates. But she wasn't the only one either. Jimbei, who was also there, was looking that way as well with disgust on his face.

"He's acting just like…" he began before he looked over at memory Robin and called, "Nico Robin?" When she looked at him he asked, "Can you free the human slaves?"

"I was going to do that regardless," present-day Robin said softly. "But I was worried that they would try to attack the citizens in retaliation."

Memory Robin looked surprised by the request and asked, "Are you sure? They may blame Fishman Island for this."

"I wouldn't worry," present-day Franky stated. "I think they would rather take their anger out on the pirates than the citizens right now."

"Yeah, besides, if they were watching, they would've seen that we're not gonna let that happen," present-day Usopp added proudly. "Might as well join the winning side."

"If the pirates hold a grudge and attack us, I'll simply take them out," Jimbei answered as he looked grimly on at the humans, pity in his eyes. "But right now… they aren't even being treated like people. Hody's men are acting just like the Celestial dragons. I can't bear to watch it."

"And they claim to be better than _them_ ," Nami sighed as she shook her head. She didn't care who they were, no one deserved to be treated like that. Why doesn't that guy get off his high horse there and start carrying it with them? Then he'll see how much fun it is.

Memory Robin just smiled as she walked towards the Slave Tank, telling him to leave it to her.

"Thank you," Jimbei answered as he turned back to the battle. Memory Robin walked on, Hammond began to fire the cannons, yelling for the pirates to hurry up and move. But he never noticed how an extra arm grew out of his stomach and snatched the ring of keys he carried. Soon all around them the cuffs around the human pirate's necks all began unlocked and clattered to the ground.

It seemed to take the human pirates a few moments to realize that they were free. But that was still before Hammond, who had just noticed that memory Robin was directly behind him.

"You're one of the Straw Hat Pirates, aren't you?!" he demanded before he barked out to the humans below him, "Turn this tank around, right now!"

But they weren't listening to him anymore as they promptly dropped the rickshaw, sending him crashing to the ground.

"What are you doing, slaves?!" he demanded furiously as he picked himself up. But the pirates were all staring at their unlocked chains, not giving a damn what he was saying anymore.

"Yeah! There we go!" current Chopper cheered out excitedly.

"Go and start kicking some butt!" Luffy added just as loudly.

"Was it you?" one of the human pirates asked Robin when they noticed her there.

"Why did you help us?" another asked, sounding very confused.

"Don't you bastards know anything about manners?" current Sanji demanded. "You're supposed to be thanking a lady! Not question her!"

"Do we really need a reason to want to do the right thing?" Nami sighed as she shook her head. "There was no reason to fight them in the first place."

But memory Robin didn't seem to mind. In fact, she barely looked back as she answered with a smile, "I can't refuse a request from a handsome man. If you want to thank someone, thank Boss Jimbei."

"You think he's handsome?" Sanji asked with a whimper. What about him? Why didn't she ever say that he was handsome? But Robin just smiled back, and she was just so damn beautiful that he sighed lovingly, knowing that he would've fought an army twice as big as this if it was for her. Meanwhile, the human pirates seemed to be taken aback by Robin's simple answer, as well as to the fact that it had been another Fishman who had asked her to free them.

"Good thing telling them that Jimbei was the one who wanted it," Nami told their Robin suddenly. "Hopefully they'll see that they're not all bad."

"Just giving credit where credit is due," she answered back. Yet, as the human pirates were recovering, Hammond stepped up, refusing to take this while lying down. He got to his feet and marched over, knocking his former slaves out of his way as he turned his attention to Robin.

"Damn you… you shouldn't have done that!" Hammond shouted out, pulling out the same gun he had tried to use on Luffy earlier and fired a net to trap her. You think he would've learned that capturing at Straw Hat wasn't going to be as easily as using something as simple as a net. But he managed to catch her in just one shot… at least he thought he did.

"You rotten bastard…" present-day Sanji snarled but memory Robin was still smiling… before shattering apart into flower petals.

"Oh, it was your double!" Chopper cried out in amazement.

"It is useful to have," present-day Robin smiled, and soon there were two of them standing back to back and Sanji nearly had another violent nosebleed at the sight of now having even more Robins around them.

"Wow, how many of copies of you can you make?" Luffy asked in amazement.

"Now, now, a lady has to have some secrets of her own," one of the present-day Robin winked. Suddenly she grew out some extra limbs out of Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp's backs before she started to tickle them and they fell over laughing as the others watched with amusement.

As this was happening, Hammond was completely lost as to where the memory Robin went… and so he didn't notice until too late that Robin's upper body suddenly blossomed out of his back, growing an extra four arms and wrapping around his neck. Hammond was trying to throw her off, but this time the original Robin appeared at his feet while he was focusing on her double.

"It'll be over soon," she said calmly, like to a little kid who was having trouble going down for a nap. She also grew an extra four arms as she grabbed his legs, as she answered, "Quiet now."

"Let me go!" Hammond began, thinking that it was someone else who jumped in… only to look down and realize that there were two Robins and his eyes widen with shock.

"Why are there two of you?!" he cried out in horror. But the memory Robins didn't answer as they pulled back.

"Double…" began one Robin and the other finished, "Clutch!"

And together they bent Hammond back far enough to hear a loud, sickening crack and they knew that she must've broken his back.

"Oww…" current Franky winced as their own Robin caused her duplicate to vanish and the three boys were panting for air after having been tickled so hard, all three still smiling and giggling to themselves in the process. "Remind me not to get on your bad side, Sis."

Present-day Robin just smiled cheerfully back at them, that innocent smile fooling only Sanji into thinking that she was too sweet to do any real harm. Yet, at the sight of seeing Hammond being left on the ground, another group of Fishman Pirates went running straight for her to avenge him. But the human pirates jumped in this time, forming a wall between them and Robin.

"We owe ya one, Miss!" one of them said gratefully, ready to defend her.

"We're gonna make you guys pay for what you did to us!" another declared angrily.

"We're not gonna lose to you freaks!" a third shouted, and with that said, the former human slaves charged right at them, joining the Straw Hats in their battle, much to the shock of the New Fishman Pirates, whose morale had begun to drop significantly at this point. Not that you could blame them. Combined with the Straw Hats, Jimbei, Neptune's Army, and now the 30 thousand human pirates who were just set free, it was a wonder that the New Fishmen Pirates weren't already running home to their mommies right now. But just as things were really getting interesting, everything started to go dark around them.

The memory was starting to shift again, earning more than a few indignant cries from the crew.

"Come on! Just stick to one story before switching!" Usopp cried out mournfully. "It's getting hard to keep to one story at a time!"

"I really don't think there's any logic here," Nami said suddenly as the darkness fully returned. "I think that the memories are just showing us in whatever order they want. But I'm guessing that we're going back to your side of the story, Luffy."

"Ahh, you mean we have to see Hody again?" Luffy pouted. "I know what happens to me!"

"Yeah, but we don't," Brook offered reasonably.

"But I'm with Luffy, I really don't wanna hear him continue on and on about how Fishman are better and that we have no hope for victory," Zoro sighed bitterly. "Come on… the guy is a pain. I think he would've been a lot more intimidating if he didn't brag so much."

"We can't always have good bad guys," Robin reminded him patiently. "Just ignore him and focus more on the battle. You boys like that don't you?"

"Hard to be reminded of that if the guy moves his mouth more than throws a fist," Zoro muttered darkly as the memory reappeared and they were back in the sea once again. They were where they left off before… with memory Luffy and the princes staring down with wide eyes as Noah was starting to sink. It was clear that none of them had the faintest idea of what to do. Meanwhile, and to everyone else's annoyance, Hody just stood there, laughing insanely at the sight of it all.

"So he finally died," Hody cackled. "Now Vander Decken's power will stop working and crash down onto the island! Die! Straw Hat Pirates! You fools have gotten in the way of my retribution!"

"Fishman Island's going to…" Ryuboshi began.

"…be destroyed…" Manboshi finished for him while Shirahoshi was staring down in horror as Fukaboshi swam closer, talking to memory Luffy as he said, "One way or another, we have to stop the ship."

Memory Luffy was glaring until Hody called his name, swimming over until he was right between them and the ship as he taunted, "You wanna stop the Noah, don't you? But first you're going to have to get past me. You can't save Fishman Island unless you defeat me!"

"I was trying, but every time I hit him, he kept taking more of those pills," present-day Luffy muttered. "Don't worry though, I knocked him out in the end."

"Yeah, I'm so looking forward to that," Sanji said firmly as memory Luffy started to curse out at the whole situation.

"If the Noah crashes into Fishman Island, then it's all over," Fukaboshi said anxiously. "Our kingdom will be gone, and so will Noah's mission, which we have protected dutifully for centuries!"

"What's he talking about?" Usopp asked. What was so important about that boat? It was gonna crush the island, they'd have no choice but to destroy it wouldn't they?"

"I wonder…?" Robin whispered as she thought more about what Neptune told her after the battle was over. She looked to the falling ship and thought to herself, _'Noah, just what secrets do you hold?'_

Fukaboshi then glared on with determination as he declared, "We have to save our kingdom and the Noah, no matter the cost!"

"Straw Hat, you can try and think of a way to stop this. But there's no way you can defeat me, even beat me in your own head!" Hody cackled. "So what're you planning to do? If you just let it fall, then your friends will be crushed into fish food with the rest of the island! Was your bold claim to protect everything just nothing but hot air, Straw Hat?!"

That was enough to get tick the memory Luffy off.

"No!" he rebuked. "I WILL stop it! I'll just smash this ship to pieces before it reaches the island!"

Fukaboshi's eyes widen at those words and said quickly, "No, Straw Hat! Even if you could do it, I already told you that that ship bears both our long past, as well as our future!"

"I understand, but the way I see it there's not much choice," Franky said. "She's a beauty alright, but if it comes down to it, I rather see the ship destroyed than the island."

"Yeah, I didn't get why he didn't want me to destroy it," current Luffy said in confusion. "Sure, Noah was saved in the end, but I don't know what it's about."

"Something we'll have to ask next time we go there then," Nami offered.

"Then is there another way we can save the island?" memory Luffy asked at once. "We don't have time to think! What else can we do?"

"There may be a chance that Deck is still alive," Fuakboshi argued. "If we can get him to wake up, we might be able to make him change the ship's course!"

"I know the guy survived, but here that sounds a little too optimistic to be considered an option," Sanji offered. "I mean, even if they were able to find him from inside that massive boat in time, if he was dead, there wouldn't have been much we could do about it."

"You say that, but what if he's dead?" memory Luffy demanded. "If we don't hurry up and destroy the ship…?"

"I told you not to destroy it!" Fukaboshi snapped back.

"Stop arguing and get to work already!" Zoro yelled out.

Hody started laughing at the couple as he asked, "You two gonna start fighting now? Look at what's happening while you two squabble. Noah's gonna crash into the island!"

"PLEASE WAIT, NOAH!"

They all looked up at once to see that the scream had come from Shirahoshi, who was charging right back down towards them. In her desperation to stop Noah, she wasn't thinking about who was down there ready to kill her as she screamed out at the top of her lungs as tears fell, "THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND WHO ARE PRECIOUS TO ME! MASTER DECKEN, IF YOU'RE ALIVE, THEN PLEASE, AIM THE BOAT AT ME! PLEASE SPARE THE LIVES OF EVERYONE ON FISHMAN ISLAND!"

"No! Stop Shirahoshi-chan!" Sanji shrieked in panic.

"She needs to get outta there!" Nami cried out at once with her own eyes wide. "He'll kill her!"

Hody glared up, turning his attention to her as he snarled, "You'll be the first to go to the afterlife, where you'll have a good view of Ryuuguu Kingdom's destruction."

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" Sanji roared out. But Hody was already readying another attack, and Shirahoshi did not realize that she was in danger… but Manboshi did. He came charging in, getting between the two of them and taking the full blunt of Hody's next attack.

"Fishman Karate…SEA DRUM!" he shouted before he thrust his fist forward, creating a powerful shockwave that hit Manboshi in the stomach.

"Brother Manboshi!" Shirahoshi gasped, just noticing what happened and her hands were over her face in horror as her brother sank like a stone.

"MANBOSHI!" Fukaboshi screamed out in panic.

"That really had to hurt," Brook winced. "My whole body aches just looking at it! My internal organs would've just been turned into mush if I got hit by that. Ah! But I don't have any organs to feel pain with now! Yohohoho!"

"Would you shut up!? You aren't helping!" Nami shouted at him.

Hody only laughed as he turned back to Shirahoshi and yelled, "And now it's your turn."

Memory Luffy stepped in, stretching his arm out and grabbing Hody by the shoulder to stop him. Hody looked ticked off for a moment before he smirked at the sight of Luffy leaving Fukaboshi's back and was now flying right at him. As he flew closer, Luffy shifted to his Second Gear just as Hody's jaws opened wide, his intent all too clear.

The present-day Luffy winced a little at the sight of that and his hand went up to his shoulder, remembering how badly that hurt. He watched as how his past self was close enough, Hody chomped down hard on his shoulder, where they heard a terrible crunching sound and he had let out a cry of pain.

"Oh, that sound!" Usopp cried out as he and Chopper hugged their bodies as the sound let off a crack that echoed around the sea floor. "It sounded awful!"

"Master Luffy?!" Shirahoshi cried out in fear. But memory Luffy still finished his attack, nailing Hody right in the gut with his Jet Pistol. The pain was clear on Hody's face, his eyes rolling back before he was sent flying backwards and then blasted right through the bubble around the Noah and crashing right into the deck. The force had been so great that Hody didn't even have time to open his mouth and instead his teeth were wrenched out of his jaw and remained embedded in Luffy's bleeding shoulder.

"You were willing to let him bite you just so that you'd have a chance to punch him? That takes a lot of balls," Sanji informed their Luffy, who laughed back.

"Dammit!" memory Luffy cursed as he went to the teeth still stuck in his shoulder and began the painful job of pulling it out. "Armaments Haki may be strong enough to protect me against strong blows… but mine's not strong enough to protect me against sharp things, yet!"

"No, wait Luffy! You could end up doing more damage doing that then…?" Chopper called, but there was no point since this was all in the past. Memory Luffy managed to pull the teeth out and blood dripped from his wound and down his chest as he threw the teeth aside, glaring ahead at where Hody was stuck in the ship.

"Déjà vu…" Robin said as she remembered when Luffy managed to rip out Arlong's teeth before and had actually tried to bite him with those same teeth.

"Yeah, just like at Arlong Park with that ass Arlong," Sanji said as he shook his head, remembering how annoying he was too. "At least he did more fighting than Hody did, though even he talked a lot too."

"So that's how you got hurt!" Chopper said to their Luffy, half anxious and half angry. "Don't you realize how much blood you lost?! You could've died if Jimbei didn't give you some of his!"

"But I didn't," present-day Luffy responded. "Besides, it's not like I had much choice here."

Chopper just frowned up at him, making a mental note to have some F-type blood stored away on Sunny just for Luffy. He didn't want to go through that again. One way or another he was going to do his best to keep Luffy's blood on his insides instead of all over the place.

"I don't have time to be fighting underwater," memory Luffy hissed. "If I'm gonna kick his ass, we have to move."

As the dust from where Hody was sent crashing into the deck began to clear, memory Luffy began to paddle his way over to the ship. They found Hody half stuck on the deck of the ship with everything below his chest half-way through the wood. And boy did he seem mad now… he began roaring out with his gums… looking ridiculous in the process before his teeth regrew rapidly.

"Ah, crap…" Usopp gulped. "I forgot that those shark Fishmen could do that."

"Yeah," Nami muttered quietly as they drew closer and saw Hody pull himself out of the rubble.

"So in other words you wanna fight on this ship?" Hody demanded furiously as he looked up to see memory Luffy coming towards him. Hody then started to smirk as a horrible idea seemed to come to mind. "But what you really want must be the air on board!"

"AHHHH! NO! HE'S GONNA TAKE OUT THE BUBBLE!" Brook hollered in terror.

"That's not a good thing!" Franky added, also seeing where this was going when Hody broke free from the deck and went flying outwards, straight to the bubble and having his blade-like fin slice alongside it, tearing it open.

Memory Luffy yelled out in horror as Fukaboshi yelled, "I was afraid he'd do that!"

"It's only to be expected he'd do something like that," Robin said firmly.

"No kidding!" Nami agreed, starting to feel worried. "I guess we should've seen that coming from the start! There's no way that he's just gonna let you fight like how you want to Luffy!"

"Who cares? I was still gonna beat him!" present-day Luffy said firmly even as Hody cackled madly as he destroyed the bubble. The bubble popped and soon countless tiny air bubbles escaped, heading straight up, blocking everything around them like a thick cloud.

"Dammit!" memory Luffy yelled. "Now all the air's gone!"

"That's not good," Usopp said panicky. "Luffy! You better be feeling creative here!"

As the bubbles continued to rise, the shadowy form appeared right from the haze and they knew that Hody was up and ready for another round.

"By now you must see that this is all it takes to make a human helpless! There is no way you could ever superior to our race, Straw Hat! You cannot stop Noah! YOU CAN'T EVEN BEAT ME! DIE, STRAW HAT!" he began to brag once again and they all sighed in annoyance.

"Alright! We heard you the last thousand times!" Franky yelled. "Just get to the part where you can actually put up a fight already! Damn, and I thought the guys we fought up till now were annoying."

In anger, memory Luffy stretched his arm out as the Snake Shot once more, but Hody saw it coming this time. He dodged it before slamming his trident into his arm, causing Luffy to scream and be forced to withdraw his arm.

"Where does he keep getting those tridents?" Sanji demanded. "Damn, does he just keep pulling them out of his ass?!"

"I'm insulted! You thought that you could hit me twice with the same attack?" Hody demanded smugly. "What's going to happen first? Will Fishman Island and your friends be smashed to bits… or will you die? I can't wait to find out!"

"Then shut up and do something!" Franky yelled as the girls nodded, also growing very tired of listening to Hody say the same things over and over. It was like listening to a broken Tone Dial where the words just get repeating until they lose all meaning.

"Oh no! He's gonna try to break my bubble again!" memory Luffy gasped out and their anxiety went up again when they realized this. Memory Luffy tried to paddle away as Hody went flying right at him.

"YOU DAMN FOOL!" he bellowed as he threw more water shots at him. Memory Luffy was forced to dodge over and over, but with his severely limited movement and Hody's extra speed in the sea, it was a miracle that he hadn't been hit yet. But finally, Hody found himself directly in front of Luffy, who couldn't hope to dodge this one in time.

"I can't possibly miss now!" he grinned, "Not even if I had my eyes closed!"

"I almost wish he does hit you just so that he shut up!" Zoro groaned out in agony before looking to their captain and added, "No offense, captain. But it's official. He is the most annoying opponent that I've ever seen!"

"No, I was kinda thinking the same thing," present-day Luffy agreed as he scratched his head. "I didn't notice it before 'cause I was worried about the island. But man, does he talk a lot. I faced a lot of bad guys before but the only guy who was even close to this annoying was Eneru."

"Yeah, at least people like Crocodile and Lucci had something important to say when they talked," Franky muttered as he thought about the memories they saw before. "Sure they were rotten to the core, but at least they had brains and power. This guy's got neither. Given power from the heavens? Please… at least those jerks from CP9 could back up their threats even if it was a pain in the ass to fight them."

"True that," Zoro nodded.

"Agreed," Brook said. "Though I know that I've only seen them in memories before, they at least treated you with respect once they saw how strong you were."

"Hody just can't seem to take a hint," Robin agreed.

Memory Luffy braced himself as Hody held up his hand, ready to perform one more water shot. But then a blue spotted tail came out of nowhere and hit the side of Luffy's bubble like it was a beach ball, sending Luffy flying backwards, spinning over and over… and into Shirahoshi's waiting hands.

"What happened?!" Chopper gasped out. "It all happened so fast…?"

"Fukaboshi," Robin smiled, having recognized the tail. "That's twice now that he saved you."

"Yeah, those guys were great!" present-day Luffy smiled.

"What happened?" memory Luffy asked in bewilderment, having had the wind knocked outta him and he was trying to get his wits together.

"Master Luffy?" Shirahoshi asked softly, "I'm incredibly sorry, but…"

"Crybaby?" memory Luffy asked in surprise as he rolled over to his knees so that he could get a good look at her.

"Brother Fukaboshi told me to do this," she explained.

"Fukaboshi?" Usopp asked in surprise before he gasped and looked straight up to see that he guessed right. Soon everyone both in the memory and out were looking straight up in time to see that Fukaboshi was now facing off against Hody this time.

"Bro-hoshi…" memory Luffy muttered in surprise.

"Think he stands a chance?" Nami asked anxiously.

"He's strong, of that there's no doubt," Zoro said firmly. "But he's also injured and I'm not sure there's much, if anything, left of Hody. I can't say for sure how well he would fair like this."

"Yeah, I'm thinking that any kind of connection that Hody had left with his sanity is close to breaking for good if it's not gone already," Usopp agreed grimly. "He's completely nuts."

"But then why is he standing against him like that?" Nami asked worriedly. "He's half-dead! If he keeps this up it's going to kill him! Shirahoshi and everyone else on the island needs him!"

"There comes a time in everyone's life where we must stand up for what we think is right, Nami-san," Brook answered. "I just hope that Fukaboshi-san stand doesn't do more harm than good."

"Hody!" Fukaboshi shouted angrily as the two faced off. "Just what are you trying to do?! Don't you realize how many lives there are on that island?! Just WHO do you think you ARE?!"

"Oh, he knows, he just doesn't care," Robin sighed. "There's no point in trying to talk reason into him. He's gone too far to be brought back now."

"I should be asking you what you're doing!" Hody barked back. "I can't believe that you three princes are the strongest in Ryuuguu Kingdom! But then again, you are just the foolish sons of Otohime. She discarded the fishman's race's pride and tried to get along with humans, before dying a pathetic death!"

"Where did he get that idea?!" Nami demanded furiously as her own mother's face flashed her eyes as she thought to how she sacrificed everything for her and Nojiko that day… by giving her life to ensure that they would survive. "It's foolish to hope for a bright future for your children?! How is wanting to get along with others throwing away their pride?!"

"Yeah, and he was the one who killed her!" Usopp added just as angrily. "All because he was so jacked up on the idea of blood! Nothing he says makes any sense!"

"You're just some dumb princes who can't even protect the country!" Hody cackled. Even from here, they could see the rage on Fukaboshi's face as Hody swam right passed him as if he wasn't even worth fighting. At first it looked like Fukaboshi wasn't going to do a thing to try and stop him… but then…

"Even though you only have fake strength…" he began, his hands curled up into fists as he began shaking with anger. "The fact that I couldn't stand up to you means that I'm still weak. I'll admit that. But…" he turned to look, his eyes glaring furiously down, "There is still hope!"

He grabbed a current of water just like how Neptune had been able to do back at the palace, and pulled as he shouted, "ULTRA MARINE!" He thrust his hands forward, shooting the current at Hody, who looked back in annoyance. He then began to swim straight up, spiraling around the sea current as he rode back to Fukaboshi.

"You still don't get it do you?!" Hody bellowed up at him. "That won't hurt me at all!"

"But Hody, why?!" Fukaboshi demanded. It was clear that Fukaboshi no longer cared what happened to him, he just wanted to get a solid answer, a reason as to why Hody would go so far. "Why are you trying to kill so many of your innocent brethren? Just what is your reason?!" Hody just cackled at him as Fukaboshi tried again, "What drove you to do something so terrible, Hody?!"

The two clashed… Hody with his Shark Slicer, and Fukaboshi grabbing another sea current… but there wasn't even a contest this time. The blade struck across Fukaboshi's chest, his blood went spilling into the water and Shirahoshi shrieked her brother's name in terror. Fukaboshi was set adrift there, and if they didn't know better, they would think that he was dead… all that blood seeping into the water around him didn't look promising.

But with this blood in the water, Hody seemed to become more invigorated than ever. He laughed as he shouted, "Serves you right, you dumb prince. This is the strength that the heavens have bestowed upon me!"

"Dumbass, that's from the drugs!" Sanji shouted up at him. "Don't act all high and mighty when you get scared from one punch!"

But Hody turned his attention back down to memory Luffy and Shirahoshi. Now that the princes were out of the way, this seemed to be his only chance to get them both. Memory Luffy glared up at him, holding onto his own wounded arm… but soon their gaze turned to behind Hody in amazement. Fukaboshi was up once again, shaking all over—though it was hard to tell if it was from anger or pain.

"Fukaboshi! Stop it! Your body can't take much more!" Chopper yelled up in terror.

"You said his wounds were the worst of the three brothers?" Nami asked him worriedly.

"Yes, but aside from some scarring, he should make a full recovery," Chopper nodded firmly. "They had a lot of muscle that protected them. Probably from all their training… without it, I don't think they would've escaped as lucky."

When Hody turned around, Fukaboshi muttered, his head held high, "A fake strength like that can't beat me!"

"You tell him!" Franky cheered. "Show him whose boss, Bro!"

"So you managed to survive?" Hody chuckled darkly in amusement.

"Yeah, and all on his own strength too!" present-day Luffy added at once.

Hody thrust his trident at him, which Fukaboshi dodged.

"Hody, what are you trying to do?!" he demanded, still trying to get an answer outta him as he kept dodging the trident. "You say you want retribution against humans, but you're attacking fishmen! Don't you know how many of your fishmen brethren you're going to kill on the island?!" Hody thrusted one so close that the trident brushed through Fukaboshi's hair when he ducked. "You're even going to kill your childhood friends from the Fishman District!" the prince then grabbed the sea once more as he demanded, "Do you know what you're doing?!"

Fukaboshi succeed in knocking the trident far outta Hody's hands, sending it spiraling backwards and out of sight. As Hody sneered at him, Fukaboshi grabbed hold of him by his furry scarf and held him there as he demanded, "Do you have so much hatred for humans that you've become blind with rage?!"

"It's not rage, just hatred," Robin whispered sadly. Which she found to be even sadder if you could believe that.

"What could have happened to you?" Fukaboshi demanded louder than ever. "Were you abused by humans? Did humans kill a loved one or a dear friend of yours? What in the world happened to you in the past?!" And finally, Fukaboshi screamed out at the top of his lungs, "WHAT DID THE HUMANS DO TO YOU… HODY JONES?!"

A pause came… but then Hody opened his mouth to speak…

Hody spoke so softly and were so far away that they could not hear his words… but Zoro, Sanji, and Robin all frowned as they understood. But what Hody did say was enough to shock Fukaboshi to the core. His eyes widen in horror as his jaw dropped open in shock… so stunned that he actually let go of him… just drifting there even as Hody grinned.

"What? What was it? What happened?" Chopper asked at once. "What'd he say?"

"I don't know, I couldn't hear it," Nami frowned a little, wishing that they were closer.

"I know," Zoro said as Sanji and Robin both nodded. Present-day Luffy just looked up at him, his expression unreadable as he watched the stunned look on Fukaboshi's face.

"You're kidding, you mean you could hear him from here?" Usopp asked them in shock.

"No, we just read his lips," Sanji said grimly as he lit up a new cigarette. As he breathed out a lungful of smoke he added, "Damn, I knew that guy was messed up but…?"

"But… what?" Nami asked slowly, not understanding.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" present-day Luffy shouted out, knocking them all back down to earth. Fukaboshi's shock had kept him still for too long, giving Hody more than enough time to gut him… literally. He had bowed low and rammed his sharpened fin right into his chest. They stared in horror as Fukaboshi became limp, moving no longer.

"BROTHER FUKABOSHI!" Shirahoshi screamed, still holding memory Luffy in her hands and might've accidently crushed him if she wasn't careful. Hody grinned, relishing her terror, as he threw Fukaboshi off him and watched as he sank lower and lower until he was out of sight.

"This is terrible! I find it hard to believe anyone could've survived something like that!" Brook gasped. "Why? There was no need for any of this?!"

"He survived, just remember that!" Zoro called. "There's nothing we can do about it now."

"That bastard!" memory Luffy yelled before saying to Shirahoshi, "Crybaby! Bro-hoshi's in trouble! Let's go!" They expected Shirahoshi to go at once, but she just stared down where her brother drifted away from her. Even as memory Luffy demanded to know what she was doing, she turned and began to race in the opposite direction, following Noah, tears in her eyes.

"Where are you going, Crybaby?!" memory Luffy asked in bewilderment. Her eyes were screwed up in pain but she didn't answer as she continued going downwards. "Crybaby?" he asked before they heard the sounds of a Baby Transponder Snail going off. The other Straw Hats had forgotten all about this from before, but it all came rushing back with the past version of Luffy reached into his pocket and pulled out the little blue snail.

" _Hello? Straw Hat Luffy?_ " a voice asked. " _We're the soldiers from the air tank that you met just a few moments ago!_ "

"Oh, you guys again?" memory Luffy asked.

"Right! Fukaboshi though ahead and guessed that something like this might happen!" Usopp said at once, smiling when he realized that it wasn't over. "He told the Border Patrol to get ready just in case! That's great! They can blow another bubble for you guys!"

"Thank goodness that someone smart went with you, Luffy," Nami sighed in relief. She honestly had no idea what would've happened if Luffy was on his own here.

" _We've overheard everything that's been happening!_ " the voice explained. " _Noah's_ _in our sights, and our preparations are proceeding according to the plan!_ "

"So this is what Bro-hoshi was talking about earlier," memory Luffy said.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi said as she continued to swim downward. "What should we do about Noah?! Fukaboshi said that no matter what, you and I should stick together next to the Noah."

"He must've decided to give you the chance you need, Luffy," Zoro smirked. "In other words, don't screw up!"

"Of course not!" present-day Luffy said proudly.

"I see," memory Luffy said, seemingly understanding now why she was staying with the ship. "So Bro-hoshi…" He then looked back at the Mini Transponder Snail. "Hey! How're you gonna give us that air?!"

"Hey wait! I remember this! We could hear you guys talking!" Chopper said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" present-day Luffy asked in confusion. The others were wondering what he was asking about before they realized…?

"Oh, right, you probably don't know," Franky said. "See, when we were duking it out in the plaza, we heard you guys all talking. Someone left the snails all on speaker or something and the whole island heard your conversation here."

"Really?" present-day Luffy said in surprise. "Huh. I didn't know that. But that's pretty cool. They all heard Bro-hoshi talking."

"Yeah, in fact, I think that the talk that you two had calmed everyone down and prevented a full-island panic," Nami smiled.

" _We'll use all of the air in the Air Tank,_ " the soldiers answered. Memory Luffy asked what they were talking about and they quickly explained that there was a device they used to deliver air to the island. With it, they could blow another bubble big enough to surround Noah. But they informed him that though the bubble would be filled with air, it won't be enough to cause Noah to float. The boat would still sink and since it will take up all the air they have to make this bubble, they wouldn't get another shot at this. They will only have one chance to fire it when Noah was directly beside them and if they miss then that was it.

"I don't understand a lot of what you said, but basically, it's all or nothing?" memory Luffy asked.

"Good, you retained more than I thought you would," Nami said, half teasing. "So if they mess up, you'd have to think of something else to stop the ship. But thankfully, they hit it right on."

"Yeah, they got me the air I needed," present-day Luffy nodded as the soldiers apologized that this was all they could do to help and that they were sorry for putting him in this position.

"Don't tell me how hard it is!" memory Luffy snapped. "Just do it, already! As long as there's air, then I can manage!"

"Yeah, stop talking and shoot the damn thing!" Usopp shouted, wishing that he could've been there to shot the bubble. He was sure that he could've hit it no problem.

" _Understood! Here goes, Straw Hat Luffy! Fishman Island is now in our hands!_ " the soldier said.

"And there's a scary thought," Sanji smirked quietly. But then they heard a strange sound of something rushing through the water and they looked up. As Shirahoshi turned around to see what was going on, they saw that it was Hody, charging right at them, grinning wildly the whole way.

"LUFFY! DO SOMETHING!" Sanji screamed out, losing all cool when he saw his dear Shirahoshi in danger again. Shirahoshi screamed in terror until memory Luffy jumped out of her hands and stopped Hody dead in his tracks by leaping up to grab hold of him—causing Sanji to sigh with relief. The two glared at each other before memory Luffy leapt up onto his back and gripped his bladed fin in his hands.

"Screw this!" he yelled and broke the blade off in his hands.

"About time!" Usopp cheered. "That thing was causing too much trouble to begin with!"

"Now punch his lights out!" Nami cheered. As if he heard her, memory Luffy continued his attack by coating his arm with Haki before slugging Hody right in the face. He went flying backwards once again, looking like he was done this time… at least until he reached into his pocket and pulled out another handful of the pills.

"Oh come on!" Zoro yelled out in annoyance as there were groans and cries from the others.

"He can't take all that at once!" Chopper shouted out, knowing the kind of damage that could be done when taking such an extreme overdose. "There's no telling what could happen?!"

But Hody was already long gone as he shoved all the pills into his mouth. And then… his body began to shake. Quakes shook throughout his body, causing him to scream in pain like he was being torn apart from the inside. Speaking of tearing apart, his muscles began to grow and expand, tearing his shirt and furry scarf open… his jaw became enlarged to the point where it looked like it could barely close, and his body began to tremble as he continued to scream with a wild smile on his face…

The Straw Hats watched with mouths wide open as he slowly became this horrible monster. What he was, none of them were sure… but he didn't look the least bit like a Fishman anymore. And suddenly he began to laugh… not like the ones before, but a wild, merciless laugh that sounded like the echo of some lost being having lost all sense of meaning in life. The Straw Hats were too stunned to even say anything for a moment.

"He's lost it," Brook whispered in shock. "He's just… thrown his own life away… just like that…?"

"There's nothing that could be done for him," Zoro said, regaining his cool almost instantly. "This was his choice to make and nothing could've stopped him."

"He doesn't give up!" memory Luffy said as Shirahoshi cupped her hands around his bubble again. "What the hell?! I can't even recognize him, anymore!"

"GIVE IT UP YOU DAMN HUMAN!" Hody roared out, screaming out as if trying to tell every living thing in the ocean. "JUST THE SIGHT OF YOU MAKES ME SICK! NO MATTER HOW MUCH OF MY LIFE I MUST SHORTEN, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I MUST SACRIFICE, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE ON HUMANKIND!"

Memory Luffy clenched his bleeding shoulder… his blood dripped from the open wound, staining his red shirt an even darker shade of red. But before he could do anything about that, the Baby Transponder Snail began to ring again and he answered it, all of them thinking that it was the soldiers again. But instead they heard an incredibly weak voice answer.

" _Hey, Straw Hat… can you hear me?_ " Fukaboshi's faint voice asked.

"It's Fukaboshi's voice!" Shirahoshi gasped.

"Oh, thank goodness," Brook sighed in relief. "I was worried… while I knew that he would be alright in the end, it is nevertheless good to hear it again."

"Bro-hoshi, are you okay?" memory Luffy asked at once.

" _By some miracle…_ " he gasped, sounding like every word was causing him great pain. " _But more importantly, listen closely._ _I… I finally know… Hody Jones_ _… who he really is!_ "

Luffy's and Shirahoshi's eyes were wide with terror at those words as Hody just went on laughing insanely, like it had been all that he could remember how to do.

"I think he means 'what' he is," Robin said, frowning up at Hody, and wondering just how much hatred he must've fed off growing up to turn him into this.

There was silence before memory Luffy asked, "Bro-hoshi! What do you mean? Who is he?!"

Shirahoshi began diving once again with Luffy, trying to keep up with Noah as they listened to Fukaboshi explain. " _Hody… is a monster bred by his environment! The New Fishman Pirates are nothing but monsters born of pure malice!_ " Fukaboshi explained weakly, panting hard, showing that he must've been in a lot of pain. " _The New Fishman Pirates are nothing more than phantoms created by hatred! Their ancestors' hatred has been passed on to them in the shadows of Fishman Island. They fear that it might be forgotten. They fear the day that their grudge towards humans fades away. They live in the hope that their so-called 'holy war' is justified and that the humans are evil! They thirst for blood! They do not even want peace for Fishman Island!"_

"What a terrible thing to wish!" Brook yelled. "That's like telling them they should die before they even have a chance to live! They needed to go out into the world and experience it with their own eyes and an open mind before deciding what is right and wrong!"

"That's true," Robin nodded. "Unfortunately, that just was how life is in a lot of places. You get told something often enough, then eventually you come to believe it."

"It was just what he said before that shocked Fukaboshi so badly," Sanji sighed.

"Yeah, what did he say?" Usopp said, thinking to whatever Hody said to Fukaboshi was enough to get him to forget all about fighting. "It couldn't have been that bad, was it?"

As the others looked to them, Sanji sighed as he puffed out more smoke and answered, "He said… 'nothing'. We must bestow judgment upon the humans. We were chosen by the heavens and given the power to do so."

They let that sink in for a moment.

"So… there's no reason for him to do all this?" Chopper asked, his eyes wide. "Humans never did anything to him, but he still feels that they all have to die?! But… that doesn't make sense! Even if he was raised to hate humans, why would he go so far?!"

Robin just held her finger to her lips and told them to listen.

Hody let a loud shriek as he continued to chase after them, faster than ever, but Fukaboshi kept going. " _Their 'grudge',_ " he gasped out, " _Has no personal experience or will behind it! There's no substance to it. They're just empty!_ "

The Noah continued to sink faster and memory Luffy bit his lower lip at the sight of it. He then called to Shirahoshi to hurry as Hody was starting to give chase. Yet in the distance, they saw the form of a massive bubble starting to take form and they knew that the Border Patrol was getting everything ready with the Air Tank, getting ready to fire the bubble to catch the falling ark. However, the monstrous-looking Hody was far from beaten and was racing faster than ever to catch Luffy and Shirahoshi, determined to not let them get their chance.

"Sir Hody has become even more terrifying," Shirahoshi whispered fearfully.

"I hear ya girl," Franky nodded. "I don't know what he is now, but I'm not sure I wanna know."

Hody continued to laugh maniacally. It seemed that by eating more of those Energy Steroids, combined with the hatred of humans, he had finally lost what little sanity he has left. "Humans, you despicable inferior species. We've chosen to give our lives so that we may have our retribution!" he shrieked out.

"A fat lot of good that'll do ya if you kill everyone!" Usopp shouted out. Regardless of how much he hated humans, he could never understand why that guy would want to wipe out his own people. If they were all dead, then how could they take 'revenge' on anyone anyway?

" _We were too late!_ " Fukaboshi said suddenly. " _I don't know when it happened, but those in the Fishman District who didn't share our view… have become an incarnation of fishmankind's hatred. As the outlaws gathered in that deep pit, a terrible hatred began to build up… and we just pretended not to notice their distorted malice._ "

"You mean they knew?" Chopper asked softly.

"Perhaps deep down," Robin offered grimly as they continued to sink, the island below them steadily growing larger and larger as they drew closer. "But we find it easier to deal with something if we just ignore it… not paying it any attention until it grows to a point that it cannot be ignored."

And it seems that Fukaboshi was realizing that as well.

" _We kept collecting signatures in Mother's place,_ " Fukaboshi went on, his voice becoming choked up as he tried to keep going. " _We only focused on outward appearances… and pretended that we were making progress!_ " He continued to try to hold back his emotions as he forced himself to keep speaking no matter how difficult it was becoming. " _But we were already too late for them!_ _They_ _are what Mother feared, most of all!_ "

"Dear brother…" Shirahoshi whispered sadly.

" _We should've started… by fighting_ _inward! Started our fight with our own hatred of humans!_ " Fukaboshi went on. " _Mother… Mother was killed_ _by Fishman Island's hatred! I suspect that she knew that!_ "

"That's why she gave that dying request," Nami whispered as she felt tears in her eyes. "Because she knew what killed her was because someone didn't want peace between their races. Human or Fishman…"

"But she still wished for her children to continue on in the hope that they would overcome this tragedy and learn to forgive," Brook sniffled before he began to sob and dabbed at his tears with his feathered boa. "Oh, Miss Otohime! What a brave woman you must have been!" He then blew his non-existent nose on his boa as Franky was soon breaking down completely, along with Usopp and Chopper at this touching tale.

" _And yet, somewhere in my heart… I held onto that resentment… and hated humans who killed our mother!_ " Fukaboshi admitted shamefully. " _But I see now that the dead take their regrets with them to the grave. So a grudge is nothing but an illusion that the living create, and we are the ones who cultivate it! Because I hated humans, even a little, I overlooked what was happening and allowed that hatred for humans to grow in the Fishman District… and by the time we finally noticed… their hate had grown beyond our control!_ "

It was natural to harbor resentment after a loved one was taken from you. They did not blame him for this. Yet his words seemed to make so much sense when spoken that it made one wonder why no one ever thought of it before. He was right… just as Brook had said, you leave nothing behind when you die… nothing but your bones. But there was another thing… memories. Why would anyone want to be a bad memory though?

" _At this rate…Fishman Island will destroy itself because of a grudge against humans!_ " he went on in sorrow. There was another long moment of silence before Fukaboshi went on. " _Straw Hat, I beg you!_ " he pleaded, getting memory Luffy's attention. Fukaboshi's voice was so thick now that it was becoming difficult to make out his words. But he went on as clearly as he could as he pleaded, " _We don't need the past! Reset our history to zero! Wipe out the phantoms from the past that block out the sun!_ "

"Fukaboshi…" Nami whispered tearfully, her heart going out to his prayer.

"Hey, look!" Chopper cried out and they turned to see where he was point. The bubble had grown even larger in size, already nearly at the point of being able to coat the Noah. The Border Patrol were nearly finished with their part of the plan.

But then Fukaboshi went on, giving his final plea…

" _With your hands, Straw Hat Luffy…_ " Fukaboshi begged, " _Reset our history… BACK TO ZERO!_ "

"This was what Fishman Island needed more than anything else," Robin said knowingly. "He was asking for a new beginning, a second chance."

"Oh, bro…" Franky sniffled again. "You're all killing me here!"

"Franky, stop! You're starting to rust!" Chopper sniffled.

"Dammit, I'm not crying!" Franky retorted as he hid his face in his arm and sobbed. "One word and I'll flatten you all!"

Memory Luffy had been silent the whole time that Fukaboshi spoke. If things weren't as serious, one would start to wonder if he fell asleep again… but his eyes were thoughtful even as Hody was yelling at him to shut up with his nonsense, telling him that their grudge will never fade.

But all of them ignored him as memory Luffy held the Baby Transponder Snail near his mouth and reassured him, "Bro-hoshi. If you let me handle this my way, you won't have to worry."

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Usopp said with a grin.

As he spoke, the bubble off to the side had reached its full size and was suddenly flying right at them. They watched, and to their relief, saw that the soldiers at the Air Tank must've known exactly what they were doing. They did what they promised and managed to hit the bubble perfectly. Soon, the whole ship slowly sank inside it, pushing all the water out and giving memory Luffy the air that he needed.

"Alright! Now things will really start going wild!" Sanji grinned.

But memory Luffy went on as if he didn't notice the bubble, but he was now smiling as he added, "From the moment we landed in that plaza… we decided along with Jimbei… that we won't let anyone harm Fishman Island! Anyone! So just leave it to us, Bro-Hoshi!"

"Yeah! We weren't gonna let anyone destroy the island!" present-day Luffy cheered out with most of the crew screaming out in full agreement.

"After all," memory Luffy said with a confident grin, "we are friends…aren't we?"

"Oh, I love being part of this crew!" Brook cried out. Once again, he was reminded what he loved about being a Straw Hat. They were fighting, not for fame or glory, or even for treasure. But because they were friends and they wanted to help them in their time of need.

"We really are incredible!" Usopp started to cry proudly.

Zoro just smirked as he added, "Well, at least we'll always know that we're one-of-a-kind."

"One hell of a crew, that's right!" Sanji smirked.

At memory Luffy's words, over the end of the Baby Transponder Snail, Fukaboshi couldn't seem to hold back his tears any longer and broke down. And if you listen closely, you may have been able to hear a cheer from the people below who heard his words.

The present-day Straw Hats were too busy enjoying seeing Luffy kicking ass for them to notice this. But somewhere inside the tower, something was beginning to stir… while their excited cries having caused something wake up… and a pair of large, golden eyes were slowly beginning to open.

 **(Ok, I know that the storyline for this story had been a little flat since we've been doing nothing but reading about memories. But trust me on this, there will be a good reason. Also, I'm thinking of one, maybe two more chapters for the Fishman Island arc before we move on. It all depends on if I want to add the part where they're leaving the island and make it to the New World, or just end it with Luffy receiving blood. We'll see. But once this arc is over, there will be a plot twist that none of you will see coming! Hope you will be looking forward to it!)**


	10. Floor 9: Sea and Land

**Floor 9: Sea and Land**

"This is getting good!" Franky cheered out as they went racing up the next flight of stairs. "C'mon! We're almost at the end of the battle! I can't wait to see myself kicking some ass!"

"Wait up!" Luffy and Usopp both yelled as they went running after him, jumping up onto his massive shoulders and laughed as Chopper leapt up onto Franky's head until they looked like some giant four headed monster making their way upwards.

Nami and Sanji went right up after them, still trying to warn them not to get careless or do anything stupid while they were here, before they would look at each other and wonder why they would say such a thing. They knew that they were never gonna listen.

Zoro just followed right behind them, starting to get annoyed as he was, once again, wondering what the point was for going up these stairs and seeing these memories. How was it even possible? Before, they were stuck on some kind of Ghost Island and running after some kind of living slime from hell or something. He just couldn't see the connection from that to this tower… or if there was even a connection at all. He could not help but feel that someone was leading them around on a leash… and it seemed that he wasn't the only one who was thinking like that.

He realized that Robin was starting to fall behind him and he stopped to look. He could just barely see her in the dark as she stood there, yet he knew her long enough to know that she was lost in thought.

"What is it?" he asked when he noticed how she suddenly stopped walking.

"I don't know," Robin said softly with a slight frown. "But I just have this bad feeling that we're not supposed to be here."

Zoro just looked on, wondering what he should say, but she shook her head a second later and seemed to force a smile as she reassured him, "Maybe being in this cold tower is making even me feel grim."

"Making even you feel grim?" he asked with an eyebrow raised. "You say morbid things all the time."

"Oh, I only say that for entertainment," she smirked. "Rarely do I mean it. I suppose I do it just to tease the others."

"More like scare them?" Zoro asked knowingly as her eyes seemed to shimmer at the idea.

"Hey guys!" Luffy's impatient whine called from the top of the stairs. "Hurry up! We wanna keep seeing more memories!"

"We better get going," Zoro muttered to her. "Or else the captain is gonna keep whining like that. Besides, I wanna see Hody get his ass kicked so hard that he shuts up." He added that last part in an undertone, more to himself then to her, but she heard it anyway and chuckled as the two of them continued up the rest of the way and onto the next floor.

Soon they were all back underwater… and the first thing they saw was that they were still next to the falling Noah, with Shirahoshi still holding onto the bubbled memory Luffy.

"Master Luffy, there's lots of air on Noah now!" Shirahoshi said just as the big bubble finished completely covering the ship and the whole thing was nestled inside it.

"Yeah, that's great," memory Luffy said before they heard Hody's laugh behind them again.

"You can't escape from me!" he threatened madly, already racing down to chase them.

"You know, all of this seems to be taking a long time," Usopp said as he watched the ship. "You think that the ship would've crashed into the island by now…? N-Not that I'm complaining or anything! I'm just saying that it's kinda strange."

"That's just because Hody's mouth keeps making it feel much longer than it is," Sanji offered with a shrug. "Forget about it and just watch him get beat."

Shirahoshi looked back at Hody's voice and gasped again at his monstrous appearance. But memory Luffy was still calm as he told her, "Crybaby, stay close to me. I won't let him hurt you!"

"You better not, Luffy!" Sanji warned. "Or else I'll have no choice but to kick your ass next!'

"A-Alright!" Shirahoshi said at once and she spun about in the water until she was now swimming backwards, slowly opening up her hands with memory Luffy standing up inside his bubble, ready to fight again. At last, Shirahoshi let go and continued swimming downwards as the two faced off.

"Straw Hat!" Hody smirked.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi cried out anxiously.

"This is the end for you!" Hody declared.

"Not likely!" Usopp yelled up just as memory Luffy glared back up.

"Weren't you listening? I won't let anyone harm Fishman Island!" he answered back coolly.

Hody just cackled as he demanded, "You say that you won't let anyone harm Fishman Island?! If you think you can protect it, then go ahead and try!"

There were excited cheers coming from most of the Straw Hats, rooting for Luffy to hurry up and take this guy down. Memory Luffy then shifted into his Second Gear once again just as Hody charged in… which turned out to be a big mistake for the psychopath fishman for Luffy nailed him right in the chest with his Jet Bazooka. The first time he ever used that attack was enough to send Blueno flying and knocked him out before he even realized what hit him. But this brick wall was really starting to become a pain in their asses right about now. Though Hody had been forced back, with the attack seemingly having done a lot a damage for a moment… they all suspected that his body was so pumped up on the drug effects that he didn't even feel it despite knowing that it had to cause a lot of internal damage. But Hody just cackled like he got hit with a snowball.

"Didn't hurt a bit!" he hollered.

"I'm not surprised," Chopper frowned. "But just because he didn't feel it doesn't mean that it was a useless attack. It's only going to be a matter of time before he realizes that his body can't keep up with it even if he can't feel the pain."

"Hopefully his body lets him know that soon," Brook stated grimly. "Because I don't think we have time to spare with the Noah still falling."

"You're right about that," Franky nodded as he glanced over the ship. "Though it may be possible the bubble is slowing the ship down just a little thanks to all the air, you need to hurry this up and take him out pronto, pal. Because that ship's not gonna be waiting around for you to beat him."

"I know that," present-day Luffy answered with a frown. "But he was tough! He just kept taking more and more pills each time I hit him! He wasn't giving up!"

"I'll say this much for that loser, he was no quitter," Zoro shrugged. "But that's all he's got going for him. I almost wish that the island was destroyed just for him to realize what an idiot he was."

"Yeah? Well, I'm perfectly happy with how the whole thing ended!" Usopp countered firmly.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi gasped in fear.

"It's pointless, Straw Hat!" Hody barked as memory Luffy shifted out of his Second Gear. "The heavens granted us this power!"

"Oh, shut up about that!" Sanji yelled out, feeling like they were just listening to an echo over and over. "At least come up with some new material! Come on! Get creative! Use some threats! Some cool one-liners! With the whole wide world of possible awesome things to say, you just keep saying that you have power from the heavens when we all know that they're from those drugs! Give us something that shows you're a real bad guy!"

"He almost wiped out his home island and everyone on it! That's not bad enough for you?!" Nami demanded, though she too was growing tired of Hody's same old speech.

"How are you supposed to be afraid of someone who keeps doing the same things over and over?" Sanji asked. "He keeps taking those drugs instead of fighting! He's repeating himself! He's got no brains or power! He's pathetic!"

"Give it up! The Noah is already falling," Hody spat for the umpteenth time. "You will lose everything!"

"No! I'm putting an end to this!" memory Luffy shouted back and he threw his arm back once again as Hody shouted, "You won't put an end to anything!" he then dove a second time, screaming for memory Luffy to just die already.

Suddenly, things got interesting real quick. Memory Luffy's arm stretched out and it went back into his Second Gear… but this time a black coating covered it. This was something that the Straw Hats had only seen once before in a memory, but they recognized at once what was going on.

"Gear Second! Armaments!" memory Luffy began loudly Hody laughed, charging back in, memory Luffy's eyes narrowed, something in him changing at those words.

"I will never… lose anyone again!" he declared and for a moment they all thought of Ace once again… the way he had been when they first saw him. Alive and full of spirit with that wild grin like he could take on the whole world…

"I'll rip that arm of your to shreds!" Hody threated.

"NOW GUM GUUUUM…" memory Luffy shouted out, his arm aglow with heat… it grew hotter and hotter until it looked like his whole arm had been dipped in gold and then…?

Despite the fact that they were at the bottom of the ocean, his arm had ignited and was now covered in golden flames.

"ALRIGHT! NOW IT'S A PARTY!" Franky cried out excitedly, moving his sunglasses up so that he could get a good look at it.

"GO FOR IT, LUFFY!" Chopper also shouted out, hugging Usopp in amazement, his eyes now aglow like stars as Usopp was screaming for him to nail it right in Hody's face.

"CRUSH HIM!" Nami cried out, even she getting into it.

"YEAH! GO FOR IT OTHER ME!" present-day Luffy cheered out for his past self. And that was when memory Luffy threw the punch… and for one wild moment… they could see Ace there. They could see him and Luffy both shifting back and forth as they brought the fist up and forward as memory Luffy then emerged, screaming out:

"RED HAAAAAAAAWK!"

That idiot Hody didn't realize what was going on until it was far too late to do anything. Memory Luffy nailed him right in the stomach, with his flaming fist so powerful that it exploded right out of Hody's back, causing a fountain of blood to burst from his mouth and ignite the area behind him in one massive fireball.

They watched in amazement as, with a roar, memory Luffy punched Hody so hard that he sent him flying back right through the bubble and into the deck of the Noah… even going right through the wood, burning as he went.

There was silence around them as they watched.

"That… that was… that was…?" Chopper began slowly before a smile appeared on his mouth and he cried out along with Franky, Usopp, and Brook, "AMAZING!"

Soon there were excited cries as they were all exclaiming over the Gum Gum Red Hawk and how it was possible to burn fire when you were at the bottom of the ocean. But half the crew were just telling Luffy how sweet they thought his new power was.

"That was even better than the first time we saw you use it, Luffy-san!" Brook informed their Luffy, who was laughing.

"You saw it all before?" present-day Luffy asked in surprise. As far as he knew, he never had a chance to show it to them yet?

"We saw it during the first time we were in your memories," Robin informed him. "Against World. It was a sight to see."

"Oh, so that's it?" Luffy asked with a bright smile. "Awesome! So you _did_ get to see it before."

"Yeah, and that has got to be your coolest technique!" Usopp said with bright eyes. "Damn, I wish I knew how to throw a fireball punch!"

As they continued to talk about how cool it was, Zoro came up right behind Luffy and asked, "So, you came up with that by accident? It was like you just knew it by instinct?"

Present-day Luffy was surprised by the question as he thought it over.

"I just… don't know how it happened," he confessed to him with a shrug. "I just was so angry at World and I hated listening to what he was saying… so I guess… this just happened?"

"It's alright," Zoro answered quietly. "I think we all understand. It would be hard to let something like that go." He glanced over at his captain and asked, "Do you still feel guilt over what happened to Ace?"

"Yeah," Luffy answered with a sigh. "But it's not as bad as it used to be. I think… getting that chance to see Ace again helped. Y'know?"

"I still don't know if that was all part of some dream or not, but yeah, I think I get it," Zoro answered as he thought about Kuina again and how he got to see her. But was that really her he saw? He wasn't sure anymore. But he did know one thing.

"If Ace had been alive to see this… I think he'd be proud of his little brother, right now," Zoro offered and Luffy's smile was gone for a moment as he stared at him in surprise. But then an even bigger grin appeared in its place and he laughed.

"Yeah, I like to think he would," he said. "Though I can also see him threatening to beat me up for ripping off his favorite attack."

Zoro just smiled back when he saw Luffy laughing and the rest of the crew cheering at the sight of seeing everyone enjoying the sight of loud mouth Hody finally shut his mouth for a moment.

"Crybaby!" memory Luffy called to Shirahoshi, who was still behind him, "Take me to the Noah!"

"Okay!" she called as she began to swim towards the ship, with memory Luffy stretching out an arm and grabbing her by her shoulder, telling her to go as fast as she could as he hung onto her back. She kicked her tail as fast as she could, but as they neared the deck of the ship, that was when they saw Hody pulling himself out of the rubble… and in his hand he had whatever was left of those pills… which he shoved them all into his mouth.

"Where does he keep getting these things?!" Franky yelled out.

"That's got to be his last batch though!" Nami cried out. "I don't see how he can keep using them and not die!"

"He'll be paying the price for them later!" Chopper said at once. "But I honestly don't think his body can handle any more of that stuff! If I had to guess, he's making his last stand here!"

"So he figured he might as well go all out," Sanji nodded in understanding. "Hopefully this means that the next time he's hit, he not going to be getting back up again.

"Master Luffy?" Shirahoshi asked worriedly, watching as Hody let out another shriek of agony, his body writhing and pulsating once again.

But memory Luffy just gritted his teeth as he shouted, "Let's go!"

He launched himself from her back and right through the bubble around the Noah, losing his own tiny bubble in the process. But he finally had room to move and more air than he could have hoped for as he clung to deck, which was still tilted almost completely vertical as he faced off against Hody.

But then the memory began to grow dark again, causing more than a few of the Straw Hats to let out frustrated cries when they saw it. They wanted to see the ending of a battle for once instead of constantly shifting back and forth. But the one good thing about this was that they knew that they would be seeing the battles with themselves again, and it seemed that they were right for they were back in the mostly destroyed plaza. They were surrounded by the still forms of the New Fishman Pirates lying on the ground. Neptune's Army and the human pirates had joined forces and were going after all the remaining Fishman Pirates, though there were hardly any of them still on their feet.

Meanwhile their memory counterparts were all facing off with their enemies. With memory Nami and Robin both helping to keep any other pirate who would jump in and help their commanders out of the way, they left it to the boys to clean up and deal with the leaders. Right now, memory Franky, still inside the General Franky, was duking it out with Ikaros, who was now spitting balls of water at him, which memory Franky used the General Franky's arms to protect himself.

"Spit balls? Really? Is that the best he's got? C'mon! Those got nothing on the fire I breathe!" the present-day Franky said proudly as he jerked a thumb at his chest.

"Wings of Ikaros!" Ikaros shouted out as he kept spitting at General Franky.

"Wings?" memory Franky repeated in confusion. "These aren't feathers! They're just spitballs!"

"Yeah, where did he get the idea of wings? They don't look anything like wings?" present-day Sanji asked with sweatdrops hanging around his head. "Wait, why do I care? They're all idiots. Forget I said anything!"

"That's what I usually try to do," present-day Zoro informed him as Sanji glared back.

General Franky went back to trying to punch Ikaros again… but when he landed the blow, Ikaros exploded, causing Usopp, Chopper, and Brook to all shriek, thinking that he had been killed.

"Wait! It's… just ink!" present-day Nami called in surprise. Though now that she thought about it, she had seen Hachi use ink attacks before, but it was really just to blind an opponent, she didn't know that you could make a double out of ink like that.

With a loud laugh, Ikaros reappeared right behind Franky without a scratch as he yelled, "Too bad-mucchi! That was just my ink double! Don't underestimate us commanders!"

"I guess Hody's not the only one who brags too much," present-day Zoro sighed. "There's a difference between being proud of your abilities and overestimating them."

And it really looked like Ikaros would have gone on bragging… at least until memory Franky shot a fireball at him, causing Ikaros to scream and his body curled up as he hollered, "I'm gonna turn into a grilled squid!"

"Yummy," current Luffy said as his mouth began to drool at the thought of a grilled squid.

"Alright! It's General Franky's new finishing move!" memory Chopper cried out with starry eyes. "He launched a fireball outta his stomach!"

At least that was what they thought until they looked again to see that the stomach of the General Franky was open and the memory Franky was hanging out there, with smoke billowing outta his mouth like his own stomach was some kind of furnace.

"Huh?" memory Franky asked, sitting outside the cockpit with his mouth still smoking. "What'd you say?"

"Wait, IT WAS YOU?!" memory Chopper questioned in disbelief.

"WHOA! NO WAY!" Luffy cried out, wishing that he had been here to see all that in person.

"Seriously, what point did that robot have?" present-day Nami sighed. "You did more damage than that thing did!"

"Hey, it's a matter of pride here!" present-day Franky retorted. "That thing is in charge and you know it!"

"So it was just for show," current Robin asked.

"That is just cruel, sis!" present-day Franky whispered back.

"Looking away? You dare to disgrace me like that in the middle of our battle-gyaban!" Dosun questioned as he swung his hammer at memory Chopper, who turned back around to face him, growing all the while.

"Heavy Point!" he shouted out as he grew larger just in time. This was the first time any of them had seen his new Heavy Point form in two years, and he was definitely a lot larger, bulkier… and looking a lot more monstrous than they could remember seeing his Heavy Point.

"I see someone had been drinking his milk since we last saw him," present-day Brook chuckled. "You grew quite a bit, Chopper-san. And believe me, I know how good milk is for you! Yohohoho!"

"Yeah, but looking back, I'm gonna have to find a new way to deal with hammers and clubs," present-day Chopper said as his past self rammed his fist right into the hammer, leaving a loud gong-like note echoing around them, and even causing vibrations to ring through Dosun's body as he moved back.

"Bet he felt that one!" present-day Usopp cheered as he punched the air.

"Huh!?" Dosun questioned as his body continued to vibrate. "You stopped my hammer with your bare hands?!"

"Ow!" memory Chopper cried, shaking his bruised and sore hand. "Maybe this wasn't the best transformation to fight a hammer."

"Yeah, but it sure made an impression, bro!" Franky called out with applause. "Bet he never saw that one coming!"

"Hey, Chopper," memory Zoro called from behind. "Your only human form is looking pretty monstrous now."

Memory Chopper laughed as he explained, "I'm alright. I don't mind anymore. The only reason I wanted to be human was because I wanted friends. Now I want to be a monster to help Luffy!"

"Aww! Thanks Chopper!" Luffy grinned down at him.

"That's commander Chopper to you!" present-day Chopper called back with a grin. He meant those words. He wasn't the least bit ashamed of being called a monster anymore. He was always happy the way that he was, but longed to be human so that he wouldn't have to be so lonely anymore. But everyone in this crew was a monster… some more than others. He was proud to be a Straw Hat and was even prouder to call himself a monster if that meant that he could protect Luffy and the others.

So the next time someone called him a monster, he would say 'thank you'!

Memory Zoro just smiled back at him as the current one chuckled. It seems that Chopper really had learned a lot during those last two years. It made one wonder just how much they all changed, but still remained the same.

"Gotcha," memory Zoro said before they heard a familiar drunken voice exclaim, "I wanna slice up those who smile on the battlefield!"

They looked back to see the octopus Hyouzou leaping at him, with all eight of his swords held high.

"What?" present-day Sanji proclaimed. "You mean that you hadn't dealt with that loser yet? I thought you couldn't get any stupider Moss Head."

"Shut up! I don't see that overgrown pufferfish lying face down!" he retorted. "And you needed Jimbei's help to do that much! Talk about stupid!"

"Hey! I was doing fine on my own! I just thought that someone should be the gentleman and share the beating rather than a Moss-Headed bastard who has less manners than a sardine!"

Just before it looked like the two of them were gonna start another fight, the memory Zoro didn't even bother to give Hyouzou a reply as he glared at him. The two clashed… with the outcome happening so fast that if you blinked then you missed the whole thing.

"Show me why you're considered the strongest swordsman on Fishman Island!" memory Zoro demanded.

"Seriously, he was just wasting my time," the present-day Zoro sighed. His past self struck at Hyouzou's blades with his own three swords…causing all eight of them to break right in half.

"Wow! Like slicing through twigs! Alright!" Luffy cheered out.

Memory Zoro slowly raised his head up to glare at Hyouzou as he snarled, "Kill me? Yeah right… you can't even kill my boredom!"

"Now that is one hell of a one-liner! I gotta use that one!" present-day Franky laughed out. "Do you mind, Zoro?"

"Go ahead, I was just speaking the truth," the current Zoro shrugged back. That was when he noticed that memory Brook was standing off to the side of the battlefield all by himself and was looking about inquisitively.

"Hey, what were you doing, Brook?" present-day Nami asked when she noticed this as well.

"Huh? Oh, I remember! I was looking for that fellow who could disappear," present-day Brook answered back brightly. "He just vanished right before my eyes! Ah, not that I have eyes, Yohohoho!"

"How odd," memory Brook said as he looked around, like a child playing hide-and-seek, "I lost sight of him. The one with stripes. I wonder where he's gone?"

What he didn't see was that there was something slithering along the ground right behind him, something large moving along the ground invisibly. Just then the faint image of the stripes slowly appeared, looking like some kind of giant slug moving towards memory Brook.

"H-Hey! Right there! He's right behind you, Brook!" present-day Usopp cried out in warning.

"Ah, so that was where he came from," present-day Brook said lightly when he looked to where Usopp was pointing. "I thank you Usopp-san! But there is no need to worry! I heard him coming!"

And it was true, just as Zeo faded away again, almost right on top of memory Brook, he was getting ready to strike. His one mistake was that he shouted out, "Take this!"

"Huh?!" memory Brook questioned as he turned towards the sound of the voice… and managed to strike Zeo in the shoulder as he stabbed the ground. "I heard a voice, just now!"

At once Zeo reappeared, his eyes budging out of his head as he began to scream horribly as blood dripped from the stab wound in his shoulder. As his men shrieked at the sight of him being caught so easily, Zeo slowly staggered to his feet.

"Wow! You got him perfectly!" present-day Usopp cheered out as he punched the air. "He never saw it coming!"

"You sure do have good hearing for a man who doesn't have ears," Robin couldn't help but comment.

"Yohohoho! All good musicians have excellent hearing!" he informed her with pride. "Though I may not have ears, I can hear all the notes in a song!"

Zeo was panting as he struggled to his feet, holding onto his bleeding wound. But he wasn't going to let slip he was in pain. Instead, he demanded, "Did… did you see what just happened, skeleton? Thanks to my weapon shattering Body-Sword-Crush… has ruined the tip of your sword-"

"He didn't really believe that?" present-day Zoro sighed.

"Thankfully, the tip of my sword was just fine," present-day Brook reassured them all.

"I stabbed you, didn't I?" memory Brook asked curiously.

"Even after getting stabbed, he's still so prideful!" one of the New Fishman pirates cried out in shock from behind them.

"Yeah, I don't see how you can walk that off," present-day Franky nodded. "Be a man! Just accept that you got hit with something sharp and pointy before getting back to the fight!"

Zeo coughed up some blood before he seethed out, "That's what you think, feel free to think so… and then be deth… and then be destroyed!"

"Did he just mess up with his death threat?" present-day Chopper asked curiously.

"It happens," current Robin chuckled.

"He misspoke?" they heard one of the pirates ask from behind them.

"That he did," his friend answered.

The third pirate shushed them as he whispered, "Don't say that."

"You definitely misspoke there, yes," memory Brook pointed out reasonably.

"I don't see why I couldn't correct him," the present-day Brook offered happily. "Now he knows not to do it again. See? It's all about learning new things."

The three screamed in fear as Zeo's eyes were now full of hatred, seemingly having made this personal. "You fool!" he shouted out before he faded away right before their eyes.

At the sight of it, memory Sanji sighed, wishing he had that power. He hated Brook right now for his gift of being able to leave his body behind and go through walls… oh, why did some guys have all the luck?!

"Huh?!" memory Brook cried out, trying to get a view on this guy. "What?! I lost sight of him again! Where is he?!"

He searched about, trying to see where he went, but it seems that Zeo finally learned to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to keep hidden from Brook's sharp hearing.

"Watch out, Brook! He's right behind you!" Luffy called out in warning this time when he saw the shadowy form of Zeo appear once again, but it was too late.

"Hidden Flail!" Zeo shouted out as he threw a chained weapon from behind and it hit the target perfectly, wrapping itself around his neck. "66 HEADLOCK!"

He then pulled hard on the chain, and with memory Brook letting out a loud gagging sound, his head popped right off his boney neck.

"Did that hurt?" Luffy asked curiously as they watched as the memory Brook's head completely separated.

"Not really," present-day Brook reassured him. "It was inconvenient, but so long as he didn't destroy my bones, then I would recover."

"You need to be more careful," present-day Zoro warned him. "If you were anyone else, that could have killed you. Shame on you if you died again."

"You are right, Zoro-san," current Brook nodded as memory Brook's head came flying off and hit the ground with a loud clunk and his body fell to his knees. "It seems I will have to pay more attention in battle if I am to be of any use to you all. But fret not!" he called out loudly, "I promise to become even stronger! I shall work myself to the bones! This I promise you all! Though that would be easy for me since I am already nothing but bones! Yohohoho!"

"That's the spirit!" Luffy laughed as he clapped.

The present-day Brook just watched on as his mind, or lack there off, thought back to his own training. He had figured it all out. During those two long years of training to become stronger for his crew, he had learned the true power of the Life Life Fruit. When one dies, their souls must leave their bodies so that they may be allowed to rest… however, his soul continued to exist in this world.

He died once before… and he should have gone on to the land of the dead. But he still remains… In order for his soul to stay in the land of the living, he needed to expend an enormous amount of energy, that similar to a living body. When he plays his music, he can move the souls of others by drawing them into a world of his own creation and even show them illusions. Even when he removes his soul from his body, he is visible to others. Which is prove that he does exist in the world of the living, even if he may not fully belong here. But that's alright…

Zeo stood back up and began to laugh triumphantly as he thought it was over. "I've done it!" he roared out, "I'VE DEFEATED ONE OF THE STRAW HAT PIRATES!"

"No," memory Brook said suddenly.

That got everyone's attention and they all gapped at that, their eyes budging out as a ghostly energy began to appear around Brook's skull.

"Come, come now, if a Straw Hat could be killed that easily we would have all died a long time ago," present-day Usopp nodded firmly. After all, look at all that they went through before? He couldn't count how many injuries he took that would've been enough to kill a normal human and lived to tell about it.

Present-day Brook just kept on watching. He knew that a part of him would never fully belong in this world… but that's ok, so long as he was with his crew, then that was enough for him. And one day, he would make it back around the world and see Laboon again. As far as he was concerned, he found his place in the world and he couldn't be happier about it.

"I am able to do this because the power that keeps me in this world doesn't come from my body, muscles, or blood," the present-day Brook said as he watched the greenish-yellow mist slowly floated his memory self's head up into the air and his body stood up. The ghostly energy was connecting his disembodied head with his body, and with a cracking sound, the two reconnected as both memory and present-day Brooks cried out together, "IT'S MY SOOOOUUUUUULLLL!"

Zeo continued to scream in terror, but he seemed to realize that he was being watched and stopped at once before he began to throw his fists around, forcing a laugh, as he yelled, "Oh! That got me pumped up! Alright! Here we go!"

"He's bluffing!" the three from before shouted in shock.

"To be fair, that would freak anyone out," present-day Robin offered. "I noticed that you took your time in putting your head back on?"

"Yohohoho! I couldn't help myself, Robin-san!" present-day Brook laughed happily. "Did you see the looks on their faces?!"

"They look like they're about ready to shit themselves," present-day Sanji smirked.

But once memory Brook unsheathed his sword, they saw how it letting it glint in a dark light as he asked, "Do you understand? Unless you completely shatter my bones, damage to my skeletal body doesn't matter!" He held up his sword as he went on, "And… I had the Longhand Tribe sharpen this cane blade. Its name is… SOUL SOLID!"

"Was it always its name? Or was that recent?" present-day Zoro couldn't help but ask.

"Why do you boys have to name everything?" present-day Nami asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Might as well know the name of the weapon used to send you to the afterlife," present-day Zoro grinned with a rather evil looking shark grin and an almost demonic look in his eyes that caused a few screams of fear from some of the more sensitive members of the crew.

Memory Brook thrust the blade forward, and though he was yards away from Zeo, a chilling mist seemed to explode out of it, and a cold shard struck at Zeo's body, while a crack in the ground stretched from him to Zeo… before suddenly froze into ice. Not just that, but the cut that had formed on Zeo's cheek… had frozen as well.

"I imbue its attacks with my soul," memory Brook explained as he held it up, still emitting a cold mist as his face looked almost demonic for a moment, "Bringing the chill of death! Behold… my freezing blade!"

"Who knew that you had such a cold soul, Brook?" present-day Robin said.

"Oh, don't worry! I have a warm personality to make up for it, Robin-san!" present-day Brook replied with a cheerful chuckle.

Memory Usopp, who had heard everything he said, suddenly cheered out, "That's awesome, Brook! A freezing sword? That's too cool! Though I expect no less from you Soul King!"

"You're too kind, Usopp-san!" the present-day Brook called happily.

"You get distracted too easily," present-day Franky pointed out as his past self turned and bowed low as he said, "Oh, thank you very much!"

"Ah, but I could not help it! Just a few kind words can make even the gloomiest and saddest day seem so much brighter! It is a crime in my eyes to go throughout the day and not say something nice!" present-day Brook said as he twirled about. "Though I do not have eyes! Yohohoho!"

But as memory Brook thanked Usopp for his compliment, he didn't notice when Zeo vanished again; and by the time that he did, he began looking around in a panic to try and find him.

As memory Brook began his search, memory Usopp was grinning as they heard him mutter, "I can't let him outshine me!" They walked closer as he began to talk to himself, "Everyone's got something new to show off before we hit the New World."

"Yeah, I was really bummed that we couldn't go on with our journey together right away," Luffy said as he thought about all he learned while he was training with Rayleigh. "But maybe that was for the best. Because now, we're ready to face anything, aren't we?"

Usopp and Chopper both cheered with him at those words, ready to start kicking some serious ass once they get outta the tower.

"I guess being forced to wait all that time was like a blessing in disguise," present-day Robin suggested with a smile. Sanji frowned heavily at those words however, a rather dark look coming over his face as he thought to how he had been forced to run for his life for the last two years. He would hardly call that a blessing.

But then Daruma came charging at him, laughing that annoying laugh as he demanded, "Are you really so concerned with what you're friends are doing?" At his voice memory Usopp seemed to remember that they were in the middle of a fight. "Don't worry! All of you will be shark food on the ocean floor!"

"Aren't we already on the ocean floor?" present-day Chopper asked curiously.

"Yeah, I guess he can't tell up from down then," Zoro answered with a shrug.

"Oh, so his sense of direction is worse than yours, Zoro!" Luffy laughed as Zoro glared back and yelled, "Like yours is any better!"

Suddenly, Daruma ignited his body into flames and jumped at memory Usopp, trying to bite him. There were a couple startled cries from the Straw Hats, but thankfully, memory Usopp managed to duck away in time, only his pants becoming singed in the process. Daruma spun about, ready to go at him again, laughing the whole time.

Memory Usopp then began to fire more projectiles at him, yet each one Daruma managed to jump away.

"There's no way you would miss that many times," present-day Nami said suddenly, smirking over at their Usopp. "And if you say you did, then you really would be lying wouldn't you?"

He just grinned back as he rubbed his long nose. Daruma started to laugh as he leapt up onto a rock, his fire dying down as he yelled smugly, "A guy like you is just holding your crew back!"

' _I used to think that,'_ the present-day Usopp thought to himself. And while he knew that there was no way he could ever hope to match the others talents, he was far from useless. He could help out in his own way and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"You're firing one dud after another!" Daruma spat as memory Usopp held his head down, his eyes hidden by his new hat… like he was agreeing with what he said… but then he suddenly smirked, taking Daruma by surprise.

"Humph," memory Usopp scoffed. "Don't get too cocky, mole-shark."

"I'M A COOKIE CUTTER SHARK! KYAAAA!" Daruma barked back angrily.

"I think that a mole-shark is a much better name," present-day Robin chuckled.

"Yeah, I don't know about you, but being called cookie cutter isn't very intimidating if you ask me," present-day Zoro added.

"I've just finished setting up all my traps," memory Usopp declared as he looked at all the spots around Daruma, where he planted the seeds to his victory, so to speak. But before he had a chance to continue explaining what he did, they heard the sounds of voices over a speaker.

" _HE DID IT!"_

The voices were getting everyone's attentions as they looked up at the sky at once, where they recognized the voice from the Border Patrol cry out, _"STRAW HAT LUFFY JUST FINALLY MANAGED TO DEFEAT HODY, THE CAPTAIN OF THE NEW FISHMAN PIRATES!"_

"Oh, that must have been when you knocked him through the Noah's deck then, Luffy-san," present-day Brook realized as he pointed up to the ship.

"Getting a little ahead of themselves there, aren't they?" Luffy asked as he frowned up at the ship. It was way too early to celebrate. He still had to stop the Noah and kick Hody's ass so hard that he would stay down for good this time.

However, the news seemed to give the citizens of Fishman Island newfound hope as they began to cheer at the sound of it. The human pirates and Neptune's Army also began to root for Luffy as the New Fishman Pirates all looked horror-struck at the news.

"Y-You're kidding, right?!" one of the pirates cried out in horror. "Captain Hody lost?!"

"Not yet, but give me a little more time!" Luffy responded firmlyk. "The next punch will send him flying!"

"But then what about the Noah?!" another pirate shouted in fear. And at the question, they all looked up once again at the shadow of the ark still directly over their heads as it was slowly growing larger and larger.

It seemed to finally hit them all at once what was going on.

"WE'RE DONE FOR! BOTH US, AND THE ISLAND!" the New Fishman Pirates screamed out in terror as they threw their weapons down and made a desperate run for it. The few pirates who were still up on their feet no longer cared who won so long as they could get out of here alive. Better to run then stay and fight a hopeless battle to them… but even being allowed to run was too much for them to ask—for Zeo suddenly reappeared and blocked their way. And then he began to throw his chain, going straight after his own men, taking down anyone who took one step away from the battlefield.

"Huh?! What's he doing?!" Luffy demanded in shock. "Why's he attacking his own crew like that?!"

"He's nuts, that's why," Sanji sighed.

"Z-Zeo! What are you doing?!" one of the pirates pleaded.

"Yeah! Don't you get it!? The island's done f-" another began before Zeo rammed his chain right at his throat this time before he could finish speaking.

"Don't be fooled!" he snarled. "We were chosen by the heavens."

"Why do you keep saying that? Take a good look at yourself, you freak!" present-day Zoro finally yelled out, getting so sick of hearing these lines over and over. He held nothing against Fishmen of course, but just listening to him was enough to make him want to go drink until he passed out.

"Captain Hody and his crew could never be defeated by mere humans!" Zeo finished.

"He got beat several times already," present-day Robin pointed out. "The only reason he was still standing was because he was using a substance beyond his own strength.

"Seriously, what battle is he watching?" present-day Sanji sighed out, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "They aren't even worth the time it took to bring them down. I mean, I'm all for the underdog standing up and facing a foe he has no chance of beating, but at least put up a decent fight! These guys are just a bunch of bullies."

His underlings were now frightened and tried to reason with him, "B-But if the Noah crushes the island, then we'll all be…?"

"Death still counts as revenge!" Zeo shouted out stubbornly.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Luffy asked, frowning heavily at the sight of it. No matter what the reason, a pirate should never turn on his crew like this! If only he was there, he'd kick this guy's ass.

"Our deaths will feed the hatred of humans in others!" Zeo declared, continuing to throw his chains about, striking down any and every one of his own crew as he could. "This tragedy will become our flesh and blood! Our hatred will live on! It will be passed on to the next generation and we will surely have our revenge!"

"Moron! How can there be another generation when you kill everyone on the island?!" present-day Nami yelled out. "Don't you realize that what your doing could kill off your whole race for good?!"

"Captain Hody and the commanders are all insane!" one of the pirates shouted out, backing away from Zeo when he said those words.

"They only just realize this?" present-day Sanji sighed as he shook his head in pity. "Really, know who you're dealing with before you join them. We kinda miss that memo and now we're stuck sailing with a crazy captain ourselves. Learn from our mistakes pal!"

"Hey!" Luffy retorted as present-day Sanji grinned back mischievously.

But before they could think of anything to do, Dosun appeared behind them, his hammer held high as he shouted out, "It's the humans who made us like this!"

The few remaining New Fishman Pirates all scattered, but when one of them tripped, Dosun shouted out, "DON'T YOU DARE RETREAT!"

And he slammed the hammer down on the poor guy as he shouted, "Direct all your rage towards the humans-bogon! The calamity that is hanging over all of fishmankind is entirely the humans' fault-zugan!"

"Oh, shut up! No human ever made you do anything like this!" present-day Franky yelled out. "Just listen to yourself! You bastards are the ones who caused all this on your own! You just looked for a convenient excuse!"

Zeo continued to attack everyone around him, declaring that anyone who wasn't willing to die in battle would die by his hands and live on in the grudge against humans. The pirates were all pleading for him to stop, having lost the will to fight, but as he continued to cut down everyone… but before he could claim another victim, memory Brook came out of nowhere and blocked his chain with his sword.

"That is just disgusting!" present-day Brook hissed at the sight. "No true crew would ever behave so shamefully! What he said before, about dying and leaving behind a grudge? That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of!"

"Well said," present-day Robin said to him with a nod as memory Brook threw the chain off.

"Just who do you think you _are?!_ " memory Brook demanded angrily. "Killing off your own men?! What nonsense is this?!"

At the sound of this, the pirates stared back at memory Brook, with them gratefully thanking him, tears burning in their eyes for him saving their lives.

"You…you saved us! Thank you, Skeleton Mask!" the man he saved thanked tearfully.

"Yohohoho! Don't mention it!" present-day Brook said happily, feeling his heart grow warm at that, though he didn't have a heart anymore, did he?

Zeo pulled his chain back before asking in annoyance, "You again?"

Memory Brook was now angry as he pointed Soul Solid right at him as he demanded, "You sure talk about death a lot for someone who has never died! Die and live on in a grudge?! Preposterous! Nothing remains after death! When you die, there's nothing left behind but your bones!"

"And you would know about that better than anyone, wouldn't you Brook?" Luffy asked their Brook.

"Yohohoho, I did die once before, though I don't remember too much about what happened afterwards," he nodded back. "But I know enough to know that what he said was just a lie! You can't leave your hatred behind. Only your bones. Everything that Fukaboshi-san said about how only the living create a grudge, is completely true. The dead have no reason to want to hold onto their hatred. There is no point."

"In other words, he's just diluted," present-day Zoro nodded. "Though I think we all knew that right away."

"Coming from you, I believe it," memory Franky said, still piloting the General Franky.

"Very kind of you!" memory Brook called like he had done to memory Usopp before, but this time he kept his gaze on Zeo. "But… I really hate people who refused to treat life with the respect it deserves! It makes me sick to my stomach. Even though I have no stomach to be sick!"

"Yes, I don't believe that there are people in this world that I dislike more than people like them," the current Brook nodded firmly. "Those who have no respect for life! Just looking at them makes me sick to my none-existent stomach!"

Zeo just scoffed as he began to spin his chain about as he demanded, "Aren't you the ones who are throwing your lives away?"

"Would you open your eyes and pay attention to the battle?" present-day Sanji sighed. "Look around you! You're getting your asses kicked! We don't give a damn if you're superior or not! Just get to the part where you can actually put up a fight, already!"

"All of you staying here without even trying to run away…" Zeo went on, "when you humans are the ones who will undoubtedly die once Noah crashes! Granted, I'm not sure you're really human!"

"I resent that!" present-day Brook cried out indigently before tears began to well up in his empty eye sockets. "It is true that I am nothing but bones, but I am still human! I have feelings you know!"

"We know that, Brook!" present-day Chopper added quickly. "Don't listen to him!"

"Yeah, he doesn't know what he's talking about!" Luffy added and Brook sniffled a little and croaked out, "Thank you both…"

But then, memory Brook pointed to the sky as he declared loudly, "Our Captain Luffy is going to be the Pirate King someday. And that same captain just said that he won't let anyone harm Fishman Island and that we could leave it all to him! As long as we believe in him, why would we worry about anything? Now, it's time for me to fulfill my duty! I won't take my eyes off you again! Even though I have no eyes! Yohohohoho!"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, suddenly pumped up and wanting to fight right now.

Just then, high up above the plaza, memory Sanji was standing up on top of Wadatsumi's head, who was at least half the size of Noah by now.

"How do you like this now?!" Wadatsumi squeaked out quickly so that he didn't lost all the air he sucked in. "Surprised?!"

"Yeah, I think that's more than enough," memory Sanji said as he looked him over, less than half the size of Wadatsumi's eye now, "Oh, I am so surprised."

"Yeah, surprised that he walked right into the trap," the present-day Sanji shrugged. "He could've at least made it a little more difficult to trick him."

Wadatsumi laughed, his hands still over his mouth as he asked eagerly, "Really?"

"In that case," memory Sanji said before he looked down to the distant ground as he called, "Hey, Jimbei! What do you say we finally put an end to this fight?!"

Wadatsumi's eyes looked down since it was clear that he couldn't move his head. Standing at Wadatsumi's feet—which seemed to have disappeared underneath his swollen belly—was Jimbei, who nodded firmly up at memory Sanji.

"Indeed, it's time," Jimbei replied with a sage node.

While this was happening, memory Zoro was still up against Hyouzou, who was holding up the swords, or rather… what was left of them after Zoro sliced right through the metal like they were made of tin cans. Hyouzou was looking at them with drunken bafflement.

"Well, that'sh weird," Hyouzou slurred as he looked down at his empty sword hilts. "What happened to mah shords? How am I supposed to fight?" He then began to mope about as memory Zoro looked on with disappointment, like he couldn't believe that he had been forced to fight against such a weakling.

"Hell if I care," he muttered as he just walked away, not even bothering to deal the finishing blow because he wasn't worth the trouble. But as walked away, Hyouzou suddenly smirked as he held up his tentacles, where a lime-green liquid began to drip down.

"That's poison!" Chopper cried out. "He's trying to poison you, Zoro!"

"I think we discovered that he wasn't the honorable type," the current Zoro yawned. Just then, Ikaros began making a scene as he stood against memory Franky, who seemed to have grown tired of this fight as well.

"You're so stubborn," memory Franky said from inside his robot. "I'm gonna settle this in just one hit! I'm ready to show off my new super move!"

Meanwhile, next to them, memory Franky was still up against Daruma, and was now holding up three fingers.

"One… two… three shots are all that it's gonna take," he warned Daruma. "When I raise the third finger, I will snipe you and this fight will be over!"

"Wow! You're so cool, Usopp!" present-day Chopper cried out at how calm and cool that their sniper was.

"Yeah, and your knees aren't even shaking," present-day Zoro added with a smirk, causing their Usopp to glare back at him.

"What kind of foolish fantasy are you living in?" Daruma questioned. "Wake up you weak human! Can't admit your defeat?!"

"It's funny… I'm actually surprised," memory Usopp said as he moved his goggles to cover his eyes. "I used to spout lies all the time… but now I can do the stuff I boast about!"

The present-day Usopp grinned at that and nodded proudly. He had changed a lot during those two years. He made a promise that he wasn't going to be the weak link in this crew. Here, he was going to be there to protect them even if he would never be as strong as some of them were. He remembered the words that Sanji said to him once before… and he would live his life that way. They would do for him what he couldn't do, while he would do what his friends couldn't do.

But before memory Usopp had the chance to show them all, the ground began to shake and there were screams of terror going on all round them.

"What's that monster?" one of the pirates cried out in panic, getting Daruma and memory Usopp to look up.

"Where did that thing come from?!" Daruma screamed in shock as the others outside the memory patted their Chopper on the head and told him what a great job he was doing making everyone shit their pants in fear. Of course present-day Chopper just blushed red, yelling at them all to shut up as he began to twirl about.

Memory Usopp, however, wasn't aware that he wasn't in any danger and he recognized the monstrous form at once, growing understandably pale. "T-That's…?" he gasped out as memory Chopper's Monster Point towered over the entire plaza, emerging from the dust from the battle as he let out that horrible roar that seemed to shake them all to the core.

"Damn, bro," present-day Franky whistled out. "I mean, I know that you have a Devil Fruit, but you sure do look like the Devil when you go all berserk on us."

"I don't go berserk anymore," present-day Chopper reminded him crossly.

"Yeah, but I don't know any better way to describe it when you turn into that," Franky added with a shrug. "So, I think that we'll just use that term for you when you go all monster on us. But damn, bro… that is scary."

"You could've at least warned me you were gonna do that," present-day Usopp said to their Chopper as he jerked his thumb over at his past self, whose eyes were budging out of his head.

"Yeah… I see," present-day Chopper said with a slightly embarrassed laugh. "Sorry about that Usopp."

"Ch…CHOPPER!" memory Usopp cried out, waving his hands about as if he hoped to stop Chopper from running on a rampage.

"T-That little runt… got huge all of a sudden!" Dosun exclaimed in shock.

"Chopper, no!" memory Usopp went on, completely ignoring the battle around him as he went straight to his friend, his concern for Chopper greater than any danger he was in. "Nothing major has happened yet! You didn't have to go berserk?!" he cried out as Monster Chopper continued to roar out.

"See? It's a good term to use," present-day Franky offered when Usopp said the word 'berserk'.

"Sorry for making you worry, Usopp," present-day Chopper said again as he rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't mean to. That's why I worked on mastering my Monster Point. So that you guys don't have to worry about me anymore."

"It's alright," Robin said gently as they all looked down at him with kind eyes, "We understand. Just make sure you warn us ahead of time next time, ok?"

"But then he can't surprise us," Luffy pointed out cheerfully, moving his hands up behind his head as he added, "That's always a lot of fun!"

Well, not much they could do about it now. They just looked back as Monster Chopper's massif mouth shut when he finished roaring, and then curled up into a smile, and even a deep chuckle that took memory Usopp completely by surprise.

"Its okay, Usopp!" Monster Chopper answered, still in that almost dark voice as he looked down at him. "I'm fine!"

There was only one way for memory Usopp to respond to that.

"Huh?!" he asked.

"Nice comeback, pal," current Sanji said.

"Shut up!" present-day Usopp snapped back.

"It's just a good thing that you were ok, Chopper," present-day Nami stated with a nod. "I don't think that we could've stopped you like before."

"Yeah, how did you stop me anyway?" present-day Chopper asked as he remembered Enies Lobby. He took three Rumble Balls while fighting against that CP9 member who had the octopus hair… and then he blacked out. He couldn't recall anything that happened after that point.

"Oh, we had Franky blast you into the ocean before he fished you out," Nami answered back. "Bit of a strong-arm tactic, but there wasn't much of a choice at the time. We knew that your Devil Fruit powers would become useless in the water, and we had to take the chance it would work."

"Oh, I see," present-day Chopper said as he thought about that. He then looked down at his hooves and began to play with them as he added awkwardly, "Nice thinking. I ah… I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble at the time."

Nami, Usopp, Franky, and Zoro all glanced at each other before all four of them shook their heads with rather forced smiles as they all said, "No problem at all! Don't worry about it!"

Just then, the voices over the loudspeaker, the Border Patrol, were suddenly making another broadcast.

"THE NOAH IS STILL FALLING TOWARDS THE ISLAND!" they warned the entire island. "I REPEAT! THE GIANT SHIP, NOAH, IS STILL FALLIGN TOWARDS FISHMAN ISLAND! AND LUFFY-SAN IS NOW FIGHTING HODY ON THE NOAH'S DECK!"

At the sounds of that, there were screams of panic coming from all around them, from both the citizens of the island, and the New Fishman Pirates.

"The Noah is still falling!"

"Is there nothing we can do?!"

"STRAW HAT!"

More screams could be heard, but the Straw Hats tuned them out as they focused on the battle happening closet to them, which happened to be with memory Brook and Zeo. Here, they watched as Zeo only chuckled at the news as he looked down from the ship to memory Brook and asked smugly, "Did you hear that? Our captain is just fine!"

"I wouldn't call it that," Franky pointed out. "The guy looked like he was on his last legs to me."

"Our justice is right after all!" Zeo went on proudly.

"I swear, if he uses that line about being chosen by heaven one more time…?!" present-day Sanji began in warning.

"We are the ones chosen by the heavens!" Zeo called.

"That does it!" present-day Sanji roared out as fire began to burst from his body… with Nami being the only one who could calm him down by whispering a few kind words in his ear by asking him to make her something tasty for them when they got back to the Sunny. Thankfully, it was enough to make him forget his rage for a moment as he promised her right on the spot that he would be happy to make a feast for them all and swooned as she winked at him, practically ogling her.

"Your captain doesn't stand a one in ten thousand chance of winning!" Zeo declared conceitedly.

"A slim chance is still a chance," present-day Robin answered reasonably. "In fact, judging by our usual standards, that's actually pretty good."

"Besides, he's got it the other way around," Zoro said quietly to her, causing her to smile back.

Memory Brook just observed him as he finally said, "You are wrong." Those words took Zeo completely by surprise as he stared at him and memory Brook seemed to smile as he said confidently, "I told you, didn't I? I have faith in him. Our captain will never lose again. Yohohoho!"

"Yeah! You got that right!" Luffy cheered out. He lost something precious to him twice before… he wasn't going to lose anything else like he lost his brothers ever again.

"Yohohoho! You never let us down, Captain!" present-day Brook said happily as they began to root for memory Brook.

But Zeo didn't look impressed as his eyes narrowed and he snarled out, "Your blathering ends now!" he then began to swing his chain about in a great circle, creating some kind of circle of dust around him about ten feet in diameter, as if he were drawing a line between the two of them.

"This is my range, skeleton man," he warned. "The moment that you enter this circle, your bones will all be pulverized to dust!" He then chuckled, obviously thinking that there was no way he could lose now as he asked, "Now, what will you do?!"

"That would normally be dangerous for a regular swordsman who needs to get in close to deal a deadly blow," present-day Nami began. "But then again..?"

"There are no regular swordsmen in this crew," present-day Zoro smirked proudly.

"In more ways than one," present-day Usopp stated as their Brook laughed.

"We may be very strange to most, but I prefer to think of us as… unique! One-of-a-kind! Yohohoho!" present-day Brook answered brightly as he began to twirl about.

"Well, you don't get more different than this crew," present-day Sanji smirked.

Zeo was so busily laughing, he didn't notice that it was already over. It happened so quickly that one moment memory Brook was in front of him, but then waves of cold air drifted about them and memory Brook had appeared right behind Zeo, just walking nonchalantly like nothing happened, all the while humming Binks's Sake.

"Now then," memory Brook said, his blade drawn, "If you'll excuse me… I already entered your circle and cut you." He then began to sheath his blade.

"When did you do that?" present-day Chopper asked, rubbing his eyes because he sure didn't remember seeing Brook move.

"Just a moment ago," Luffy answered as Zoro and Sanji both nodded, all three of them having seen what happened.

"It is quiet cold out," memory Brook warned. "Please take care."

"W…what?" Zeo demanded as he turned back to look at him. "When did you…?"

But he never had a chance to finish asking his question for memory Brook slowly withdrew his blade until there was just an inch of the blade still showing and he finished, "Song of Scratches… BLIZZARD SLICE!"

He sheathed his sword and suddenly, a huge gash appeared on Zeo, but blood never had a chance to flow for the cold suddenly froze it, leaving jagged spikes of ice bursting out from the wound. Zeo screamed in shock and pain before he slowly fell backwards and onto the ground, unable to move.

"Damn," present-day Franky grinned as he watched. "That was so cool! Literally! Man, the only thing I wish is that you dropped a scarf or something at the end… that would've been epic!"

"Something to remember for next time," present-day Brook said brightly.

"And now… a haiku…" memory Brook began.

"A what?" Luffy asked in confusion. Was that another sword attack?

"A kind of poetry," present-day Robin explained to him gently.

" _The land of the dead_

 _Sends a sharp, blood-freezing gale_

 _Please flip up some skirts!"_

"So that's why you wanted me to wear one," present-day Nami muttered as she glared at their Brook, who whistled in an innocent way that didn't fool her for a moment.

Present-day Sanji thought that over and suddenly the mental image of Nami wearing a skirt and a great wind coming along and lifting it up…?

"SANJI?!" present-day Chopper cried out in worry for blood was starting to squirt outta his nose again. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE OVER THIS?!"

"I don't know what he was thinking of, but whatever it was I bet it was perverted," present-day Usopp said at once.

"Oh!" present-day Brook gasped. "I just thought of an even better Haiku right now!"

"Oh, this should be good," Nami muttered darkly as present-day Brook cleared his throat—though he didn't really have one—as he recited:

 _Though your blood freezes,_

 _But I wish the winds of hell…_

 _Would lift skirts as well._

"That's the same isn't it?" Robin asked dully. "It's about you and your perverted mind?"

"Ah, but it rhymed!" present-day Brook pointed out before he laughed.

"Ch…Chopper!" Usopp cried, still staring up at Monster Chopper. "What happened to you?! You can control that form now?!"

"Control what?" present-day Chopper asked their Usopp as Sanji had his hand over his bleeding nose, waving his hand down at their doctor as he let him know he was just fine.

"I didn't say that," present-day Usopp said before he looked about, "Which means that…?"

"Yes," memory Monster Chopper answered, still in that deep voice, as he slowly held up three fingers—real fingers this time. "I'm now able to fight in this form for 3 minutes with the Rumble Ball! It isn't like before! I won't cause you guys anymore trouble!"

"Aww, but you never caused us any problems," Luffy laughed to their Chopper, who blushed and began to tell him to shut up with the praise before he kicked his ass.

"No way!" memory Usopp cheered. "But you're really not going berserk! You can actually help out?! You got so awesome, Chopper!"

But the praise was turning Monster Chopper pink before he began to sway about happily as he answered, "Saying that won't make me happy, you jerk!"

"Okay, that's just scary!" memory Usopp cried.

"Yeah… please… don't do that again, bro," present-day Franky muttered. "I mean, we love ya, but…?"

"You gotta be kidding me-dosun!" Dosun roared out, frustrated that they were just ignoring them. "It doesn't matter how big you get! I'm still gonna blast you to the ends of the sea-Gogyan!"

Memory Chopper finally turned his attention back to him as he warned, holding up his massive hands, "You won't be able to blast me anywhere. Now bring it!"

"Go for it, Chopper!" Luffy cheered out, as memory Usopp looked up proudly at how much Chopper changed since they last met… at least until Daruma's laugh reminded him that he was still fighting too.

"Chatting with your friends during a fight?! Know your place!" Daruma demanded. "You're nothing but a hindrance to your crew! I'm gonna finish you off right now!"

"Wanna bet on that?" the present-day Usopp asked proudly. Memory Usopp held his head down once again at those words but then he smirked as he said, "Didn't I tell you that I've got a trick up my sleeve? Now, bring it on! I'll show you what I can do!"

"What're you gonna do to him, Usopp?!" Luffy asked excitedly, really wishing that he had been here to see this.

"You're about to find out!" the present-day one grinned. Daruma seemed to throw aside any warnings signs and leapt straight for him, his mouth wide open as he shouted that he was gonna kill him. But as he flew overhead, several strange plants that kinda looked like human-shaped turnips, leapt out of the ground and lunged themselves at him.

"KYA?!" Daruma cried. "What are these things?!"

"Certain Death: Green Star… HUMANDRAKES!" memory Usopp exclaimed as the plants latched themselves to Daruma. "These plants have man-shaped roots that jump at anyone who passes above them and ensnare them!"

Daruma screamed as he fell outta the air, but as soon as he hit the ground, he went flying upwards.

"What is it now?!" he cried out. Below him where he landed looked like some kind of head of lettuce with a green bubble in the center.

"Certain Death: Green Star…TRAMPOLIA!" memory Usopp exclaimed. "It sends intruders flying!"

"Oh wow!" Luffy cried out. "Hey Usopp? Can you make one of those things for us when we get back to the Sunny? That would be cool to bounce on!"

"My Pop Greens aren't to be used as toys like that," the present-day Usopp replied. Now, he really said this just so that he sounded responsible to the others… but when no one else was watching he whispered to Luffy's ear, "We'll talk about it later." Making Luffy grin back at him as he gave him a thumbs-up.

"And now, with you launched into the air, there's no way for you to dodge this!" memory Usopp cried as he raised up his slingshot and pulled back another projectile, taking careful aim.

"Certain Death: Green Star!" memory Usopp shouted as fired. It was a tiny red berry… but then it began to sprout leaves like a giant tree was bursting out… which shaped into… a giant, green wolf made of leaves—and it was running straight at Daruma.

"Another beast form the surface?" Daruma called, not sounding impressed. "I'll rip it to shreds!"

"Always underestimating me," present-day Usopp said as he watched his past self just grin up at him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," memory Usopp warned. "The bulb on the tip of its nose… releases a powerful shockwave that hits anything within three meters!"

"Yeah, who came up with these plants?" present-day Nami couldn't help but laugh at what this plant could do. "I mean, we've all seen strange greenery before, but these are in a class by themselves!"

"WHAT?!" Daruma cried as he collided with the plant wolf's nose and was hit with the shockwave that sent him flying even higher.

"IMPACT WOLF!" memory Usopp finished as Daruma screamed, dropping straight to the ground and was out cold as soon as he hit the dirt.

"USOPP! USOPP! USOPP!" Luffy and Chopper began to cheer out for their Usopp who laughed out proudly.

"What? You thought that I didn't improve at all during the last two years?" he cried out, his chest puffing out with pride. "Couldn't let everyone else get better than me! Oh, the stories that I could tell you about my days fighting for my life…?"

But he didn't get a chance to tell them anything for they were now looking at Dosun, who was still up against memory Monster Chopper, and he was now spinning round and round like a top, trying to build up momentum for his hammer, which he was still swinging about.

"Dosun! Dogan! Bogan!" he roared as he continued as he continued to gain speed, "Now, fly into the horizon! Gagon! Megagon! PAPARA-HAMMER!"

But he didn't even stand a chance.

"Cloven-Hoof Palm!" memory Chopper called as he slammed his giant palm against Dosun, sending him flying and shattering his hammer into pieces and knocking him out almost instantly.

"Yeah! A one hit KO!" present-day Usopp cheered out. "I LOVE it!"

Soon they were all laughing at the sight of it, with present-day Chopper now so embarrassed that he was yelling at them all to shut up about it as he did a breakdance, a smile stretching from ear to ear bright on his face.

They kept laughing for some time until they heard more shouts and looked up to see that memory Franky was still up against Ikaros, who was demanding, "Interesting! You say you're gonna finish me off in one hit? Even if the Dried Squid Spear doesn't work on you," he then threw his spears aside as he yelled, "I've been concealing a powerful spear that can penetrate anything!"

He then reached up to his helmet and wrenched it off to reveal a pointed end… to reveal his head had been sharpened into a point.

"Do I really wanna know?" present-day Nami sighed before she shook her head, not even sure why she asked such a question.

"Normally, I'd say that he's sharp but…?" present-day Brook said slowly.

"But there's nothing sharp about him," present-day Nami muttered in agreement.

"…I've got a hidden spear that can pierce any target! Looks like you're the one going down in a single blow! LIGHT BRIGHT SPEAR!" Ikaros' head began to flash a bright light. "I'll pierce a hole right through that robot's driver seat-hi!"

"Please! Even if I let him get close to my baby, there's no way that his head was gonna get through all that metal!" present-day Franky declared. "And that is a Franky Guarantee!"

"I dunno," present-day Zoro answered. "He's got a thick enough head so I wouldn't have been surprised if he did manage to punch through."

But it seemed that Ikaros was spared the trouble of getting a hole into General Franky's stomach. For the real memory Franky opened the door and jumped out on his own.

"Don't waste your time!" he called. "In the face of my new SUPER ultimate attack, your glowing spear head doesn't mean a thing!"

But it seemed that some people just never learned. Ikaros put his head down and began to charge, his head still glowing as he shouted out, "Squid! Squid! Squid!"

"That's gotta be the lamest battle cry I ever heard," present-day Zoro sighed out. "Really? Squid?"

"I thought we covered this," Sanji muttered. "Don't think about it too much. It's not worth it."

"Take this! The spear that even penetrates underwater mountains!" Ikaros roared out.

"Not quite!" memory Franky exclaimed before he put his hands together, like he was getting ready to fire a Coup de Vent. Only now it was about a million times more awesome… and they watched as a faint light began to form—getting the attention of the Goofy Trio, who were now wide-eye and holding their breaths as they waited. "Franky… RADICAL BEAM!"

And he fired a beam of light, like it had been for the Pacificas two years ago, and blew him away, frying him into a dried squid in an instant. Ikaros fell to the ground, his body blackened and charred.

"A la…LASER BEAM?!" both the memory versions and the present-day versions of Usopp and Chopper cried, starry-eyed and tearful with Luffy practically drooling over the sight of it… though it was possible that it was also from the sight of seeing Ikaros's now have a great fried skin.

"I gotta admit, you did a fine job of frying him," present-day Sanji nodded approvingly.

"Maybe I could try cooking once in a while," present-day Franky laughed out. "But, it's nice when people appreciate all your hard work."

Meanwhile memory Sanji was still standing on top of Wadatsumi, who had sucked in so much air that he was now as round as a beach ball, and if he leaned in to one side just a little too far, he would undoubtedly roll.

"Yer gonna end dis? Dat's mah line!" Wadatsumi squeaked out, still trying to hold onto his air with his hands pressed tightly over his massive mouth. "Don't think ya just tricked me into inflatin', ya idiots!"

"No need, he already did it," present-day Sanji countered with a shrug.

"Ah'm gonna roll around and flatten all yer friends in da plaza!" Wadatsumi warned. Memory Sanji looked like he couldn't care less as he breathed out a mouthful of smoke before Wadstasumi seemed to be growing ticked off from his lack of concern as he demanded, "Ya listenin'?!"

"Sorry about that," memory Sanji stated back, though it was a wonder that they could hear him from all the way down here on the ground, and him all the way up there. "I was just lost in thought for a moment."

"What were you thinking of that was so important, crap cook?" present-day Zoro asked in annoyance. "Get to it already."

"Don't be jealous because I know that timing is everything," Sanji shot back.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro shot back in annoyance.

"Wait for it…" Sanji just answered as he watched on interestedly.

"Lost in thought?!" Wadatsumi repeated, sounding completely baffled at that like he never heard of such a thing.

"Yeah," memory Sanji answered as a wind blew through his hair, "How should I cook a ridiculously big pufferfish?"

"Really? That's the best line that you got?" present-day Zoro asked with a roll of his eye.

"Shut up!" present-day Sanji shot back.

"What's dat?! Try it if ya can!" Wadatsumi demanded. And with a slow heave, he began to lean his weight to one side, allowing himself to start to roll. Already pirates were running away, trying to avoid getting trapped underneath, but that was when Jimbei stepped forward when he saw what was happening—unknowingly strolling right by them.

"Well then…" he said as he held up his hands, allowing Wadatsumi to come towards him. "Fishman Karate Secret Technique!" A bubble of water formed around his hand until it was completely covered and he shouted, "Vagabond Drill!"

"Go for it, Jimbei!" Luffy cheered out as Jimbei thrust his fist at Wadatsumi, delivering a powerful shockwave through Wadatsumi's entire body and sending him rolling backwards as water burst right through his body and out his back. The few standing Fishman Pirates all screamed in shock and disbelief.

"The water… pierced right through his body!" one of the pirates screeched out in shock.

"In this case, the bigger that you are, the bigger the shockwave," present-day Robin answered with a slight smile. "And the more that it would hurt."

"Jimbei's the best," Luffy chuckled as he remembered how many people that he fought back at Marineford. "He took out Moria without even breaking a sweat."

"Oh yeah, he did do that, didn't he?" present-day Nami sked as she thought back to those memories… though doing her best not to dwell on it too much. "And look what it took for us to beat him?"

"Not just anyone is offered the chance to be a Warlord," present-day Usopp reminded her.

"What about Buggy?" present-day Robin asked and their faces darkened.

"Buggy?" Luffy asked in confusion as he tried to think back. "I think I know that name…?"

"Big red nose?" present-day Sanji offered and Luffy hit his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Oh, that guy! Wait… he was made into a Warlord?" Luffy asked in surprise. "When did that happen?"

"I don't know, but let's not think about it," current Nami said as she patted him on the head. "It's nothing to worry about, right?"

Back to the battle, it looked like the blast from Jimbei's fist was too much for poor Wadatsumi, whose mouth opened and he let out all the air that he had tried so hard to keep in. He was sent flying like a little kid letting go of a balloon and they watched with interest as memory Sanji was already running through the air, seemingly waiting just for this. Wadatsumi was stunned to say the least to see that he was flying towards him so despite being so far away, they could hear them yelling at each other.

"WHAT?! HOW IS A HUMANY FLYING IN DA SKY?!" Wadatsumi cried out in shock, "YA SCARED DA GUTS OUTTA ME!"

"Right," present-day Sanji said as thought back to when he first showed off his Sky Walk and took out all those mermen who dared to after his beloved Shirahoshi. "Guess he missed it earlier."

But things then got really interesting when memory Sanji suddenly burst into flames, his eyes glowing white that made him look like some kind of demon that had risen from the pits of Hell—causing screams of panic from the current versions of Usopp, Brook, and Chopper at the sight of it.

Memory Sanji then began to scream out in outrage, "WHY DID I HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THAT?!"

"GO THROUGH WHAT?!" present-day Usopp screamed in terror as he hugged a crying Chopper, "WHAT KIND OF UNNATURAL HELL DID YOU HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH TO REDUCE YOU TO THIS?!"

"Don't ask if you aren't prepared for the answer!" present-day Sanji declared furiously.

"HE'S ON FIRE!" Wadatsumi screamed, finally seeing that he's screwed.

"I'M GONNA BURN THOSE MEMORIES TO ASH!" memory Sanji roared. "HELL MEMORIES!" And that was when Sanji gave him such a hard kick while the fire was still burning, that it set Wadatsumi's whole body ablaze with flames.

"First water then fire… poor guy," present-day Franky sighed piteously. "It's not his day, is it?"

"To be fair, pufferfish isn't the easiest dish to prepare…" present-day Sanji offered with a casual puff on his cigarette. "So long as you remember one thing…"

"What is it?" Chopper gulped as he looked to their Sanji nervously.

But present-day Sanji didn't answer as Wadatsumi screamed in agony as he was sent falling back to the ground. But Chopper still got the answer when memory Sanji called out, "I scared the guts out of you? Well, that saves me some trouble! When cook pufferfish, one has to be careful to remove the poisonous meat."

"Pufferfish is one of the most poisonous fish out there," present-day Sanji said. "One must take great care in preparing it."

"Are you done?" present-day Zoro asked. "I wanted to see a fight, not a bad cooking lesson."

"Would you shut your mouth for once, you idiot?!" present-day Sanji demanded hotly.

"Hey! Zoro! Over there!" Luffy suddenly called before the two got into another fight. "Is that you?"

They looked through the dust where Luffy was looking and they saw that he was right. Memory Zoro was still walking away from Hyouzou, who seemed to be weeping over the loss of his swords.

"I can't cut up a man who doesn't have a will to fight," memory Zoro called in annoyance. "Get lost, you damn frog."

"Why'd you call him a frog?" present-day Brook asked in confusion and some of the other Straw Hats were tilting their heads as they looked at Hyouzou, like they thought that if they looked at him from another angle, then they could see it. "He doesn't look anything like one."

"Wait for it…" present-day Zoro answered calmly back.

"…Frog?" Hyouzou repeated in outrage as he raised his head, "What are you talking about?!" He then pulled together the eight random swords, the blades all dripping with poison as he grinned after Zoro.

"He's attacking someone with their back completely turned on them," present-day Brook said angrily.

"Doesn't matter," present-day Zoro shrugged. "If he resorts to such a tactic, then of course he'd have to pay the price."

Hyouzou then vanished before reappearing right above memory Zoro, all eight of his swords still dripping with poison as he shouted, "Have a taste of my poisonous blades!"

Memory Zoro didn't even turn around as he said in a bored way, "I thought I said we're done here, you damn frog!"

"I'M NOT A FROG!" roared out Hyouzou. "I'M FISHMAN ISLAND'S BEST SWORDSMAN! THE MASTER OF THE OCTOPUS EIGHT SWORDS STYLE! HYOUZOU! REMEMBER IT!"

"You know? You should've use that Asura move and show him that you can fight with nine swords," present-day Usopp offered. "Not even he could've done that."

"Nah, I found it fitting to beat him with just three," present-day Zoro said calmly. "But that would've been cool though, no doubt about that."

Memory Zoro just sighed in irritation as he put his sword back into his mouth.

"Purgatory…ONI GIRI!" memory Zoro cut up Hyouzou with a more powerful version of his original Oni Giri attack… slashing the octopus's swords to pieces a second time… but also slashing across Hyouzou's body… making sure that he stayed down this time.

"So sorry," memory Zoro apologized up as Hyouzou's eyes rolled into the back of his head—though he didn't sound sorry at all. "I thought you were a frog… from a very tiny pond!"

"Oh, so that's what you meant when you called him a frog!" present-day Brook said reasonably. "That's a good one, Zoro-san! Yohohoho!"

"I'm not sure I get it," present-day Chopper asked in confusion.

"A big frog in a little pond is someone who is important but only in a limited arena," present-day Robin explained. "So while Hyouzou is famous for being a powerful swordsman here on Fishman Island, the world is a much bigger 'pond' so to speak."

"Oh, I get it!" Luffy said in understanding, who wasn't sure he got it either. "Nice one, Zoro!"

"Please, it wasn't that good," present-day Sanji answered as Zoro grinned back.

But that had been the last battle… for as soon as they looked back, they saw that the eight Straw Hats that remained behind to fight in the plaza had all gathered together, along with Jimbei as the watched as all of Hody's commanders falling around them. Everyone from the citizens to Neptune's Army, the remaining conscious New Fishman Pirates and freed human pirates were watching with amazement as the Straw Hats were all still standing with hardy any injuries.

With each of the commanders lying at their feet, completely and undeniably defeated.

"Those terrifying commanders…" the Minister of the Right whispered in awe from nearby as the soldiers looked too stunned to speak, "Didn't stand a chance! Just how strong are these people?!"

"Looking back now, I almost feel bad for them," current Robin said piteously as she looked down at them. "Seems we may have gotten a little carried away."

"Maybe, but at least we didn't kill them," Franky offered brightly.

"That's a good point," Nami nodded before they heard a voice shout from above, "Heads up!"

They all looked up at once to see that the yell had come from memory Sanji, who was falling fast towards them as he continued, "Look out below! Might want to watch where you stand!"

Upon hearing this, the people who were in danger quickly scrambled out of the way as Wadatsumi came plummeting down, burned and out cold before he landed on the ground directly behind the memory Straw Hats… and was standing straight up on his head with his feet in the air.

Memory Zoro just watched on, his sword over his shoulder as memory Sanji landed right next to him.

"Couldn't you have knocked the big guy further away, you idiot cook?" memory Zoro asked in annoyance.

"Oh, shut up, Moss-head!" memory Sanji barked back. "Now I wish I'd dropped him right on your head!"

"Something to remember for next time," the present-day Sanji added with a glare at their Zoro—who glared right back.

"That was so cool, Sanji!" memory Chopper said, still in his Monster Point. At that, memory Franky seemed to remember something as he quickly jumped back into the General Franky and used the giant metal hand to pat Chopper's shoulder.

"Hey, Chopper," memory Franky said through the thick metal. "Shrink down a bit! You're upstaging the giant robot!"

"Hey, Franky!" memory Usopp cried up to him. "That laser beam was SWEET!"

"Yeah! Can you give me one too?!" present-day Chopper cried out to their Franky.

"Oh! Me too! Me too!" Luffy added eagerly as they looked on pleadingly.

"Well, if we…" present-day Franky began… before he saw the cold look of warning over their heads at Robin who was silently telling him not to even think about it.

He gulped before he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry bros, but this is something that only I can do!"

"Awwwww…" the two moaned out in disappointment not realizing that Robin was looking away and back at the scene as Franky sighed in relief.

"And what exactly did the robot do?" memory Robin chastised them. Just then, a part the unconscious Wadatsumi's loincloth slipped up his leg just a tiny bit, but it seemed to give memory Brook an idea and he turned to Nami and asked, "Nami-san?"

"What?" she asked as he looked to her pants and asked, "Please wear a miniskirt!"

"Shut it!" memory Nami yelled as she ran her staff through his mouth.

"I got to say, Brook, you really are a hero to many," present-day Usopp whispered to their Brook… whom had just gotten another pounding to his head by present-day Nami.

"Yohoho… ow… I'm glad you think so, Usopp-san," current Brook sighed sadly as he rubbed his sore head. "Nami-san… you are scarier than all the enemies we ever fought. You know that, right?"

Soon it looked like a typical party… with Sanji and Zoro glaring/arguing at the other, Franky and Chopper arm in arm as Usopp cheered at their new abilities as Robin watched on… with Nami looking ready to beat Brook up. Yeah, just another day with the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Exactly what I'd expect from Luffy-kun's crew," Jimbei said approvingly as he watched on.

"He didn't think we'd leave this all to our rubber-brained captain to do all the fighting for us, did he?" present-day Sanji asked.

"Nah, he just expects a lot outta us since we're part of your crew, Luffy," present-day Nami added to their Luffy, who grinned back as she added, "I guess we pass his expectations."

With a crash, Wadatsumi fell over and the dust cleared, showing that the New Fishman Pirates had been completely defeated.

But at that moment, they heard the Border Patrol over the broadcast again, this time they were screaming out in joy as they informed the entire island…

"HE DID IT! THIS TIME FOR SURE! THIS TIME, HE REALLY… BEAT HODY!"

"Awww… you mean we missed seeing when you kicked his ass?" present-day Zoro sighed as he looked skywards. "I was looking forward to seeing Hody get beaten most of all."

"Remember, the timing seems to be off here," Robin reminded him patiently. "We'll soon find out. Either way, this fight isn't over yet, remember?"

It seemed to take a moment for the people to grasp what had just happened but then cheers and excited screams erupted all around them at the news.

The islanders looked on at the Straw Hats, crying out with words of gratitude and relief for all they had done for them. And the present-day Straw Hats were also smiling at the sight of seeing it all finally over… at least until they remembered that the biggest threat of all was in the form of the Noah, which was still over their heads. They looked up when the shadow of the ship was now covering the entire plaza, and their happiness was quickly replaced with terror.

The citizens began to panic while the New Fishman Pirates seemed to have officially disband with the confirmed defeat of their captain and commanders as they began making a wild run for it. It looked like all hope was lost when…

"NO! THERE'S STILL HOPE!" the Border Patrol went on, sounding like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "HE STILL… ISN'T GIVING UP! STRAW HAT LUFFY-SAN… IS DOING ALL HE CAN… TO DESTROY… THE NOAH!"

And they looked up to see that he was right, the air was already filled with falling pieces of lumber that had been broken off from memory Luffy's relentless onslaught.

"Destroy…?" memory Monster Chopper gasped slowly, "The Noah?!"

"That enormous ship?!" memory Brook cried as he pointed up.

"Seriously?! That's reckless even for him!" memory Usopp yelled.

"Hey! I could do it!" Luffy told them firmly. "I was already halfway there!"

"Oh, we know that," Sanji reassured him. "The question was could you do it before the ship crashed? We were pretty short on time, captain, though I know that Hody wasted a lot of it just by bragging."

But then the memory version of Zoro seemed to have enough of the gloom and doom from the crew as he barked, "Have some guts, all of you."

"I agree," memory Robin nodded as she looked up as well, the ship reflected in her sunglasses, "Let's watch and wait."

The present-day Robin smiled softly as she knew that it was really all they could do.

"If he can destroy the Noah in time, Fishman Island will be saved," the Minister of the Right said hurriedly, sweat falling down his long face. "But if he doesn't… the island will be destroyed."

"No pressure huh?" present-day Franky said as he turned to their Luffy. "You ok with that, pal? Sounds fun to me."

"Man, I didn't think that you'd all be cheering for me like that," Luffy told them with his usual blunt honesty. "It's kinda annoying."

"Yeah, well, not much else to do so I guess you have to deal with it," present-day Zoro informed him. "But I hear ya. You're already starting to sound like some kinda hero."

"Come on, I don't wanna share with anyone, I want it all," Luffy told him as Zoro nodded sagely in full agreement.

"What are you two talking about?" present-day Nami asked in annoyance as Robin just patted her shoulder and silently told her that there was no harm in letting them think this way.

The memory Straw Hats just kept their eyes upwards as they waited, knowing that it was all they could do. If they ran now, then they would be betraying their captain. And they rather face death then let that happen. Besides, Luffy never let them down yet so they had no reason to run now.

"Show us what you can do, Luffy!" memory Usopp cheered, soon joined in with Chopper and Brook in rooting for their captain from afar. Jimbei just looked on, not betraying any signs of fear but just waited. Once again, showing that he was already a Straw Hat simply by having faith in their trump card Luffy.

Soon the citizens were all cheering as well, crying out in encouragement for Luffy to keep going and that they believed in him.

"Don't give up, Straw Hat!"

"Yeah! We know there are humans on our side, now!"

"We're not gonna give in and run!"

"Don't stop, Mister Straw Hat Guy!" several young children also began to cheer out.

"Fishman Island is in your hands now, Straw Hat Luffy!" the Minister of the Right shouted.

"Keep it up, Straw Hat!"

"We believe in you!"

"Stop, Noah! Please, stop falling!"

Soon, everyone began to chant Luffy's name, over and over.

"STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT! STRAW HAT!"

"Man… I'd hate to see what they would've said if you messed up," present-day Zoro said.

"Not that we would've had anything to say since we'd all be dead," present-day Robin offered.

"Yeah, but it was really Crybaby who did it in the end," Luffy answered calmly. "I'm not the one who they should've been thanking at the end."

"That's not…" but before Nami could finish her sentence, that was when everything faded around them and the next thing they knew was that they were back out in the ocean, and they saw that they picked up where they left off, with memory Luffy and Hody facing off against the other, still clinging to the deck of the sideways ship, where if they let go, they would go sliding right off. Memory Luffy was still bleeding heavily from his bitten shoulder, and Hody had finished swallowing his last handful of steroids, his body now wracking with violent shakes as he cackled.

"I thought they said he was already beaten," Zoro said with a frown.

"It would seem that we went back a little bit before that," Robin offered as she looked on. "Looks like we'll be seeing the end of your fight after all, Luffy."

"Alright," Usopp grinned. "This is gonna be good."

"You bet!" present-day Luffy cheered out.

But Hody just cackled darkly, the sound seemingly echoing all across the ocean. If there was even an ounce of sanity left in him, it had gone out the window with his last dose of medicine. In fact, it wasn't just out the window, but was already an ocean away.

Hody just grinned as he stared at Luffy, his eyes now of the darkest shade of blood-red, still acting like he was the one in control here.

"He's as tough as the elite bounties," memory Luffy panted. But then he winced in pain, gasping and seething as they saw more blood dripping from the teeth marks that Hody did earlier.

"No! Luffy!" Chopper gasped out before sighing, knowing that there was nothing that could be done about it now. But he just hated sitting here and watching his captain in pain and losing so much blood like this. He then turned to their Luffy and demanded hotly, "DO YOU ALWAYS FEEL THE NEED TO TURN YOURSELF INTO A BLOODY MESS IN A FIGHT?!"

Present-day Luffy looked startled at Chopper shouting at him and reasoned, "It's not like I want to. But it can't be helped a lot."

"You need to be more careful!" Chopper retorted. "I don't know what I have to do to get that through your thick head!"

"Don't bother arguing, Chopper," Zoro reasoned. "Nothing we can do about it now." Though Chopper did huff and let the matter drop, Zoro couldn't help but secretly agree with his words. However, he knew that he, himself, usually ended up spilling a lot of blood so maybe he shouldn't talk.

"That wound from before…" memory Luffy gasped, his eyes narrowing as he fought the pain, grabbing hold of his shoulder as Hody began pulling himself out of the deck, the aged wood covered with algae and mold shattering apart all around him as he worked himself free. It seemed that it was still full of water though, because the holes he made was now pouring water out and down the deck.

But Hody ignored all that as he grinned insanely at Luffy, roaring out, "I won't let you stop me, Straw Hat! I won't let you lay a single finger on this ship!"

"He knows that you can destroy it," Robin offered, "So he's going to try and protect it from you."

"He doesn't seem to care about the damage he's done to it though," Usopp pointed out.

"Yeah, he's mind is very conflicting," she nodded as she thought it over.

"I just don't want to know what's going on in his head," Nami responded with a shake of her head. "It can't be a nice place right now."

"Fishman Island is destined to be destroyed!" Hody declared. He then launched himself straight at memory Luffy, who reacted on instinct, shifting to his Second Gear and hitting him with a Jet Pistol. At first it looked like he punched a hole right through him, but that was just the after image of Hody moving so fast out of the way that they didn't see it.

Hody then began disappearing and reappearing all around the deck. While memory Luffy was able to follow his movements, he just seemed to be moving to slow. No matter how many times that he threw a punch, Hody would disappear and then reappear again.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked their Luffy in worry. It wasn't like him to keep missing so much.

"I could follow him, but I couldn't keep up with him," present-day Luffy pouted a little. "He was moving too fast."

"To be fair, it's not his own strength that he's doing this," Sanji offered. "Don't feel bad. On his own, he wouldn't stand a chance."

"But you might still want to find a way to keep him standing still," Franky warned, watching memory Luffy tearing up the deck of the ship as he kept trying to keep track of Hody. "I think you're starting to run short on time, captain."

But suddenly Hody reappeared right behind memory Luffy, grinning all the while. Memory Luffy sensed this and spun about to throw another punch, but Hody grabbed hold of his wounded arm, causing him to scream out in pain as Hody was now doing a kind of handstand, standing straight up as he had hold of Luffy's arms.

"You're too slow, STRAW HAT!" he roared as he nailed a kick right into memory Luffy's gut, sending him flying backwards and straight into the thick railing of the Noah's sides.

"Oh, that had to hurt!" Usopp cringed at the sight.

"A little," present-day Luffy confessed. Though his rubber body and his Haki did protect him from the worst of the blast, it still hurt to be knocked back like that.

"MASTER LUFFY!" Shirahoshi screamed just outside the bubble where she could see everything. There was a thick cloud of dust where memory Luffy collided with the wood as Hody cackled again. But a second later, memory Luffy came bursting right out, this time he used his Jet Bazooka to strike Hody in the gut this time.

"Yeah! Knock him out!" Franky cheered, thinking that it worked… but they weren't sure if it caused Hody any real pain. He did let out a loud shriek as there was a massive dent in his stomach, but it was hard to tell if it was from pain or just his broken sanity. Hody then fell forward, chomping down on memory Luffy's wounded arm once more.

Some of the more sensitive members of the curfew such as Nami, Usopp, and Chopper screamed and cringed at the sight as they hugged their own bodies.

"I think I can hear bones cracking!" Brook cried out as he hollered in fear. "Oh, that wouldn't have been good if that were me!"

"No wonder you were a mess when Shirahoshi brought you back to us!" Nami hissed as blood gushed from Luffy's wound.

"Huh… funny, I don't remember that to well," present-day Luffy admitted as he rubbed the same shoulder.

"Probably because of all the blood you lost!" Chopper snapped furiously at him.

Memory Luffy screamed in agony before he threw his arm back, hardening it once more before he was able to produce another Red Hawk, which burned right through Hody's body a second time and forced him back; as well as leaving his teeth behind once again after being ripped out. Now memory Luffy was there, covered in his own blood as Hody's jaws remained embedded in his bleeding arm.

It looked like Hody was going to be blasted to the railing this time, but he dug his feet into the deck, tearing it up as he went as he hollered in pain and astonishingly stopped himself before he was flung outside. It was then that he began to howl once more, looking ridiculous with his teeth missing and showing off his pink gums… at least until his teeth grew back almost instantly, looking sharper than ever.

"My fangs aren't just for show!" Hody shrieked out. "I bet that hurt, Straw Hat!"

"I'll say!" Brook recoiled at the sight, his skin having goosebumps just looking at it, though he didn't have skin anymore did he?

But that wasn't the point. It certainly did look it. Leaving those massive jaws just stuck there as memory Luffy glared back at him. He didn't take his eyes off Hody as he forced the teeth right out of his shoulder, ripping the wound open even more in the process.

"Damn it… I can't believe how tough he is," he muttered angrily. "Red Hawk was way more effect on him earlier."

"He's built like a brick shithouse," Sanji hissed out. If they were on the ground, he knew that it would be different outcome, but the point was that he knew that this couldn't have been a worse environment for Luffy to be fighting in.

"How come it doesn't effect him anymore?" Nami asked in confusion. Hody was almost knocked out for good the last time that Luffy used that attack, so why isn't it working now?

But before anyone could answer her, Hody just laughed as he shouted at him, "This is the power that the heavens granted to me!" At those words there were groans and some creative cursing coming from the crew.

"Seriously? Wake up! Shut up! And fight already! Stop talking about your superiority when you cry at the first sign of pain and are taking drugs!" Sanji yelled at him. "Get over yourself! No one likes you or wants to hear you!"

"He certainly does love to hear himself talk, doesn't he?" Robin asked, also having grown weary of listening to Hody's same speech over and over.

"Maybe he thinks we're deaf or something?" Brook offered. "That's why he keeps repeating himself?"

"I don't care if that's the problem, there's only so much you can brag about false power," Zoro snarled before looking to their Luffy and said, "Luffy? Why take so long?"

Luffy just shrugged back apologetically, unable to give him an answer as to why he was taking this long to kick Hody's ass already.

"I think we got what he was saying around the first hundred times he said it," Usopp sighed, his attention still on memory Luffy, who was also really starting to look ticked off.

"The power I was given to destroy the evil, inferior species known as humans!" Hody went on and the Straw Hats just tuned him out. "I'm sure you thought you have the advantage when we fought in the air, but it's useless. The power of my justice cannot lose to anyone! Nobody will be able to stop my revenge!"

"I just don't get how he's even standing," Nami said in frustration. "I mean I know that Luffy can keep getting back to his feet and fight because he's an idiot who doesn't care what he does to his body so long as he wins…"

"Hey!" present-day Luffy said sharply.

"But I don't get why Hody is still able to keep getting back up," she finished in bewilderment. "I mean, Red Hawk didn't seem to do any damage to him this time."

"Oh, no," Robin said firmly, "I'm sure that it did as much damage as before. Surely his body is well past its limits by this point. But I fear that his malice for humans, combined with the energy steroids have turned him into a monster who can't feel anything done to him. His body is still taking damage but he just can't feel it anymore."

The others frowned at this news as they looked back down to where memory Luffy was just barely holding on—and blood dripping faster than ever from his open wound.

"Master Luffy, you're bleeding so badly," Shirahoshi called worriedly, but he ignored her as Hody snapped.

"You still don't get it?!" he declared. "As you are now, you can't do a thing! You can't beat me!"

"THEN PROVE IT!" Zoro yelled out, wishing that he had cut this bastard in half when he had the chance just to spare them the sound of his voice. And it seemed that memory Luffy had also finally had enough of listening to him as well.

Still holding onto his wounded shoulder he snarled out, "Weren't you listening? I told you before, didn't I? Both Fishman Island… and Shirahoshi…"

"That's the first time you used her name," Nami couldn't help but speak out in surprise, but none of them pay that comment any attention, knowing that Luffy would only call her by her name if this was a matter of life and death… the finishing move coming its way…?

"…and my promise to some friends…" memory Luffy went on as they were all sure that the promises he made to both Jimbei and Fukaboshi clearly being recalled as he roared out, "I WILL PROTECT THEM ALL!"

"You might want to hurry, the ship is still falling!" Franky couldn't help but point out and they others couldn't help but snigger at such a random comment, but they knew that he was right. It was do or die now.

But Hody didn't seem to realize that he was in danger as he just laughed. "Humans don't seem to learn their lesson until they're dead," he said, "You're weak, and you don't know your place! SO why don't I make you understand?"

"There's the pot calling the kettle black," Brook sighed grimly.

"I don't have time for this," memory Luffy said. "It's time we settled this!"

"Thank you!" Sanji cried out, his hands held as if he were praising god for being alive.

"Sure, go ahead and try!" Hody demanded as he rammed his fists into the deck, causing more water to burst out. Memory Luffy realized what he was going to do right away and yelled at Shirahoshi, "Crybaby! Get back!"

Shirahoshi gasped but nodded as she did what she was told and went straight up without a second thought while Luffy turned his full attention back to Hody since he didn't have to worry about her being in harm's way at the moment.

Hody then began to throw out a storm attacks at memory Luffy; this time they were handfuls of water that shifted in the air until they took on the form of sharks and went flying at him. Forced to run, memory Luffy began going straight up the side of the ship as he avoided the attack.

"You're not getting away!" Hody declared and threw more and more.

Memory Luffy was doing a good job of dodging, but he was running out of places to run and his blood loss was making it difficult to stay focused. Finally, Hody cornered him and Luffy was hit. Over and over he was hit with those water sharks as blood went splattering against the deck.

The present-day Luffy was suddenly regretting being able to watch these memories because the others were all yelling at him. Either out of concern for his health or out of anger for letting himself get caught. Thankfully, Robin turned their attention back to the battle as she pointed up just as they heard a familiar voice call out, "STRAW HAT!"

Fukaboshi was directly above them, able to watch the battle but still bleeding heavily himself as he stared down in horror. Memory Luffy emerged from the rubble, sliding down the side of the ship before he began a free fall.

"YOU BETTER NOT DIE ON US!" Usopp yelled at their Luffy.

"I'm alive aren't I?!" Luffy demanded.

"I DON'T CARE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU DIE!" Usopp yelled back as Sanji caught hold of Shirahoshi's face, which was twisted in pain and terror. Screaming out at the top of her lungs that one could swear to hear it from the surface, "MASTER LUFFY!"

If memory Luffy was out cold, that scream may have just woken him up.

Weakly, he raised his hand to his mouth…

"THIRD GEAR!"

The grin was wiped right off Hody's face as memory Luffy blew air into his right arm, causing it to grow. "Armaments Hardening!"

"Here we go! This is the finisher!" present-day Luffy cheered out excitedly as they watched on, not wanting to miss a moment of this.

Hody was panting now as he yelled, "Just give it up… AND DIE ALREADY!"

Coating his arms in water, he shot more of those flying water sharks at him, but memory Luffy had enough.

"GUM GUUUUUM… ELEPHANT GUN!" he roared out. The two attacks collided, neither side backing down, with memory Luffy yelling as he forced his way downwards and Hody still cackling that it was useless and that he was just a pathetic human.

"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY STOP MY REVENGE!"

"Is it a bad thing that knew he was going to say that?" Franky asked as he gritted his teeth.

"I bet that seeing him get beat is gonna be the most satisfying thing in the world!" Sanji answered back. "Don't you dare prove me wrong, Luffy!"

And thankfully, he didn't.

"I WILL STOP THE NOAH!" memory Luffy declared so loudly that it made their eardrums pound. He forced himself to go downwards even more and finally, broke right through the attack and went flying straight at Hody, who either didn't think that it would hurt him, didn't see it coming, or his body had finally given up on him… or possibly all three.

No matter the case, he didn't move.

They saw how his eyes widened in shock before he was finally hit, the giant black fist taking him straight down, knocking him through the wood and down to the very bottom of the ship.

"THAT IS EPIC!" Usopp screamed out, arm-in-arm with Luffy as they continued to call for more action, which was thankfully delivered. Memory Luffy slowly pulled his fist back for a moment and they saw Hody through the wreckage, lying there, unable to move, but still awake and chuckling like he thought that this battle was still his.

"Fall… Noah… Kill all the… Fishmen…" he croaked out, though how they were able to hear his quiet voice from all the way out here was a mystery. But they saw how his eyes were still shining like a child who was about to get the present of a lifetime, "who… lost their pride…"

But memory Luffy had already coated his wounded arm with Haki after he caused it to grow as well. And suddenly he began a ruthless pounding. He wasn't just going for Hody though, but the ship all together, finally getting down to doing something about it.

"GUUUUUM GUUUUUUUUM… ELEPHANT GATLING!"

With a scream, he began punching back and forth so fast that it was impossible to keep track of it all. It was hard to believe that at one point his giant arms had cost him his speed, but now he was just as fast with them—clearly not slowing him down in the slightest. He was now going all out, putting everything he had into his fists. Hody didn't stand a chance here as he was soon blasted right through the ship and back out into the ocean. At long last, he was down for the count. But Luffy was far from over, still using his Gum-Gum Elephant Gatling attack to destroy the giant ark… ignoring all his pain in the process. The veins were standing out on his head as he continued to just smash up everything in sight, the ship was finally starting to crumble.

"Halfway there…" memory Luffy yelled at one point and began punching harder than ever. But as he continued, blood burst out from his shoulder, so much that he must have lost at least half his blood right there. They screamed in shock at that—resulting in, once again, several members of the crew grabbing onto him as Chopper gave him a hard hit to the head. Both Luffy and Chopper were crying, but for different reasons.

He let out a cry of pain as Shirahoshi cried out, "Master Luffy! Your wounds!" she made to swim forward to try and get to him but he turned his head sharply at her.

"STAY AWAY!" he roared out and she stopped dead at the command in his voice. "WATCH FROM OVER THERE! RIGHT NOW, I GOTTA PUT EVERYTHING I GOT INTO DESTROYING THIS THING!"

"Typical male thing to do," Nami couldn't help but say. What was with men needing to prove themselves the toughest?

As memory Luffy continued to break apart the ship, even more blood began to drip from his shoulder and it was clear from his face that he was in terrible pain. But still, he ignored it all as he forced himself to keep going.

"Stop falling, already, YOU STUPID BOAT!" he shouted, his blood continuing to spray out with every punch.

"YOU'RE GONNA KILL YOURSELF!" Nami screamed, hugging their own Luffy tightly just as Usopp, Chopper and Brook all joined in and began squeezing hard.

"I-I… alright!" present-day Luffy gasped as they really began to squeeze hard, unable to form the sentence properly. "I get it! I'm sorry!"

But onwards memory Luffy continued to fight, screaming in pain and determination as the ship was now starting to shatter, large pieces breaking off and bursting through the bubble. It was taking all he had left in him… but he was getting there. He seemed to realize this and worked harder than ever… but then…?

" _That's enough!"_

Everyone froze at the sound before staring about wildly. Who was that? They didn't recognize the voice but did someone else join in the battle? Memory Luffy cried out in pain; with most of the crew thinking that it was from his shoulder again, but the present-day Luffy wasn't so sure. He couldn't explain it, but he could swear that he remembered a pain shooting through his head when he heard that voice. Of course, he was so dizzy at the time he wasn't sure he imagined it or not. But it was clearer to his past self who clearly heard it and was looking wildly around as enormous dark shadows appeared and he still kept throwing his fists.

"Who's there?!" memory Luffy asked. "Who said that?!"

Before any of them could ask any questions about what was going on, several things happened at once.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi suddenly cried from outside before she bolted through the bubble, positioning herself in front of him as she screamed, "PLEASE STOP!"

"WHAT'S SHE THINKING?!" Nami gasped out, unable to believe that she would've done something so reckless.

"LUFFY! I SWEAR IF YOU HIT HER THEN I'M GONNA…!" Sanji roared out.

But even like this, memory Luffy was in control. While Shirahoshi flung her arms out to stop him, memory Luffy miraculously avoided hitting her directly, forced to just hit around her so that she didn't get a scratch as she screamed, "MASTER LUFFY! I BEG OF YOU, STOP!"

"WHAT?! GET OUT OF MY WAY, CRYBABY! IF I DON'T' DESTROY IT, THEN THE ISLAND'S GONNA…?!" memory Luffy hollered back, but she interrupted him, tears back in her eyes.

"IT'S ALRIGHT!" she shouted back as memory Luffy finally stopped punching, allowing his arms to deflate and return to normal as he stretched out to grab hold of the wood above him so that they could talk.

"Of course it's not! Everyone's still on the island!" he yelled back at her.

"Yeah, what's she doing?!" Usopp yelled, unable to believe that she would stop this when they were so close to the end.

"Because there's no need to continue destroying the ship," Robin said as Nami gasped when she looked directly upwards.

"What do you…?" Chopper cried out in confusion before Zoro said firmly, "Open your eyes and look up!"

They finally did so, and when they did, they let out screams of terror when they saw what was directly above them.

"THE NOAH HAS ALREADY BEEN STOPPED!" Shirahoshi screamed out.

And she was right. For out of nowhere, what had to be at least a half a dozen Sea Kings, all of different shapes and sizes had appeared, each one holding the remains of the Noah above the island by clamping the enormous chains in their mouths.

"SEA KINGS?!" Usopp screamed out in panic.

"WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?!" Nami cried fearfully.

"Yeah! It was a real big shock when they showed up!" present-day Luffy grinned up at them. "What do you know? There are nice Sea Kings out there?"

"YOU AN'T BE SERIOUS!" Usopp yelled back at him.

"Calm down and think. Don't you remember?" Sanji asked calmly, but his eyes were shadowed over as he stared up at the giant creatures. "Shirahoshi-chan has a rare power to talk to Sea Kings! I'm guessing that she must've called them here." His eyes then glazed over as he proclaimed happily, hearts bursting out of his head, "Oh, what a kind-hearted princess! Kindness incarnate! There's no other explanation!"

"I-I know they said that," Nami said, gulping slightly as she stared up at the Sea Kings. "But to think that she really can talk to the Sea Kings…? It's truly… I-I don't even know what to call it."

"One would call it a miracle, I suppose," Robin offered calmly, looking up at the Sea Kings with wide eyes.

"I guess she's a lot stronger then she looks," Zoro said as he whistled up at it. "Who would've guessed with such a fragile personality?"

Memory Luffy gapped up at the sight of them, just staring as he panted hard for air.

"S…Sea Kings?!" he gasped out. "Where'd they come from?!"

But Shirahoshi was now crying again as she sobbed out, "Master Luffy yelled at me, again!"

"Really? You're crying about that now?" Franky asked as sweat hung around his head. She almost lost her home, family, all her people… and it was saved at the last possible moment by Sea Kings of all things… and she was crying about Luffy yelling at her? She had a lot of work if she was gonna toughen up.

"Hey, will you stop crying?!" memory Luffy snapped at her irritable. "Now's not the time for that!"

"Don't you dare yell at her!" Sanji yelled at their Luffy.

"I'm… kinda have to go with Luffy on this one," Usopp whispered as Zoro nodded beside him.

Shirahoshi sniffled as she wiped her eyes, saying in a slightly calmer tone, "I… I don't really understand it either. But… the ark has been stopped."

Chopper sighed in relief, his doctor's mind still thinking of all the blood that Luffy lost and nodded, glad that it happened this way. If Luffy had kept going, he would've destroyed the ship—that much he was sure of… but it might have killed him in the process. What were they gonna do if he did die? He knew that he made a promise to work harder to take care of his crew… but it looked like he would have to work even more at it if he was going to keep that promise.

Memory Luffy was still panting hard before he let out a cry of pain, gripping onto his wounded shoulder again, with his side now completely coated in blood.

"That's bad! Shirahoshi! Get Luffy back down to us fast!" Chopper called anxiously.

"She got me there in time, didn't she?" memory Luffy asked calmly.

"Had she waited even a little longer then you could've died!" he snapped back, half a mind to give Luffy another check-up when they got back to the Sunny.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi gasped, "Your wounds have gotten worse!"

"Ya think?!" Usopp yelled, wanting to beat memory Luffy in the head and gave their own a slap, getting him to yell at him for that.

"Deal with it," Sanji warned. "I got a feeling you're gonna get hit a lot more before this is over."

"Jerks," present-day Luffy hissed as he rubbed his head.

"Y…yeah," memory Luffy agreed as he put pressure on his wound as he gripped his shoulder. "I know. But as… as long as… the ship stopped… I'm just glad… everyone's… safe…"

Almost before he had a chance to finish speaking, his hand slipped and memory Luffy began to fall towards the rubble of the collapsing ship. They heard Shirahoshi screaming his name as she began to swim down towards him to catch him. But before he blacked out completely they heard a voice say, " _It's alright…"_

"That was so badass! Even if those Sea Kings didn't show up, you still could've finished destroying the ship before it reached the island!" Franky proclaimed excitedly. "That was… was… I honestly don't have another name but badass!"

Luffy laughed along with him as there were delayed cheers all around them, just realizing that Hody was finally beat. And not a moment too soon. There were no tears for seeing that overgrown shark blasted through all that wood and left him drifting in the ocean.

"I still don't get it," Usopp said, his happiness fading a little as the darkness returned. "Whose voice was that? I mean, that sure didn't sound like Shirahoshi's voice before…?"

"Yeah, I didn't recognize it either," Luffy admitted. "But I didn't see anyone else?"

"Who do you think it was, Luffy?" Chopper asked curiously as Luffy was frowning harder as he tried to think back but having a hard time doing so.

Robin was also frowning slightly, remembering what Neptune told her of Shirahoshi's power to talk to the Sea Kings. But was it possible that Luffy could also understand what they were saying? How is that possible?

She remembered the day she first met Rayleigh, after they rescued Hachi and Camie from that Human Shop and they were back at Sharkky's bar. She could recall his words suddenly…

 _"You will see everything, one day. And I am deeply sorry for what happened at your homeland, Ohara. But Roger couldn't actually read those ancient writings. We're pirates, after all. There's no way in this world that our intellects could ever compare to the genius Clover or the other scholars of Ohara. He… could hear the voice of all things in the world… that's all there is."_

Just what did that mean? The voice of all things in the world?

As the others discussed this, she decided that maybe they shouldn't be concerned with the matter yet. If the answer was out there, she was sure that they would find it eventually and said, "Perhaps you were just hearing things, Luffy? You did lose a lot of blood so it's not impossible that you were starting to confuse voices?"

The others looked at her as they thought it over and realized that it made a lot of sense when she said it that. Luffy was frowning, not looking convinced that he had misheard, but he supposed that it didn't really matter if the Sea Kings stopped the ark for them.

"Huh, you know that would explain it," Chopper said as he thought that over. "I'm just glad that they stopped the ship when they did. Otherwise you would've kept going and probably have bled to death in the process. You and I are going to have a talk about this, Luffy!"

He added that last part as a threat and Luffy was now looking thoroughly put out at the thought.

"Yeah… I guess so," Usopp said slowly.

"Man, I could've sworn that it was someone else talking," Luffy said carefully before he finally smiled again and added, "Oh well. I guess it's not important anymore."

Happy with the suggestion, they wrote it off as mere blood loss and hearing problems… all of them but one. Zoro was looking at her out of the corner of his one eye. She seemed to sense this and turned her head to him and smiled, silently letting him know that it was alright for now. He observed her for a moment before he shrugged, seeming to sense that it may have been for the best for now and they all began to head upwards to the next floor… but Zoro was wondering if they would have to talk about this later when the others weren't listening.

They went through the next door like they had done with all the others before, and the memory came back so that the bright light was back and they were, once again, in the plaza. And it wasn't just here, they had a feeling that there was silence all over the island now—with every single person waiting for the outcome of this final battle. No one had a clue what was happening, but they weren't going to run… instead they waited, not knowing what was taking place overhead.

"Hard to believe that no one could see those Sea Kings there," Luffy offered, breaking the silence—at least for his crew.

"You're right, we didn't see a thing," Nami said as she looked up, shielding her eyes as she tried to squint through the bubble to get a look. Perhaps she could see a faint shadow… but it could've just been from Noah rather than a giant sea creature. How could they not have seen anything?

Not even Usopp and his keen eyes could make out a fin or scale of the Sea Kings from this distance… which was odd especially since the Sea Kings were able to pull Noah, which was about half the size of the island at the very least.

As Robin began pointing out that their depth and the angle of the bubble may be the cause of this, they heard the Border Patrol speaking over the loudspeakers once again, this time sounding completely dumbfounded over what they were seeing.

"A-ATTENTION EVERYONE! T-THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT BUT… IT'S THE UNDENIABLE TRUTH! THE NOAH HAS STOPPED! IT WASN'T COMPLETLEY DESTROYED EITHER! BUT THE FACT IS… FISHMAN ISLAND… HAS BEEN SAVED!"

At those words, the entire island burst into a roar of cheers that they were sure could be heard across the ocean. The family and friends of the people all around them were hugging and hollering with joy that they were alive and the threat was over. Soon the memory Straw Hats were also starting to celebrate, with Monster Chopper actually throwing a laughing Usopp into the air, everyone just glad that it was over at last.

Even the present-day Straw Hats were starting to celebrate a second time, all of them just so happy to finally see Hody get the beating that was so desperately needed. They pretty much ignored all that was going on around them, like how Jimbei went to stop the defeated New Fishman Pirates and the Human pirates from leaving the plaza, saying that they weren't going to go anywhere until the King decided what to do with them… yet promised that they would not be harmed until something was decided. However, he also threatened to strike down anyone who dared to try and leave before them.

The battered King Neptune was brought into the plaza, reassuring his people that he was alright, much to their relief, while having the Minister of the Left broadcast to them all that they had found the missing mermaids and that they were safe—having strangely been found in the palace. They told them that while the girls didn't remember how they got there, they clearly remembered their kidnapper's face—and that it wasn't one of the Straw Hats. Word was already being passed around the island about what had happened at the plaza and that the Straw Hats were innocent of all crimes, with their past selves not even paying attention.

"You know, I still don't get why they were threatening to lock us up for a prediction," present-day Usopp commented as memory Chopper's three minutes were finally up and he slowly started to shrink back down to his normal size. "I mean, they had no proof that we were behind those kidnappings so why did they just jump to the conclusion that we were guilty?"

"Well, you have to admit that when pirates are in the area, bad things usually happen," Nami pointed out. "I'm just glad that they found those girls. How did they end up in the palace again?"

"From what I heard it was that same guy who took all the palace treasure," present-day Chopper pointed out. "The one that you stuck in the barrel, Franky?"

"Huh?" the rest of the crew asked him as they were drawing a blank as to what he was talking about.

"Oh, you mean that mud guy?" Brook asked as he strained his memory to think.

"That loser? I forgot all about Muddy," Zoro commented.

"I hear ya," Sanji shrugged. "Oh well, not sense in us worrying about it now."

They just chose to watch how the memory Straw Hats were taking this moment to relax after their fights, all of them escaping relatively unscathed with only cuts and dirty clothes to show for it. The way they were all acting you would think that they just had a rough party the night before and were taking care of hangovers the next morning instead of a battle with which they were all hopelessly outnumbered.

Scratch that, even a hangover would hurt more than this.

Surume, who had finally woke up, and Megalo were watching them with big smiles on their faces as the Straw Hats all began to complement each other on their new attacks and weapons.

Memory Franky then pressed his nose down hard. "Super… AFRO!" and suddenly a bright blue afro burst out of his shaven head.

"Franky-san, that is quite stylish!" memory Brook said happily.

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" present-day Nami asked as she looked to their Brook's afro.

"Super, isn't it?" present-day Franky asked proudly. "Afro power is one hell of a thing!"

Nami just sighed, wishing that someone could tell her just what afro power was. How does having an afro change anything? She was almost wishing she had one just so that she could see what they were talking about. Though as soon as she thought of that, she almost had to slap herself. It seems their stupidity may be contagious after all.

But then memory Usopp noticed that Chopper was staggering around almost falling over until memory Robin gently caught him, and set him down in her lap, causing memory Sanji to gasp out loudly at the sight.

"Using my Monster Point might be powerful," memory Chopper explained tiredly, his eyes so dizzy, "but when the 3 minutes are up, I can't walk for a few hours afterward. But I can still help fix people up. Is anybody hurt?"

"Nothing major…" current Usopp said before he glanced at their Luffy, remembering how scared that they had all been when Shirahoshi brought him back… which should be any minute now.

"Not as bad as you are, right now," memory Zoro answered calmly, having already pulled his sleeves back on and removed his bandana—looking like he did nothing at all worth mentioning.

"Everyone seems to be just fine," memory Robin reassured him as she glanced around at the crew.

Memory Sanji suddenly fell over as he cried out, "Robin-chan! I used my ultimate technique, so I'm completely worn out too! Let me rest on your lap!"

"If that's your ultimate attack, then you really are pathetic," present-day Zoro commented with a roll of his eye. "Come on… you cooked an overblown pufferfish. How is that a powerful attack?"

"And you just hacked at a drunk octopus!" present-day Sanji retorted. "Even I could do that when I was about four!"

"Oh, put a sock in it, cook!" memory Zoro spat.

"What'd you say, you crap swordsman?!" memory Sanji questioned.

"Déjà vu," Usopp whispered as some of the others nodded.

"Wouldn't it be nice if they could get along?" present-day Brook sighed.

They all thought that over, the very image of Sanji and Zoro being nice and polite to each other like they were friends… Robin suddenly burst out laughing as the others all cringed, some of them even crying out in horror at the very thought.

"I think the world would end before that happened," present-day Nami whispered as she sweated at the thought.

Suddenly they heard loud cries going on from the crowd, and they looked up to see what was going on. The three princes, badly injured, but alive, had just reappeared… carrying two people with them. Manboshi had the unconscious Vander Decken in a headlock, while both Fukaboshi and Ryuboshi were pulling the monstrous-looking Hody Jones by his feet.

The citizens stared in shock to see the two criminals, mostly Hody in such a twisted form. Nonetheless, they were glad \when the princes locked them and the other commanders in chains.

"Good, now we don't need to worry about them again," present-day Sanji sighed. "And best of all, he's finally shut up."

"I almost don't recognize him when he's not talking," Robin offered as she looked on at the mess that they made. "Sure the plaza's falling apart but…?"

"They can rebuild it!" present-day Usopp said with a wave of his hand. "All in all, I think it's a fair exchange."

As the princes finished locking Hody and the others up, Fukaboshi seemed to still be shaking in pain before forcing a smile and turning to address the people, "Everyone! You can rest easy! These men will no longer be allowed to run wild!"

The islanders cheered upon hearing this declaration, all of them, even the New Fishman Pirates, staring at Hody in horror. But before anyone could start to celebrate, they heard the sounds of a familiar sobbing that seemed to ring out throughout the island—louder than ever before. They looked up to see that Shirahoshi had made it back and tears were running down her face as she swam as fast as she could go to reach. The first thought would be that they were tears of joy, and the people were waving her down towards them, but she just kept shaking her head, screaming out, "PLEASE, HELP HIM! IT'S MASTER LUFFY! HE WON'T STOP BLEEDING!"

And that was when they saw that she had Luffy cupped in her hands, his entire left side coated in blood.

"OW!" present-day Luffy yelled with Nami punched him in the head. "What was that for?!"

"For scaring us half to death you idiot!" she yelled, fighting with tears in her own eyes as she thought back to how close they were to actually losing him here. "We thought for sure that you were… just don't do it again!"

"Alright! I promise!" Luffy said at once as he rubbed his swollen bump on his head. The memory Straw Hats had all looked sick at this news and were shouting at her to bring Luffy over to them. She did what she was told and gently set down next to them where they could see the damage. Memory Luffy was as pale as a sheet as the others seemed too stunned to think of what to do right away.

"Hey?! Luffy, hang in there!" memory Usopp shouted in worry.

"Master Luffy pushed himself too far for our sake," Shirahoshi explained as her tears pooled around her. The citizens watching them at hearing this, and the princes were all looking horrified, completely lost as to what they could do to help.

"This is awful!" memory Chopper declared as he was flipped over onto his face. "I've got a blood coagulant to stop the bleeding in my backpack!" Memory Robin began reaching into his back and looking for it as he added, "I'm counting on you, Robin."

"All right," she answered back.

"You know, this isn't really filling me with confidence for our future battles, doc!" memory Usopp shouted.

"Sad to say it, but he's got a point," present-day Zoro shrugged. "This might become a problem for you later on if you aren't careful."

"I know, I'll take better care of when to use the Rumble Ball from now on," present-day Chopper sighed as he nodded. He would have to be more careful if he becomes so weak that he can't even move right. He remembered back at Enies Lobby how he had transformed back and all he could do was lie on the deck while the others fought around him. He hated that… he hated being unable to move and just be forced to listen to his crew fight for their lives. He promised to become a more reliable man didn't he?

"Right, I'm ready!" memory Chopper declared as memory Robin held him up by his face, telling him that she'll move him for him.

"This is DEFINITELY NOT how a doctor should work!" memory Usopp shouted.

"Calm down, you were starting to panic here, bro," present-day Franky commented.

"Yeah, besides, I'm fine now," present-day Luffy offered.

"Well, excuse me for worrying about you," the current Usopp hissed back at him, feeling tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. The idea of going out to sea without Luffy there… that was something he never wanted to see! He wasn't going to let that happen if he could help it!

"Okay, now just a little bit to the left," memory Chopper asked Robin as he was looking over memory Luffy's injuries.

"Can you save master Luffy?" Shirahoshi asked anxiously as Robin helped to move back Luffy's cardigan to get a good look at his shoulder. They all winced at the sight of the deep teeth marks that made it look like some kind of chew toy, and blood gushing down his arm.

"I can stop the bleeding, but he's already lost so much blood," memory Chopper said before his eyes widened and he cried, "He doesn't have enough left!"

"That is worst case scenario," present-day Chopper said, his mind already planning on keeping some blood on store just for Luffy.

"WHAT?!" memory Brook cried out in horror.

"But Luffy's the only one in the crew with a blood F type!" memory Sanji reminded them all anxiously, all of them trying to come up with some kind of solution. If they didn't hurry, then Luffy could very well die here. They all spent two years training and growing stronger just so that they could prevent something like this from happening… only for them all to be so helpless right now.

"So what do we do?" memory Usopp asked at once.

"There must be someone else with that blood type here in the plaza!" memory Franky offered.

"Too bad that us saving their island doesn't seem to have been enough for them to donate blood," present-day Usopp muttered darkly.

"Hey!" memory Chopper called to the crowd all around them in a pleading way. "Does anyone here have blood type F?!"

"He doesn't have enough blood!" memory Usopp added out wildly.

"Is nobody here willing to give him some?!" memory Brook added. But at their request, the people were all looking away, as if they couldn't bring themselves to look them in the eyes. Not a single person stepped forward to offer to help.

"Really? No one?!" memory Zoro demanded incredulously.

"Oh, wait!" memory Chopper gasped. "In this country there's a law against donating blood to humans!"

"That's such a stupid law," present-day Nami said with a shake of her head as her past self cried out, "What?! What kind of a stupid law is that?! That's awful!"

"I don't get it! He fought to save their lives and not a single one of them is like 'screw the law, I'll give some blood!?' Come on!" present-day Franky demanded furiously. "Not a single person was willing to help us after we fought for them? If they asked, I'm sure we'd just pretend that nothing ever happened!"

"It's not that they don't care, they just don't want to get involved," present-day Robin sighed out.

"That's no excuse!" present-day Brook sighed. "Seems a bit ungrateful."

Their past selves weren't about to give up though as they all began to cry out, pleading for someone to help. It looked like the three princes would have volunteered to donate blood on the spot, but even if they had blood to spare from their injuries, they didn't have the right blood type either.

"Please! Luffy's in trouble!" memory Franky yelled, sounding close to begging.

"M-my blood type isn't F, but…it's still red!" Shirahoshi cried out desperately. "Will that help?!"

"She's sweet, but I'm afraid that it doesn't work like that," present-day Nami sighed.

"I'm afraid not, but I appreciate the offer," memory Chopper said but then he remembered, "Wait, there are human pirates here too!"

They looked to the humans, but like with the Fishmen, no one volunteered either. They just looked on.

"Hey, please! At this rate, Luffy…" memory Usopp gasped out, starting to sound choked up and angry at the same time, "Luffy really will die!"

"Man, I didn't know how hard it was for you guys to find someone to help me," present-day Luffy said awkwardly. "Thanks a lot, guys!"

"Oh, shut up," present-day Chopper said, blushing as he grinned.

It really looked like there was no one coming to help… but then they heard the familiar clunking of wooden shoes coming towards them. The crowd of people parted and Jimbei had come up towards, and all the Straw Hats were looking at him.

"…Use my blood," Jimbei said firmly, pulling up his sleeve to show his arm. "It's type F. Take as much as you need."

"Jimbei!" memory Nami said, smiling.

"But wait, Jimbei I thought that the law says-" memory Chopper began worriedly before Jimbei interrupted him again.

"I'm a pirate," he reminded him, "I don't follow the law."

"Yeah, don't complain, he was the only one who could help us," present-day Usopp nodded. They needed more people like Jimbei in the world though.

At Jimbei's words, the crowd burst into cheers once again, smiles spreading over every face as they cried out their thanks to Jimbei.

"Yeah, well I'm sure that they wouldn't be so happy if a handful of them decided to help," present-day Zoro muttered darkly. Seriously, they fought their battle for them and this was how they thanked them? By being so afraid of a law that no one would've punished them for breaking.

And those humans who were freed from slavery… not a single person among any of them was willing to help? The only ones who did look ready to jump in and do something seemed to have been Shirahoshi and the princes. And the only reason they couldn't let them was because they didn't have the right blood. He sighed as he glanced at their own Luffy out of the corner of his one eye and knew that there was no reason to brood about it anymore. Luffy was alive and that was the best they could wish for.

He just hated feeling so… helpless.

The image of when the boys from his dojo telling him that Kuina was gone suddenly sprang to his mind and he shook his head hard to get rid of that memory.

Meanwhile, the crowd burst into cheers at this as smiles were spreading all over the place, crying out their thanks to Jimbei.

"B-but Jimbei-" the Minister of the Left began nervously, still next to the king.

"Let him go," Neptune ordered, causing the Minister of the Left to look up at him in surprise as the king answered simply, "He just wants to help. What's wrong with that- _jamon?!_ Besides… those old laws… are curses as well."

"Well said!" present-day Nami cried out as their memory selves all began to get to work, doing whatever Chopper told them to. Jimbei walked over as memory Chopper began to get everything set up for them. Soon he laid down right beside Luffy, as Chopper set up the bag and placed the needles into Luffy's arm first before going to Jimbei.

"Jimbei, this might hurt a little," memory Chopper warned.

"The guy took a fist of lava to the chest and refused to scream in pain," present-day Zoro reminded their own Chopper with a whisper. "I don't think we need to worry about his pain tolerance. I bet he didn't even feel anything."

"As a doctor, I had to be completely honest with him!" present-day Chopper stated firmly.

"I don't mind," Jimbei answered back calmly, and it was clear that he just wanted him to hurry it up.

"Yeah, please, before Luffy bleeds dry and is nothing but a husk," present-day Robin offered and Usopp and Chopper both cringed at the thought.

"That wouldn't be good would it?" present-day Luffy said as he wondered about that.

"No, so I guess we should just be thankful that it didn't turn out that way," present-day Robin smiled back at him.

Everyone in the memory watched with baited breath, just waiting… and slowly blood began to flow into the tube from Jimbei's arm.

No one said a word, either in the memory or outside it as they watched it; their minds all thinking about all that had happened.

It was strangely symbolic…

When you hurt someone… Or when someone hurts you… The same red blood will be shed, won't it?

What about those who suffer from prejudice and fear? Those like Shirahoshi or Nami who lost their mothers because of this grudge? What of those children who were taught to hate and ended up throwing their lives away like Hody and his gang? Or even of those like Otohime and Fisher Tiger who sacrificed everything when they tried to put an end to this bloodshed.

But then there was this little tube. It hardly seems like a path. But though it's small and narrow, the blood finds its way through… the prejudice that makes those hate others… and try to wash away the blood with more blood…

But this tube isn't just some dream… it was the first step to a very real sun.

Everyone seemed to hold their breaths as they continued to wait when, finally, the blood in the tube reached Luffy's arm. They watched on… just waiting and hoping that it wasn't too late. And then, a faint smile formed on memory Luffy's mouth as he croaked out softly, "Jim… bei…"

"Oh, I didn't realize you were awake," Jimbei said as he cracked his own eyes open to look over at him.

"Be honest, were you awake that whole time?" present-day Franky asked their Luffy, who laughed.

"Kinda," he admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "I could hear you guys talking but I just didn't have the energy to answer or even move."

"So you could hear everything?" present-day Chopper asked in surprise.

"Well, it was sorta like trying to listen to you guys underwater," Luffy said as he thought it over. He was so weak and dizzy that he couldn't even see straight and had to sleep. He remembered feeling sick as he struggled to wake up when he heard his crew all around them sounding worried. He wanted to let them not to be freaking out over him, but it was like trying to hear them from far away and he was struggling just to remember whose voice was whose. He definitely heard it when Jimbei offered his own blood and when he was given the blood, everything seemed to clear up.

At the sound of memory Luffy's voice, there were cries of joy going on from all around them. Not a single person in the plaza had a dry eye nor a frown as they realized that Straw Hat Luffy was alright. The people cheered, everyone everywhere was celebrating the end of the civil war and the salvation of the island, and especially Luffy's life. The sun shone down, revealing the mostly destroyed plaza, but the lives that survived the battle as well, as if the light was celebrating the end of the battle with them.

Memory Robin looked about, also fighting a tear in her eyes as well before she noticed Fukaboshi looking on with that serene smile and was crying softly.

"This is zero…Mother," she heard him whisper quietly, causing her to smile a little wider. They got what they needed the most in the end… a second chance.

"Hey?" memory Luffy asked suddenly. "Jimbei?"

"Hmm?" Jimbei asked back as memory Luffy started to chuckle when he finally opened his eyes. They all watched on, grinning widely as Luffy asked just one thing…

"Join… my crew!"

 **(Ok, I decided to do another chapter for the Fishman Island arc where they will wrap everything up. So I'm afraid that you'll have to wait a little longer before you get a chance to see that special twist I have planned. The next chapter we will be having them finishing up the Fishman Island arc, and heading off to the New World. As well as a first glimpse of the villain of this story as well. I'm in for a rough month of school though, going anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day almost every day so I don't know when I'll next find the time to write. But I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will be looking forward to the next one.)**


	11. Floor 10: Off to the New World

**Floor 10: Off to the New World**

"Good thing that Jimbei is as crazy as the rest of us," Zoro spoke up as they started up another flight of stairs. "Otherwise he would have said no before Luffy finished the question."

"Yohohoho! But we're so much fun to be around!" Brook said happily as he danced up the steps, arm-in-arm with Usopp as they celebrated their victory over the New Fishman Pirates once again. "I'd join us in a heartbeat if I were him! Ah! But I no longer have a heartbeat, do I? Yohohoho!"

"And you're already a part of the crew!" Chopper reminded him with a smile as Brook laughed even louder.

"Yes!" he said joyfully. "Oh, what a happy day that was! It shall remain in my memories forever!"

Everyone was smiling as well at those words, knowing that feeling all too well. The truth is, they couldn't forget the day that they first joined with the Straw Hats even if they wanted to. It was like that had been the start of a new beginning for them all, and they all looked back fondly. Luffy was laughing as he was right out in front, whining for the others to hurry and catch up already.

They humored him by going through the next doorway and the memory returned almost as soon as the door shut behind them. When they blinked in the bright light, they could see that they were out in the bright sunlight once again, soaring through the sky. They quickly recognized it as the scene where they had escaped from the plaza, trying to get as far away as possible from the people who were surely calling them all heroes right now.

Their memory selves were now standing on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, with a large bubble over their heads that was fashioned to look like a hot-air balloon. Shirahoshi was flying alongside the ship with a large bubble around her waist, and she was looking all around at them and they were gazing up in confusion to her antics.

"So, why did you just leave the plaza as though you were running away?" Shirahoshi asked in confusion.

"Because we _were_ running away," present-day Zoro said as if it was obvious.

"That's a silly question," present-day Robin chuckled along with him.

"Are you kidding me?" memory Zoro demanded as memory Nami smiled anxiously at the princess. "We already had to fight in that square like it was some kind of circus show. If we had stayed any longer, they might've started cheering for us like we were heroes! Just the thought of it gives me the creeps."

"Isn't it better than having everyone hate us and trying to lock us up for something we didn't do?" present-day Usopp asked. "I think I prefer this over that!"

"Just the idea though," present-day Zoro said with a roll of his eye. "We earned the right to be selfish, haven't we?"

"Is it a bad thing to be a hero?" asked Shirahoshi, going to the side of the ship so that she could speak directly to memory Zoro.

"Look," memory Zoro said to her in a matter-of-fact way, as if explaining why the sky was blue. "Heroes are those guys who will share their booze with other people! Well, I'm gonna drink it all!"

"Seriously," memory Nami demanded, "Where do you guys get this idea of heroes from?!"

"In their eyes, heroes are people who are completely selfless," present-day Robin answered to their Nami, who thought that over. "But they don't want to do that."

She frowned before sighing, deciding that she was going to spare herself the headache of answering and just nodded. But that was when they were interrupted.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T JOIN?!"

The noise had come from memory Luffy, his chest and shoulder wrapped up in bandages, and he was grabbing Jimbei by the front of his clothes. "Come on an adventure with us! Join my crew and let's go out to sea! It'll be fun!"

"Well, no one can deny that," present-day Robin admitted with a shrug.

"Yohohoho! We are a laugh to be around, aren't we?" present-day Brook asked brightly. "I'm sure that Jimbei-san would also have a lot of fun with all of us!"

"And I could have more than one other person on this crew who wouldn't drive me crazy," Nami nodded sagely at those thoughts. Seriously, if she didn't have Robin here, she didn't know how she could ever have stayed sane.

"Yeah, boss!" memory Usopp cheered in full agreement with Luffy's demand. "C'mon on and join us!"

"It'd be great to have former Warlord of the Sea on board!" memory Chopper added as Luffy finally let go of Jimbei's front and jumped down to the deck. "And Luffy, you need rest!"

"Don't make me hurt you, Luffy," present-day Chopper added firmly. "You are going to get some rest when I tell you to, or else!"

"But Chopper, I'm fine," present-day Luffy whined out.

"You won't be if I have to keep telling you to take it easy!" the current Chopper snapped back. "You're getting as bad as Zoro taking off his bandages!"

"That's because they're hard to move around in," present-day Zoro reminded him.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE MOVING! THAT'S WHY I PUT THEM ON YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Chopper screamed exasperatedly at him as Jimbei sighed as he sat down firmly in front of them. But as soon he started talking, Chopper took several deep breaths as he turned to watch the scene.

"Listen to me!" Jimbei said. "I simply can't join you right now!" He looked down as he added regretfully, "I am truly grateful that you invited me. I'm sure that it would be fun to travel the seas with you all… but I still have things here that must be tended to."

"So, it's not a no, just… not a right now," present-day Usopp reasoned.

"Give the man his time," present-day Franky said. "I'm sure that he's got a good reason for not being able to join us yet. But he'll be here sooner or later! Something to look forward to!"

"Yeah! I can't wait!" present-day Luffy cheered out. His memory self seemed to ease up a little after hearing Jimbei's words, but he still had a sour expression on his face as he moved his hat up onto his head again.

"I still have duties to uphold," Jimbei continued. "Duties that I only temporarily set aside. But once I have fulfilled my duty and tied up all the loose ends so I'm free from them… I promise I will return to you. And, if by then, you still feel the same about me… will you ask me to join the Straw Hats once again?"

"You promise?!" memory Luffy demanded. There was a long pause after that as the two of them looked long and hard at the other, but some kind of understanding seemed to pass between them.

It was an unspoken promise, but a promise nonetheless.

"Let it go, Luffy," memory Sanji said suddenly. "When a man is talking about honor, you can't pressure him."

"He's gonna join us, he just needs time to finish up everything before he can," the present-day Sanji added. "Though I do wonder just what these 'duties' are?"

"He really likes, Jimbei," memory Robin smiled as Zoro just gave his usual silent smirk and Nami grinned at the idea. The memory versions of Usopp and Chopper both grinned widely as Brook chuckled as he sipped his tea.

There wasn't as single objection to this arrangement and memory Franky declared for them all, "Luffy thinks so highly of you! So we're gonna be waiting for you, Jimbei!"

"You have my thanks," Jimbei said as he shut his eyes with a smile.

Now that was settled, memory Zoro looked to Nami and asked, "So what are we gonna do now? Just sail right into the New World?"

It certainly looked like that was going to happen, at least until Shirahoshi gasped at that suggestion. Her eyes began to well up with tears at the thought of them leaving and she asked out mournfully, "W-What? You're leaving already?! But…but I haven't had the chance to thank you properly!"

"Have you truly have no soul, Moss-Head?!" present-day Sanji demanded hotly of their Zoro.

"I was just asking a simple question you crappy cook!" he shouted back.

"Do I have to hit you both to get you to behave?!" present-day Nami demanded irritably. "Because you know that I will!"

Both shut up at once, but they were still glaring at the other with venom.

"Alright!" memory Sanji almost sang out as he twirled about. "In that case, let's stay over at the Mermaid Café for a week or two!"

"Oh, shut up, Sanji!" memory Usopp snapped as he hit him in the head. "We all know the real reason you wanna stay!" But then his face lightened up and he added, "Not that I'm disagreeing with you."

"I think that you're starting to develop more than a few bad habits from Sanji," present-day Robin sighed to their Usopp. "I just hope that you don't start developing nosebleeds in the future."

"H-Hey! I'm nowhere near the level of pervert that Sanji is!" present-day Usopp said quickly, waving his hands at her. "Really! I'd never do anything like that!"

Memory Sanji began to drool at the thought before there were a round of arguments going on about what they should do. However, at that moment they heard a voice calling out behind them. They looked back in time to see one of Neptune's soldiers flying towards them on the back of an enormous fish; waving frantically to get their attention.

"Darn, looks like they caught up with us," the present-day Zoro said at the sight of it.

"Well, I doubt that it would have been too hard to find us flying over the city, to be honest," current Franky pointed out reasonably. Especially with Shirahoshi with them, it would be hard for them to slip by unnoticed. "But good thing that we didn't! That was one hell of a banquet!"

"Oh… we're gonna watch the banquet now?" present-day Luffy moaned out at the thought. It was hard enough for him to sit back and watch his past self get to eat all that yummy food when he couldn't even touch it. This was gonna be pure torture. But maybe he'd get lucky and get to taste something this time? He'd have to try.

Present-day Sanji sighed at that and said, "Look, I'll make something for everyone when we get out of this place. But until then, just behave and wait."

"Please wait! Straw Hats!" the solider called before he was finally able to catch up to them. The Straw Hats walked to the side of the ship as the soldier pulled up alongside them, he held up a Mini Transponder Snail that wore a crown and had a thick orange beard. "I've caught up with them, Your Majesty!"

"You know there was really no point in us leaving if we were going to a celebration," present-day Nami said.

"Ah, but we left before because we were afraid that they were going to start hailing us as heroes," present-day Zoro said. "Now it's just a normal feast."

"Right, completely different," present-day Luffy added with a firm nod.

Nami opened her mouth to tell them what she really thought, but in the end, she let it go, reminding herself that it was over and done with. No point in complaining about it for now. But what was it with those two going with this strange logic that only seemed to make sense to them? She could swear that they were made for each other.

" _Good_ ," Neptune's voice answered from the other end before the soldier held up the snail to talk to them. " _Straw Hat Luffy-_ _jamon!_ _Why did you take off like that earlier?_ "

"I already told you I don't wanna be a hero!" memory Luffy called back in annoyance.

" _I understand that_ ," Neptune answered.

"So why ask us in the first place?" present-day Franky asked with a tilt of his head.

Neptune then finished by saying, " _That is why we want to continue on with the banquet that we were unable to have before._ "

Well, he just said the magic words, for memory Luffy was already drooling as he repeated, "A banquet?! Then I'll be right there! You hear that guys?! A banquet!"

Soon they began to change course, saying that they were going to go and pick up Hachi and Camie first off, and they headed straight off to the forest where their friends were still waiting for them.

They arrived quickly enough, with their first surprise seeing the remains of the Noah having been left here, behind Queen Otohime's tomb, where Shirahoshi was smiling at the sight of it all. They soon found Camie, Hachi, and Den… with all three in a state of shock. As soon as she saw them, Camie jumped up and gave memory Nami a hug, shaking and telling them all about the Sea Kings that arrived, dropping Noah here before leaving.

Thankfully Pappug, who they had pulled onto the Sunny before leaving the plaza, jumped from the deck of the ship and gave her a hit in the head, snapping her right out of it. Den came up to them, informing them that Hachi's injuries were recovering well, but he was also in a much calmer state and was able to tell them just what happened. After they left here earlier, they could hear the entire broadcast of what was going on, as well as what happened after the battle. They saw the Sea Kings arrive, pulling the Noah with them, which was falling apart at the seams.

They all looked in the direction of the damaged Noah as memory Luffy helped Chopper move Hachi up onto the Sunny.

"Franky?" present-day Robin asked suddenly, "Is it possible that Noah can be repaired?" She didn't say anything about her conversation with Neptune, about how Noah had yet to complete its purpose—whatever it may be—but instead reasoned, "I'm sure that the people of Fishman Island may appreciate it if it's part of their history?"

Present-day Franky frowned as he looked over in the direction, getting a good look at it as everyone was soon boarding the Sunny.

"Hard to say," he confessed. "I need a closer look at her. But so long as the Keel itself is undamaged then I think there's a good chance. But it's gonna take weeks, if not months of hard work with a lot of skilled shipwrights. It's not just the beating it took from Luffy, but from years of sitting at the bottom of the ocean. That hasn't been kind to it."

"I see," Robin said softly, her mind drifting off to what she that message from this Joy Boy, whoever he was, and wondered just what Noah's mission was. But she was brought out of her thoughts as their memory selves were telling them that they were going to be heading back up to the palace to celebrate. Camie freaked out again, which they couldn't really blame her since she saw what happened the last time she was 'invited' to a banquet.

She wasn't the only one who was worried, for Hachi gulped and nervously told them that they could drop him off at his home, at least until he learned that the Fishman District would now be sealed off from here on out. But the memory Straw Hats were insistent that he come with them and soon they were back in the air, heading towards the top of the bubble once again.

"If he didn't risk his life to warn us, we may not know what's going on," present-day Chopper pointed out.

"Agreed," present-day Nami nodded. "He deserved a chance to have some fun."

She looked to the bright sky underneath this ocean and wondered what her mother thought right now. Maybe she and Otohime were watching them from wherever it was that they were. The thought made her smile even wider.

As they began the trip up to the palace, all below them the parts of the city that were damaged thanks to Hody and his men were already being repaired and there were people gathering up large amounts of food and sending them up towards the palace ahead of them. The pathway was left open for them when they arrived and they travelled up the Water Road and back to the palace… with them noticing that a large part of one of the towers was suspiciously sliced clean off, like a blade through warm butter. They glanced at present-day Zoro, who was now conveniently lying on his back and snoring, though it seemed a little bit on the forced side.

" _Thank you all for coming-_ _jamon_!" Neptune greeted them over the Transponder Snail. " _Luffy-kun and everyone! We will speak inside, during the festivities! These long flounders to the Banquet Hall!_ "

They found out what the flounders were right away, long fish with bubbles over their backs for them to breathe came gliding into view. They all went jumping up onto the back of the fishes with their past selves and were guided into the palace, yet it was completely dark through the hallways, not really giving them an inviting feel.

"Did they forget to light this place up?" present-day Brook asked nervously, who hated dark places and memory Zoro was already snoring like his present-day self, like he couldn't care less what was going on around him.

He wasn't the only one nervous, for memory Nami was asking if it was really ok for them to head into a dark room filled with water.

"Are we really allowed in?" Camie also asked anxiously as she hugged Pappug like a stuffed animal. "I'm really nervous."

"How could a girls as cute as you not be allowed in?" present-day Sanji sighed lovingly.

"I've never entered the palace before," Hachi said, sitting up on his knees and was sitting there like he was a boy in school trying to behave. He looked like he was worried that he would be tossed into jail if he so much as moved wrong.

"What's this place?" memory Luffy asked. "What happened to the meat and the banquet?"

"They just want to give us a proper welcome," present-day Robin said brightly.

"Well, they sure gave us one when we got here," present-day Franky laughed out. "I mean, we party hard, but that was one of our best ones yet! Shame it couldn't go on longer."

"We were already pushing our luck," present-day Nami reminded them. "We stay for too long then we risk the royal family and the people here getting in trouble by the government by harboring wanted pirates."

"Just saying," present-day Franky pointed out as a large spotlight suddenly appeared on them from below and a voice cheered out, "Look! Our heroes have arrives!"

They looked over the edge of their fish to see that the entire floor below them was filled with thousands of Neptune's soldiers, all of whom were cheering up at the sight of them there, some even crying tears of joy.

"Thank you for saving Fishman Island!"

"We'll never forget what you did for us!"

And soon they were all chanting out heroes over and over again, which seemed to tick at least two members of the crew off.

"Shut up!" memory Luffy shouted. "Don't call us heroes! I wanna eat all the meat!"

Memory Zoro's eye suddenly opened up and he seemed to realize what Luffy said as he sat up. "He's right!" he called out. "I wanna drink the booze!"

Memory Nami sighed at this as she sighed, "You idiots."

"I think whether we like it or not, we are now considered heroes on Fishman Island," present-day Robin informed them all.

"Keep telling yourself that, I'm not gonna buy it," present-day Zoro said stubbornly as Luffy pouted.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi said happily as she glided inside the room behind them and pointed ahead. "The stage is just up ahead!"

"Stage?" memory Luffy repeated in confusion as they were all looking around. Now that their eyes were growing used to the dark, they could see the form of a large platform with curtains hanging up down below.

" _Ladies and gentlemen! Let's start the banquet for the Straw Hats!_ " called an announcer's voice. " _First off…_ " the spotlight came onto the stage. Everyone looked up to see a large mermaid with deep curves standing on the stage. She had a long, eel-like tail, as well as wearing very simple jewelry and a black dress as she gazed up at them.

" _We present you the greatest_ _diva on the Sea Floor, Miss Maria Napole_!" the announcer called. And suddenly, the sound of someone playing a steady but fast rhythm on the drums is heard, followed by the sound of a band playing when Napole opened her mouth and began to fill the room with her beautiful voice that sounded like their ears were melting in pleasure.

" _And the swing jazz orchestra!_ " the announcer finished crying out as the orchestra began to play out in full force.

"Oh, wow!" memory Nami swooned in bliss. "What a sweet voice~!"

"Amazing Maria Napole!" memory Usopp cried in joy.

"Yohohoho, she was a wonder!" present-day Brook cried out as he twirled about. "Oh, just think of the songs that the two of us could come up with together! It was a true pleasure to be able to perform with her!"

" _And the special guests!_ " the announcer went on.

"D-Don't tell me," memory Sanji gasped as several different colored spotlights began to shine around them and the girls started to appear.

" _Their beauty will take your breath away_!" the announcer called.

"No! Don't show him…?!" present-day Chopper cried out, but it was too late. Soon, the mermaids, some of whom had been the kidnapped girls, started to appear and dance with beautiful scarves and silks.

" _Presenting…the Mermaid Café Dancers_!"

Sanji lost his mind… or rather… both Sanji's lost their senses. Memory Sanji was pushing up against the bubble, trying to get through it and having to have memory Luffy, Chopper, and Jimbei to try and keep him from going out there as memory Chopper yelled at him that he was gonna die if he went out.

"I don't care!" the present-day one called as he went skipping outside and began to dance with them, in a tiny slice of heaven of his own without the fear of drowning.

But as one of the mermaids danced with a school of fish, she turned and smiled down at Camie, and they recognized her as the one that Sanji bled over when he had that massive nosebleed back at Mermaid Bay.

"Hey, Camie!" she greeted as she danced around the Straw Hats with her friends.

"Maxine!" Camie gasped excitedly and began to wave back happily, calling how happy she was to see her safe and sound.

Soon server mermaids appeared, carrying drinks for them all.

"Here it comes," memory Zoro grinned. "There's no banquet without it!"

"And their booze here was especially tasty," the present-day Zoro said, his throat soon parched and he was craving a drink.

"Sake that's been left floating out in the sea in barrels are supposed to be extra delicious," present-day Robin explained. "It really was some of the best I've ever tasted."

Soon drinks were served to the Straw Hats and the royal family, well almost all of them, memory Sanji was now crawling around in circles on the roof of the bubble as he tried to get to the mermaids.

But then King Neptune was handing a large gorge of the stuff before being asked to make a toast. Neptune cleared his throat before he said seriously, "Before I give a toast, I really want to express my gratitude briefly-jamon."

"He said something?" present-day Sanji asked in mild surprise. "Funny, I don't remember that."

"Neither do I," the present-day versions of the others added as they tried to think back.

"All of you Straw Hats… thanks to you…" the king began, but that would be as far as he would get.

"It's banquet time!" memory Luffy cheered out, getting everyone's attention.

"CHEERS!" the cheer went on all over the palace at those words, the king completely forgotten about.

"Alright! Let's have a drink!" memory Nami cried out excitedly.

"I know, I know," Neptune sighed at this. "Nobody wants to listen to me-jamon."

"What did he say?" present-day Franky asked, having not been listening to what was being said as he was looking to the piles of cola that were being brought in for his past self.

"Wasn't listening," present-day Zoro sighed as he looked longingly at the sake that was being served.

"Bring in the food!" both Ministers of Left and Right called, and the server girls were back, carrying large plates of food, which caused both Luffy's to start drooling at the sight of it. Soon it was a proper party. Memory Luffy packing away all the meat that he could get his hands on, already having a long line of meat being ready to serve, and with Jimbei laughing at the sight. Leaving the present-day Luffy to fruitlessly grab at the food and see the heart-broken look on his face when his hands went right through it all.

Pappug was trying to get the Mermaid Quintuplets, who they picked up on their way back to the palace, to dance with him. Of course, it ended with them all rejecting him, causing him to fall into depression. Memory Chopper had dove into the mountain of sweets, and soon his entire face was covered with frosting and chocolate as he called in for more.

Memory Zoro had already drank an entire barrel of booze and he was wiping his mouth, satisfied with how good this island's sake was… which led to memory Franky grinning and reminding him that he was captured and thrown in jail because he was drunk. This forced Hachi trying to keep the peace between the two while memory Brook realized that he could go through the bubble and the idea of drowning wasn't so bad if he had beautiful mermaids surrounding him. When memory Sanji realized this, he also went through the bubble, drifting off towards the floor until three mermaids came to his rescue… of course by the time they brought him back to the others, he had already turned to stone.

Memory Chopper seemed to have had it and just told the girls to dump Sanji here and if he died, then it would be his own fault.

"Hey!" the present-day Sanji said as he glanced at their Chopper.

"You were a pain the whole time we were down here!" he snapped back. "How many times did you turn to stone or almost bled to death?!"

"That's why you should've let the idiot die," present-day Zoro offered reasonably. "We wouldn't have to put up with him anymore."

"Like they rather be looking at your face, Moss-Head!" Sanji retorted.

"How can they look at your nightmare of a face if it's covered in blood whenever you see a girl?" Zoro snapped back.

"Enough," present-day Robin said, breaking them up.

Thankfully, the memories distracted them all again when Neptune continued to sulk that no one wanted to pay any attention to him, but soon they tried to involve him as Camie brought memory Usopp over to the other flounder, with them getting ready to throw another toast, this time adding in Shirahoshi and the king, and memory Luffy even turned to the soldiers on the ground and told them to join in too.

Soon, everyone began toasting and was having a grand time. As the memory versions of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all continued eating, while the memory versions of Zoro, Franky, and Hachi were all drinking… and left Sanji and Brook drooling over the mermaids.

Present-day Robin noticed her past self asking for a private audience with Neptune and she watched out of the corner of her eye.

"What is it?" present-day Zoro asked, noticing her looking off in a different direction.

"Nothing," she forced a smile. She suspected that if they followed after her past self then they would hear the whole conversation. She shook her head, deciding that it was not important for them to know just now. The less who knew, the better it was for everyone.

Besides, everyone was looking at the drinking contest between memory Nami and Fukaboshi, who couldn't keep up with her pace.

"Whew!" memory Nami sighed as she finished her twelfth mug, her face red. "More please!"

"This… this is unheard of!" Fukaboshi whispered in shock.

"Seriously, where does she put it all?" present-day Usopp whispered to Franky, who nodded in confusion. The only other person they met who could drink as much as Nami was Zoro, and it was often a wonder just who could win at that.

"Yohohoho, you and Zoro-san should have a drinking contest, Nami-san!" present-day Brook said cheerfully.

"And have to pay her for all the booze?" present-day Zoro asked sourly. "I love my drink, but not so much that I have to pay a shark for it."

Everyone just laughed and had as much fun as they possibly could. But as memory Luffy was continuing to shove just about anything into his mouth, with the poor kitchens now running dangerously low on food, Jimbei looked over at him as he helped himself to more sake.

"Let me ask you this, Luffy," Jimbei said, getting memory Luffy's attention. "What do you know about the state of the world right now?"

That question took memory Luffy by surprise and seeing this, Jimbei asked that they meet outside so that they could talk. Luffy agreed, stopping only to grab an enormous plate full of food as he followed him to a chamber where the sounds of the party were cut off completely. But it turned out they weren't the only ones there.

Memory Zoro, who was sleeping off his hangover, but then there was memory Nami, whose face was all red from her drinking contest… Usopp, who was bloated with all food in his stomach and Chopper who was fanning Sanji with a towel like he had just been in a terrible work-out.

"Hey, guys," memory Luffy said, setting down his plate of food. "I didn't know you were all out here too?"

"I guess great minds think alike," present-day Usopp laughed at the sight of it.

"I kinda drank a little too much, so I'm trying to sober up," memory Nami answered, and it seemed that was true for memory Zoro, who continued sleeping, snoring loudly as if answering the same thing.

"But I made some good money," the present-day Nami sighed happily. "Good thing for Fukaboshi that he didn't bet too much money on winning."

"I ate a little too much," memory Usopp added as the current self was trying to figure out how he got that big already. He was getting bad as Luffy and he didn't want to be so large like he had been two years ago.

"And Sanji's mermaid-ed too much," memory Chopper added, still fanning Sanji, who was smiling up lovingly at the ceiling

"I don't like how you said that, pal," present-day Franky answered him with a sigh. "It sounds… wrong."

"It's like I'm in heaven," memory Sanji sighed lovingly. "This Mermaid Island is paradise."

Jimbei didn't seem to mind that there were so many of the crew here, in fact, he seemed glad for this fact as he sat down and began to tell them a little more of what was going on in the world right now.

"Huh!?" memory Luffy questioned, his mouth packed full of food again. "Aokiji and Akainu got into a big fight?!"

"That was news that shocked the world," present-day Nami said, also having heard of this, though she wasn't surprised that so many of the crew didn't know.

"As I feared," Jimbei said simply. "You didn't even know about such a big event."

"Nope," memory Luffy admitted. "I didn't hear about anything during my training."

"It's not like you could have been getting the paper every day on that island," present-day Brook offered.

"I would have thought that Rayleigh would have heard of it though," present-day Usopp said in confusion. "Didn't he get the paper?"

"Not really," current Luffy said as he thought back. "But I did see him with a paper sometimes."

But Robin wondered if it were better that way. For Luffy was still trying to recover from Ace's death during the training, and it would have been a long time before he could even begin the painful healing process. Maybe it was for the best that Luffy didn't know until at this moment.

"Rayleigh is terrible," Jimbei said in passing.

"Ooh! Ooh!" memory Chopper chirped up proudly. "I know about it! I remember hearing it!"

"You're kidding me!" memory Usopp gasped with his eyes wide as he stared up at Jimbei, having never heard of it either before now.

"I hope the bastard lost more than a few body parts from that fight," present-day Sanji hissed. They were all feeling the same way as they remembered what that monster did to Ace… and how he tried to kill Luffy and Jimbei.

Jimbei settled back as he began to tell them everything he knew.

"Right after the war two years ago, Fleet Admiral Sengoku resigned from his position. Sengoku recommended Aokiji to take over instead, who was given widespread support from his subordinates. However, a lot a people at the highest level favored Akainu, and so he became a major contender. Aokiji is not normally one who shows motivation of any sort… but he came out in furious opposition to the idea of Akainu being made Fleet Admiral."

"I don't blame him," present-day Zoro said darkly. "I'd rather leave than work under someone like him any day."

"I much rather that Aokiji took over as well," Robin sighed. She still had a lot of anger towards Aokiji for what he did to Saul… but at least the man was not a believer of Absolute Justice. She could only imagine the kind of power that Akainu was giving the marines these days, and just the thought made her feel sick.

"There was a vicious confrontation," Jimbei sighed as both memory versions of Usopp and Chopper gulped nervously at Jimbei's tone of voice.

"Yeah, two admirals going at each other? That had to be one hell of a fight," present-day Franky said suddenly. "No way that either of them could walk away in one piece after that."

"They stood against the other in the first ever feud between Admirals," Jimbei went on. "The conflict was to be solved between the two of them on a one-on-one duel on an island. 'Dead men tell no tales', or so the saying goes. The loser would withdraw their candidacy. The winner would seize the right to command the Marines."

Memory Luffy looked at Jimbei with a serious expression as the present-day Straw Hats could all picture it. Aokiji and Akainu, ice vs magma… ready to battle it out in a winner take all match. They could almost see the two forms of the admirals standing against each other as powers of cold and powers of heat were about to clash.

Jimbei sighed as he confessed, "Their deadly battle raged on for ten entire days and became the talk of the entire world as they waited for the outcome."

"Ten days? Not even the war at Marineford lasted that long," present-day Sanji whistled out. "They must have been completely equal in all ways for such a fight to go on for almost two weeks."

"Hate to see what happened to the place where they fought," present-day Franky added lightly.

"Their strength was evenly matched," Jimbei went on, "able to meet each other blow after blow until finally… Akainu won. Thus… Sakazuki is the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines."

They all let out angry hisses at that as the present-day Luffy's eyes narrowed angrily. He could still see it… Ace… his big brother trying to protect him from Akainu's fist. His hand went up to touch the X-shaped scar on his chest just as his past self had done right now.

"Akainu…!" both Luffy hissed, suppressed fury in their eyes at the thought of the bastard. But the present-day Chopper suddenly ran up and jumped into Luffy's arms to give him a hug. This took Luffy by surprise, but he was glad when both Usopp and Nami joined in on the hugging as well, but he was able to keep hold of his emotions as he screwed up his face while his past self asked if Aokiji died.

"They were both severely wounded," Jimbei confessed as the memory Luffy tore angrily into his meat, "And though Akainu is normally pitiless, he showed mercy to his former comrade who couldn't even stand."

Robin frowned at this. She remembered how cruel that man could be, remembering how he was ready to kill two young men simply for the fact that they were alive, and wondered just how Aokiji must have looked if even the ruthless Akainu could not bring himself to finish him off.

"However, Aokiji refused to work under Akainu," Jimbei finished. "So he left the Navy."

"Once again, I don't blame him for that," present-day Zoro commented and they all nodded in full agreement.

At the news of Aokiji leaving the Navy, memory Usopp sat up, his fear suddenly causing him to lose his extra weight as memory Luffy asked, "So he's not a Navy soldier anymore?"

"No, he's not," Jimbei said as he looked up to the world passed the bubble that they were all currently sitting in, with that thoughtful expression on his face. "I wonder where he is right now and what's going through his mind. It was a big loss for the World Government as well."

Robin looked out at all the fish swimming past through the bubble as well as her mind began to wander just like Jimbei's was. She also wondered just what was going through his mind these days and what he thought of the idea of 'justice' anymore.

"Of course," memory Usopp agreed. "The Admirals were the Marine's greatest powers."

"But what the Government did to cover their loss…" Jimbei sighed, "gave the Navy unexpected powers."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" present-day Franky asked sourly as the face of that laughing Spanda came back to his mind. "Those guys will give just about anyone the power to do anything, will they?"

"Listen," Jimbei said after a long pause. "You all need to know the two biggest changes happening in the New World. First, the Navy Headquarters is being led by Akainu… who has become an even more powerful force for justice. And second… is that the Blackbeard Pirates have advanced."

"Blackbeard?" memory Usopp asked slowly.

"We met him in Mock Town," memory Nami said suddenly.

"Those are the guys who left my homeland a mess!" memory Chopper barked.

"Yeah, that's right!" present-day Chopper added as he thought back. He had been on the other side of the island collecting rare herbs for Doctorine, so he hadn't been there to see what happened, but he had seen the damage that had been done after he got back.

"I still don't get why he would bother attacking that island," Robin added as she thought that over. "I know that they're pirates, but I don't ever recall them ever having caused trouble before that incident… and after they left Drum, they had been pretty quiet for a long time until…?"

Until he captured Ace. But she didn't dare remind everyone of that right now.

"Strange, then you think that they were looking for something on the island?" present-day Nami asked in puzzlement.

But Robin could only shrug, no idea what Blackbeard had been thinking, or what the point was. But that wasn't the important thing right now.

"He was once a former member of Whitebeard's crew," Jimbei explained, "So Teach knows their territory very well. And he conquered it all in an instant after the good old man died."

"There's gratitude for ya," present-day Sanji sighed as he put another cigarette back into his mouth. "After taking care of the guy for all those years, and look at what he did to thank him? The guy is worse than scum at the bottom of my shoes."

"You're right. I can't stand it!" Brook added darkly. What kind of man would betray his own captain and crew in such a way? He wasn't a man at all!

Jimbei then informed them, "Using the power of the Tremor Tremor Fruit that he stole from the old man, the world has already counted him alongside Red-Haired Shanks, Kadio, and Big Mom, and consider him as one of the Four Emperors."

Everyone in the memory gasped at this, except memory Luffy for some reason, and memory Zoro, who was still sleeping.

"So he just came in and took over Whitebeard's place?" memory Nami demanded. "What a dirty rat!"

"Well said, Nami-swan," present-day Sanji said with a firm nod.

"Yes, I'm afraid he is," Jimbei agreed as memory Luffy went over to his giant plate of food again. "Rumor has it that they are on the hunt for Devil Fruit Users. It seems that they can somehow acquire a Devil Fruit user's power after killing them. They keep looking for strong Devil Fruit Users. You must be careful."

"They ended up taking Whitebeard's powers when he died didn't they?" present-day Nami asked Robin. "How… how did they do that?"

"No idea," Robin confessed. "Normally, when a Devil Fruit user dies, the power is just reborn in another fruit somewhere. But that's beside the point. The thing I cannot understand is how Blackbeard can have the power of the Tremor Tremor fruit? For normally, a person can't have more than one kind of Devil Fruit power. I can't fathom how Blackbeard can have two."

Memory Chopper gasped as he cried out, "I bet they'll be coming after me next!"

"No one wants your Human Human Fruit powers," memory Usopp reasoned.

"What?! You're suddenly saying that my powers aren't good enough?!" present-day Chopper demanded of their Usopp as the memory Chopper glared up at memory Usopp. But before an argument could break out, or Usopp could come up with a good apology, Jimbei finished up speaking.

"Especially you, Luffy-kun," Jimbei said worriedly. "I know that there is a lot of bad blood between you and Blackbeard. So please take extra care…"

But before he could finish, he finally heard the sounds of Luffy's chewing.

"Luffy!" Jimbei barked, seeing that Luffy was eating his food again and not paying the least bit attention to what Jimbei was saying. "Are you even listening?!"

"Nope," the present-day Straw Hats, minus Luffy, all spoke up at once.

"Man that food looks yummy!" the present-day Luffy mourned as he stared at the food his past self was eating.

"You never change, Luffy," present-day Nami said exasperatedly, but with a smile there as well as she adds, "I'm not sure if that's a bad thing though?"

Memory Luffy turned back to look at him in polite confusion as Jimbei yelled, "I thought you were the captain! You have to know a little bit of information at least!"

"Don't worry, Jimbei," memory Sanji said, who was finally recovering over his shock at the sight of the mermaids and was sitting up quite calmly. "The rest of us were listening."

"I thought captains normally don't listen to other people," memory Chopper said brightly.

"No, Chopper," Robin said kindly. "Normally, it's the other way around. But nothing about this crew makes any sense, so, I think we're the exception to the rule."

"Poor Jimbei," present-day Sanji smirked as he shook his head with a chuckle in his throat. "Guess we really should've given him a warning of what he was getting himself into."

"But he was with him during the war, you think he'd already have a good idea of what was waiting for him," present-day Zoro sniggered. "Oh well, too late now."

"Captains are responsible for their crew safety aren't they, Luffy?" Jimbei demanded as Luffy shoved more food into his mouth.

"I'll say this much for you, bro," present-day Franky said as he clapped a massive hand on their Luffy's shoulder. "You always seem to pull through when it counts."

"You think?" Luffy asked as he started laughing.

"Hey Jimbei, take it easy!" memory Luffy said brightly with that usual care-free attitude like he didn't have a worry in the world. "I like taking chances anyway!"

Jimbei looked at him before he sighed, you could almost see the waves of depression hanging off him.

"…Is this what it's like having him for a captain?" he asked the rest of them.

"Yep," all the memory versions of Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper answered at once, but the present-day versions were all laughing at that. Before anything else could be said, Camie reappeared with Pappug to see where they all went off too.

"Hey, Camie!" memory Luffy said when he saw her but then he started looking around as he asked, "I haven't seen Crybaby around."

"She's a bit tipsy," Camie replied as she came up towards them. "She's not used to alcohol, poor thing."

"My dear Shirahoshi," present-day Sanji said lovingly as he thought about that sweet, innocent face. "The very muse of beauty… I wonder how she is right now?"

"Oh please, she hardly had any," present-day Zoro said.

"Yeah well, she took enough for a normal-size person to drown in," present-day Usopp pointed out, thinking of how big that 'cup' she drank from.

"But that's hardly anything in comparison!" present-day Zoro retorted. "That's like me taking a tiny cup! That's not even enough to quench my thirst!"

"Maybe it's because she's not some drunkard?" present-day Nami added darkly to him.

"Oh," memory Luffy said before he grabbed some meat and prepared to take a bite… but then stopped and began to look around.

"Luffy-chin?" Camie asked, noticing his sudden change in attitude.

"What is it, Luffy?" Robin asked curiously.

"…Hey, Zoro, Sanji," memory Luffy said as he stood up. Memory Zoro gave a snort as he woke up and Sanji glanced over at him as Luffy was looking directly over their heads.

"What's up?" he asked as they were all looking to the ceiling.

"I think that there's a wild animal loose in the palace," memory Luffy said strangely as he kept his eyes looking upwards.

"Wild animals?" Brook asked in bafflement as he stretched his head. "Do you mean fish? There is no shortage of any of that here?"

"No, something a little more… human," present-day Zoro said as his past self just said, "Hmm…I think you're right."

"There's definitely something lurking around here," memory Sanji nodded in agreement as they all got up.

"What are you three talking about?" current Franky asked in confusion as the three all left together, leaving the others in confusion.

"There was something in the palace that really shouldn't be," present-day Zoro answered. "We went to go check it out. And good thing we did to."

"Damn that muddy bastard," present-day Sanji muttered as they began to follow their past selves. "He could have really hurt by beloved Shirahoshi-chan!"

"What? What's that about Shirahoshi?" present-day Chopper asked in confusion.

"Oh, right," present-day Nami said in understanding. "Someone tried to kidnap the princess!"

"What?!" the others asked in shock.

"Ah, Observation Haki? That really is useful, isn't it?" Robin asked as they began climbing stairs. "Makes me wish I knew it."

"Really? You could sense something happening to Shirahoshi? That's awesome!" Franky said with a grin. "Do we get to see you kicking some serious ass here?"

"Don't get your hopes up too high," present-day Zoro yawned in a bored way. "I think walking through the palace took more effort than fighting that guy. Just watch."

They walked through the palace, taking the route that Luffy used before when he went to find the food that they took to Shirahoshi in the Hard-Shell Tower when they first came to the palace. They had no idea how this Luffy was able to know which way to go, but he didn't even stop to guess himself as they went off.

But the present-day Nami sighed at the sight of it. She had really hoped that knowing Observation Haki would help with Zoro and Luffy from getting lost. No matter how good their senses are, it just seemed that part of them didn't change a bit unless in two years.

They kept going upwards through the palace, yet, when they finally rounded the corner that took them to the front of the Hard-Shell Tower, they gasped at what was waiting for them. Shirahoshi was trapped by mud all around her, clinging to her body like some kind of quicksand. The harder she tried to pull herself out, the more she seemed to be sinking in it. She couldn't even cry out because mud had reached up and covered her mouth so that she couldn't make a sound. The mud was all connected to that greasy-haired jerk they stuffed into a barrel when they first left Sabaody, and he was laughing at all of this.

Muddy, since that was the only name that they knew him by, was laughing, getting them all angry as Shirahoshi still struggled to pull herself free.

"Don't looks so resentful, princess!" Muddy cooed out. "Don't worry! I'm not gonna hurt you or make you suffer! I was content to taking the treasure! To sell those normal mermaids would have been a pain!"

Present-day Sanji glared, biting down hard on his cigarette until it broke in half and his fists were shaking. He couldn't believe that he would dare harm a lady, especially one such as innocent as Shirahoshi! This was a law as old as the dinosaurs! That one should never mistreat a lady no matter what!

"But you're the exception!" Muddy went on, "I just need you to lose consciousness for a while! I just got word from my brother and the others down at the harbor!"

"I thought they all turned into jellyfish?" present-day Zoro asked as he thought back to how Surume crushed their ship with one swipe.

"Come to the New World with us!" Muddy cried.

"Hey," called memory Luffy suddenly.

"Awww, come on, why don't you laugh?" Muddy taunted Shirahoshi as he brought his face close to her tear-filled eyes, not even noticing who was behind him.

"HEY!" memory Luffy called louder. Muddy turned see the three of them there, with that Luffy still eating a large piece of meat on a bone.

"What do you want, Straw Hat?!" Muddy questioned, "Don't bother me! Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"He really is dumb isn't he?" Usopp asked with a piteous shake of his head.

"Do you really need us to answer?" Nami sighed.

It didn't seem to register at first. Muddy looked back to Shirahoshi and continued to laugh at her misery until it seemed to sink in what was happening and he came back down to reality, sweat starting to pour down his face as he turned back and screamed, "STRAW HAAAAAAAAT?!"

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi cried, tears in her eyes but widening in relief and shock at the sight of the three of them there. Memory Luffy glanced him as he bit off another big chunk of meat… and then kicked Muddy right out of the palace. Not just out… but through both layers of bubbles, screaming in pain the whole way down to the main island.

"Wow! What a kick!" Usopp cheered out.

"Your strength always sends my heart aflutter, Luffy-san!" Brook added excitedly. "Of course, I no longer have a heart! Yohohoho!"

Once Muddy was out of the picture memory Luffy began finishing up his meat as he looked about.

"I didn't know that guy was still around," he said with only a slight air of annoyance, as if he had just gotten rid of a fly.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi gasped as she fell to the floor and cupped her hands around him like how one would to a doll; causing memory Sanji to gasp at the sight. She began to cry openly as she sobbed, "I was so scared!"

"Poor thing," Robin said sympathetically. "Just when she thought that she was free from one stalker, another tried to kidnap her. Thankfully, you boys sensed that she was in trouble before anything happened."

It made her worry though. Just how long had that guy been lurking around the palace? Who knows what he could have been listening in to while he was here?

"Dammit!" memory Sanji cursed as he fell to his knees and pounded the floor with his fist. "You're so lucky, Luffy! I should've kick him out, first!"

"Oh, cry us a river!" present-day Zoro said.

"What?!" present-day Sanji growled back.

"That was the pirate that we first captured at sea," memory Zoro said conversationally. "I haven't seen him since we arrived at Fishman Island. I forgot all about him."

"How'd he get out of that barrel?" present-day Chopper asked with a tilt of his head.

"I guess someone opened up something they really shouldn't have," Robin offered reasonably.

It was only a few minutes later when memory Nami, Pappug, King Neptune, and the Minister of the Right appeared, having heard the commotion and were concerned for Shirahoshi's safety. When they arrived and they explained what happened, the Minister of the Right gasped and immediately fell to the floor in a bow.

"That was way too close!" the Minister of the Right cried gratefully, his head almost touching the floor. "You have my gratitude, once again! To think, that filthy rat was still in the palace! Normally, we don't let so much as a single minnow inside, but with the battle going on, we left it completely vulnerable!"

"How did Muddy get up here anyway?" present-day Luffy asked with a scratch of his head as his past self told them that it was no problem.

"You think that he was one of Hody's slaves before and he was just flung up here?" Chopper asked, thinking back to those poor guys who had been thrown here against their will.

"I doubt it," present-day Zoro said with a shake of his head. "I'm just guessing he hitched a ride up here some time after we arrive on the island."

The Minister of the Right then pointed to the tower that was still sliced open, and the present-day Zoro suddenly tensed up at the sight.

"Just look at the right tower of the palace!" the Minister of the Right said. "It's been cut clean in two! That no good vagabond must have done that while we weren't looking!"

"Funny, that looks like something you would have done, Zoro," Chopper pointed out to their Zoro who looked away innocently. Not that it mattered since Pappug suddenly opened his mouth, pointing up to the memory Zoro and said, "Actually, this guy here did it. He was actually supposed to cut the bars but-"

Memory Zoro then gave him a hard hit in the head with Shuusui's scabbard before he had a chance to finish. "Shut up!" he whispered. "Why did you have to tell him that, you stupid starfish?!"

"I don't think that they would mind," Robin pointed out. "That's just tiny damage in comparison to what you helped to protect."

"Wait just a minute, Mr. Minister!" memory Nami said quickly as Zoro and Pappug were suddenly arguing. "What's this I'm hearing about a treasure thief?"

"Oh, well, you see, he stole all our treasure from the royal treasure chamber," the Minister of the Right explained.

"Huh?! All of it?!" memory Nami asked in surprise, but at her tone, the three Monster Trio behind her all took half a step back.

"…I got a bad feeling about this," memory Luffy and Zoro said nervously as Sanji just watched on happily like he could watch her talk for hours.

"And we were right, huh, Captain?" the present-day Zoro asked their Luffy, who nodded grimly.

"Why? What happened?" Chopper asked curiously as they had identical grim faces.

"Aren't they national treasures?" memory Nami asked, turning up to Neptune now. "Aren't you gonna get them back?!"

"After seeing that my people are safe and sound," Neptune said, "mere treasure is meaningless to me-jamon."

"Treasure isn't meaningless!" memory Nami yelled before her eyes suddenly began to shine at this golden opportunity and she asked sweetly her eyes turned into Beri signs, "What if we got it back for you?"

"You're more than welcome to it," Neptune answered agreeably. "It would be wonderful if the people who saved the country had them-jamon."

"Really?" Nami asked… before she angrily turned to the three of them, who all froze in terror.

"Oh, that's why," present-day Chopper gulped down.

"You idiots!" memory Nami yelled at the three of them. "Why did you kick him outta here?! Why didn't you just beat him and tie him up instead!"

"How were we supposed to know he had the treasure?" present-day Zoro demanded.

"You should've just known better," she retorted darkly, getting him to shut up.

"Nami-dear! I love it even when you're…" memory Sanji began before Nami gave each of them a hard punch to the head. And she then punched them all so hard that they went flying like how Muddy had been earlier. There were bloody lumps on their heads as they went falling, with her yelling out, "GO FIND HIM NOW!"

"Nami, how are you so strong?" Chopper gulped as he watched the Monster Trio go flying out of the palace, yelling in pain the whole way down.

"It's all about getting your point across," she answered back coldly.

It seemed that the others were watching her with a new respect as she breathed hard. But luckily at that moment one of Neptune's soldiers came dashing up towards him, his eyes wide with shock.

"Your majesty!" he yelled in a panicked way. "You must come quick! Something has happened to Hody and his men! Their shackles have come off!"

"What? You mean that he escaped?!" present-day Chopper gasped.

But present-day Nami shook her head, having calmed down. "Just watch," she said darkly. "But I promise you won't recognize them."

"You mean…?" Robin began, suddenly understanding what they were about to see.

"What?!" Neptune demanded fearfully. "Are they…?"

"Well…" the soldier gasped out. "It's hard to explain but…? You must come at once!"

Neptune nodded and immediately called for his sons, as well as asking the other Straw Hats to keep an eye on Shirahoshi for him as they went to go and investigate, with only memory Nami coming along with them. Soon a small army of soldiers led them to the dungeons, which was filled with prison bars. They soon found several other guards as well as Jimbei standing outside the cells and staring with wide eyes at what was happening. The present-day Luffy frowned at the sight of all these bars, bad memories coming rushing back to him from two years ago before they were led to the largest cell in the place, seeing what had caused the guard's sudden panic.

"You damn, filthy, pathetic humans! Our grudge against you will never die! A day will come when our vengeance will claim you all!" Hody's voice cackled from inside the cell. "Bring Straw Hat here! I'll kill him myself!"

"Not like that, you will," Zoro said hoarsely as Hody continued to laugh before he gave a wheezing cough.

They all stood in front of the cell and watched with their mouths open and their eyes wide as dinner plates. Hody and his men… were old. Not just old, but ancient. So ancient that it looked like they were falling apart just trying to stand up. Hody was now so weak that he couldn't stand up on his own, forced to hang onto a staff, his arms shaking with the effort as his new beard and hair reached down past his waist.

"Am I drunk?" asked Hyouzou as he tipped over weakly. "Ugh…my joints ache."

"He's got joints?" Brook asked numbly.

"Now is not the time for a joke, pal," Usopp said as he looked over to Zeo, who was coughing, but said darkly, "I got old on purpose!"

"First we will have our revenge on the Straw Hats…kapoof!" Dosun wheezed before he seemed to forget what he was talking about.

Daruma laughed, but even that seemed to be too much effort for him and he had to stop and pant for air. Ikaros was slipping from one side to the other as he panted out, "We are the ones who will punish the humans!"

"Now, I don't claim to know anything about Fishmen, but I'm guessing that this isn't natural?" Usopp said with a gulp.

"This is what happened to them for taking those pills?" Chopper gasped out. "I've never seen anything like this!"

"What is going on here?" Jimbei asked.

"Is that… really Hody and his men?" Ryuboshi questioned in shock.

"I can't blame him for asking that," Sanji said as he shook his head. "If you didn't tell me who they were, I'd be asking what the deal was with those old geezers."

"They really let themselves go," Franky muttered, taking off his sunglasses to get a better look at them.

Hody grabbed hold of the bars of the cell as he threatened, "Don't think that you can keep me in this flimsy cell, you stupid royal bastards!" He then began to pull as he said, "I can just pull these bars apart like…" but he accidently ended up popping his wrist right out of its socket and he fell to the floor as he cried out in pain.

"Oh, how the so-called mighty have fallen," Zoro said darkly.

"Cap'n Hohey!" Ikaros cried as he wobbled over, but then he threw his back out and soon he was screaming on the floor as well.

"I can't help but feel bad for them now," Sanji added. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I still think they're all nuts, but… it's hard to hate them when they look so pathetic."

"I'll say," Luffy muttered.

"What is going on here?" Fukaboshi commented more forcefully, trying to get an answer.

"So it's true," said the Minister of the Right gasped out. "The Energy Steroids that you all kept taking… they were the legendary pills stored in the Tamate Box!"

"The what box?" Luffy asked in confusion. Thankfully memory Nami had just asked the same thing.

"It was a national treasure that had been passed down for generations-jamon," Neptune answered her. "But ten years ago, somebody stole the contents of the Tamate Box."

"We couldn't figure out who did it," the Minister of the Right finished for him. "So it was by the king's decision that we closed the case before it became a scandal. Come to think of it, that was around the time you left the army, Hody."

Hody was panting as he looked up at them, still laughing as he confessed, "That's right! I stole it! You idiots!"

"The effects of the legendary pill are unclear," Neptune added. "One explanations claimed that it would give one tremendous power. Yet another says it will simply make you old."

"So both are right," Robin said simply.

"That's a stupid treasure," Luffy said bluntly.

"For once, you and I are in agreement when it comes to treasure," present-day Nami agreed fully. "I don't see why they would have something like that hanging around the palace!"

"But that doesn't explain how they got like this?" Brook said. He knew that Nami had warned them of this earlier that it was what happened to Hody and his men, but it was another thing to see it like this.

"If I had to guess, the pills work by using the lifeforce of the user," Chopper said with a frown and everyone looked down at him. "That strength they kept getting? That didn't come from nowhere. The more they took, the stronger they got, but that strength was coming from their very life! So now that the effects are over…?"

"They're paying the price," Zoro said in understanding. "And they used up so much of their lives by taking those pills over and over, that… this was all that was left."

"That is scary," Franky whistled out.

"It is an odd national treasure," Neptune confessed. "I assume they guarded the power of the drug closely in order to seal off its dangerous effects."

"Why not destroy them then?" Luffy asked. "Wouldn't that have been easier?"

"Perhaps they kept them in case of an emergency?" Robin offered with a shrug. "Well, I don't think we need to worry about it now. The pills are all gone."

"Apparently," present-day Nami nodded, glad that was the case.

Neptune then said grimly, looking down at Hody and the others with nothing but pity. "You lot opened a box that should never have been opened… and dreamed a foolish dream of gaining great power-jamon."

But Hody wasn't paying attention to a thing he said as he crawled to the bars.

"Shut your mouth, Neptune!" Hody shouted before he coughed on his own saliva.

"It seems that they will no longer be able to seek their revenge," Neptune said as he turned and began to leave.

"Shut up!" Hody called again as he forced himself back to his feet and hung his head outside the bars as he continued to shout. "We're chosen avengers! We will kill all humans… and you!"

"Good luck on that if you can't even stand up on your own," Zoro said, not even bothering to look at him. They brought this on themselves, so he couldn't say that they didn't have themselves to blame for the state they were in.

"At this point, I can only feel pity," Neptune sighed as he looked back. "I may rethink your punishment-jamon."

"Well, it's not like they got much time left," Sanji added as he looked to their weathered faces. "They all look like they're about to turn to dust here. I doubt they'll make it through the week."

"It's probably safer for them to just stay here anyway," Brook offered, "They're a bad influence on everyone."

Neptune then left with the others without a second glance back at them, ignoring Hody's insane cries as he tried to taunt him. But no one even looked back until Fukaboshi passed by, where Hody said, determined to get the last word, "Fukaboshi… you shame our race!"

Fukaboshi glanced down at him, his face holding no emotions as Hody smirked up at him. But then the eldest prince took a deep breath before he opened his eyes again, saying calmly, "Fishman Island will change. You killed my mother but I will not hold a grudge against you."

Hody stared up at him as Fukaboshi added firmly, "So please just shut your mouth. I don't want the children on the island to hear your poisonous words."

With that, Fukaboshi left after his father and all the others, leaving the New Fishman Pirates alone in the dark.

"You tell them, Fukaboshi!" present-day Franky cheered out as the memory began to shift around them once again.

"I guess he learned a thing or two from his younger sister," Nami smiled. It's not easy to not hold a grudge against someone who wronged you. But she learned that those you lost to hatred wouldn't want you to end up full of hate as well. Her own mother's face flashed in her mind and she felt a strange calming warmth going through her, almost like she could feel her mother's arms giving her a hug.

She lost herself in that moment, wanting to believe, just for right now, that she was still here and letting her know that she made the right choice. When she opened her eyes, the memory had already returned and they were in the middle of the street on the main island once again. Nami was so full of happiness that she didn't notice just what was scattered all over the ground until they heard memory Luffy's voice calling out that he found 'him'.

Muddy was lying out cold and all the treasure he had stolen was with him. Nami began drooling at the sight of it all, causing the three present-day Monster Trio standing back to make sure that she didn't take her anger out on them. Yet they were all planning an escape route should she turn her rage towards them again.

"Hey, Zoro! Sanji! Found the guy! That was easy!" memory Luffy cheered out.

Memory Zoro sighed in disappointment as he said, "He was knocked out cold already? That's no fun."

"And here I was hoping for something a little more challenging," the present-day Zoro sighed.

"Man, get a load of all this treasure!" memory Sanji said, holding up a piece of gold and looked at it curiously. "And that hairy king's really gonna give us all of it?!"

"Cool! Think of all the meat I can by with this much food!" memory Luffy exclaimed in joy as he lifted a small chest over his head.

"Not that it matters since you idiots gave it all away!" Nami hissed darkly and the three men put their heads down in shame. It was their only form of defense.

"I can't believe he was storing this much treasure in that gloopy body of his memory Zoro said as they all looked down to Muddy, now renamed Gloopy. But they went about stuffing all the gold and jewels into bags until each one was able to shove them all onto their backs. In fact, there was so much that it almost ended up knocking the trio over until they forced themselves to their feet.

"How could you give it all away between here and the palace?" Nami sighed.

"It went to a good cause," present-day Sanji offered.

"But why all of it?!" she demanded. "Couldn't you save at least one bag?!"

"Nothing that we can do about it now," Robin reminded her kindly. "Let's just watch and see."

"Alright! Let's get back to the palace!" memory Luffy cheered out.

"How're gonna get back?" memory Zoro asked.

"I think they have Flying Fish, don't they?" memory Sanji asked.

"Hey, Zoro, which way is the town?" memory Luffy asked.

"It's that way," memory Zoro said as he pointed down one street.

"Okay, let's go in the opposite direction," memory Sanji spoke up as he pointed in the complete opposite direction.

"Hey!" memory Zoro barked as both Luffy's laughed.

"You know, that is a good idea," Usopp said thinking it all over. "Wherever we need to go somewhere from now on, then we'll just go in the opposite direction that Zoro points out."

"You wanna die? Then shut up!' present-day Zoro snapped at him.

But as they walked on through the town, already looking for a fish that could take them back to the palace when they noticed a crowd up ahead. They were all standing in front of a large brightly-colored building that they recognized when they first came to the island as the candy factory. The pirate flag that still hung on the building was proof of that. The catfish Fishman, the Minister of the Left, was there and seemed to be talking to two others as a nervous crowd watched on.

"Hey, look!" memory Luffy said as he pointed them out to the others. "There's a crowd up ahead!" They talked about this being the candy factory and they wondered if they could get a flying fish back to the palace. That was when memory Luffy began calling out, "Hey, everybody! What are you all doing here?!"

"Yeah, what is this about?" Usopp asked curiously.

"Don't worry, you'll see," present-day Sanji said as he lit up another cigarette. "Let's just say that there are some people in the world who will do anything for sweets."

When the townspeople heard the yelling, they looked up at once to see three Straw Hats there and soon they began to wave and cheer at them happily.

"Look! It's the Straw Hats!"

"Luffy-san! Is the banquet over, already?!"

"Did you enjoy the food we sent?!

"Luffy-kun what are you doing here?" the Minister of the Left asked when he looked up in great surprise.

"I sure did enjoy the food!" memory Luffy said, smiling widely. "The meat was pretty good, but I really liked those sweets!"

At the sound of that, the townsfolk suddenly all grew very pale and tried to hush Luffy from talking.

"What's the matter?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"Apparently all the sweets that they were going to give to Big Mom, they gave to us instead," present-day Sanji answered back.

"Why would they do that?" Nami asked in surprise. "I mean, I think we could understand why they didn't want to give it to us if it was going to an Emperor? There was plenty of food without the sweets! What were they thinking?"

"I guess they thought that we deserved them and didn't realize just how badly damaged the candy factory was," Robin offered.

"Oh, and the Catfish Guy is here, too!" memory Luffy said, not listening to the townspeople.

"Oh, dear…!" the Minister of the Left whispered with dread. That was when another spoke up and they all looked up to see who was there. There were two men, dressed all in pink—with one of them was a talking lion with a pair of thick sunglasses over his face. He then flipped through a stack of wanted posters and stopped on a certain one. He then turned and pointed at Luffy.

"Hey, brat!" the talking lion shouted. "What was that you said about sweets?!"

"Well, Mister Pekoms, if you would just let me explain…" the Minister of the Left tried to speak up, but then memory Luffy cut him off.

"Hey, who're you?" memory Luffy asked cheerfully. "You don't look like a Fishman to me. You here to get some sweets too? I just finished stuffing myself full of them!"

"Maybe you should've stopped talking, Luffy," Franky reasoned.

"How was I supposed to know they didn't have any sweets to give them?" present-day Luffy asked with a frown.

"You know, he's got a good point," Brook pointed out reasonably.

"How can we?" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all yelled. With Nami thinking of all the treasure they lost, and Usopp and Chopper both mourning the fact that they were now being hunted in the New World by an Emperor.

"What?!" the lion demanded angrily before he turned to the Minister of the Left and demanded, "What's going on here?! He just said he ate them?!"

"W-Well, there is an explanation here," the Minister of the Left tried to tell him, "If you just let me…?"

"Oh, a talking lion!" memory Luffy said. "But I guess that's not such a big deal. We got something like that!" He then walked close up to the lion and looked at him curiously as he told him what a weird face he had.

Present-day Sanji sighed at this obvious rudeness and informed him, "Take it easy, you're being rude as usual."

"Really?" present-day Luffy asked in surprise.

"What?!" the lion demanded. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?!" He took off his glasses and glared at Luffy. But at the look of those cute beady eyes of his, memory Luffy burst out laughing.

"Luffy? Please, don't make this guy angry," Usopp whimpered out.

But just before it looked like it was going to break out into a fight, they heard a voice speak up, "Pekoms! You making such threatening faces isn't help us to get our sweets back."

Everyone turned to see a man with incredibly long legs sitting down on the ground and sipping a cup of tea, as well as a pink tuxedo with a pink shirt underneath and a light brown bowtie. His most notable piece of attire is the pants that looked like a broken egg shell, and a long wooden cane in his hand.

"I believe that his name is Baron Tamago," Robin said. "I think that I've seen him on some wanted posters. He's one of Big Mom's pirates."

"Let's settle this peacefully-soir," he said, "The tea party isn't for another four days-bon. We can still make it on time if we leave tomorrow morning-jour."

"There's another odd one," memory Luffy said. "Who are you?"

"Ahem," Tamago grunted as he placed his tea cup on a saucer on his head. "And a very bonjour to you, too, half-boiled pirates and le loup. Baron Tamago, at your service."

He stood up and took them all by sudden surprise at how tall he was.

"Do remember the name, si'l vous plait," Tamago said, once again sipping his tea. "Now, Monsieur Straw Hat… did I hear correctly? Did you happen to eat all the sweets from the factory here?"

"He's like a compass…!" memory Zoro whispered in shock

"I sure did," memory Luffy answered Tamago. "In fact, I'd eat some more if they have any!"

"They don't, but you see, that is just our problem," Tamago said as he pointed up to the flag over the factory and explained that the flag belonged to their boss, Charlotte Linlin, their captain, and one of the Four Emperors Big Mom. The reason it was here was because this island was part of her territory and thus under her protection.

"Sounds like a nice person!" memory Luffy said happily. "I wanna meet her! Big Mom, right?"

"I don't!" both Usopp and Chopper cried out fretfully.

"Don't mistake our arrangement," Tamago said. "This is a business matter. In exchange for ten tons of sweets a month, we allow them to use our mark-bon."

"Ten tons?" memory Luffy asked as some of the present-day Straw Hats let out gasps or long whistles at the thought of ten tons of candy.

"That's right," Tamago said. "Mama loves sweet candies more than anything. Sweets from Fishman Island are her favorite." He then twirled a bit before he decided, "We can wait until tomorrow morning."

"B-but Baron Tamago!" the Minister of the Left cried out in worry. "I keep telling you, the factory's cooking machinery is broken! It will take at least two weeks to repair them!"

"That is not acceptable-soir," Tamago said.

"Hey! Tamago!" memory Sanji barked. "Why can't you just wait?"

"Is your boss's mind as small as his balls?" memory Zoro asked. "He's one of the four Emperors, isn't he?"

"It's not 'he'," Tamago said. "Mama is a woman, Monsieur pirate. She does not have le balls, at all!"

"If she did, she'd be a dude," present-day Franky pointed out with a laugh.

"She's a lady, huh?" memory Sanji asked, blushing red with a rather perverted look appearing on his face.

"I don't even want to know what you're thinking of," Nami sighed as she shook her head.

But thankfully memory Sanji seemed to snap out of it as he asked more seriously, but with pink still in his cheeks, "Ok, so what would happen if she doesn't get her sweets on time?"

"In that case," Tamago replied as he twirled his cane around and struck at the ground. "The deal is off! Mama will send the most vicious members of the Big Mom pirates will descend on the island and destroy it in no time."

"WHAAAAAAAAT?" the members of the crew shouted out in shock other than the other three who had seen this.

"Come on! I love sweets as much as the next person, but destroying an entire island because of them?!" Chopper cried out in horror. He knew that this was what they said before, but he still couldn't believe that there would be people out there who would be ready to kill for something like candy and sweets!

"Big Mom isn't known to be reasonable," Robin said as she thought back. "I've heard more than my fair share of rumors about her. And so attacking islands simply because they couldn't afford to pay her in sweets isn't anything new."

"Man, I'd hate to work under her," present-day Sanji sighed.

But memory Luffy was quickly growing pissed off. his eyes widen and anger began to settle in on his face.

"What? Destroy the island?!" he shouted out furiously. "Are you guys nuts? Who destroys a kingdom over some candy?! WE JUST GOT THROUGH SAVING THIS PLACE!"

There was a long pause until Tamago reached up to the cup of tea that was sitting on his head and began to drink it.

"I can't believe it-bon," he said calmly. "You aren't even half-boiled. They are raw."

"What does that mean?" present-day Luffy frowned.

"It means that we don't have a clue how the world works," present-day Zoro answered. "We just a bunch of kids who aren't important in their eyes. Ignore them. They aren't worth it."

"What should I do with these hopeless rookies-jour?" he asked Pekoms casually, as if asking if he thought that it was a good day to go on a stroll.

Memory Luffy glared up at him, and they could almost hear the sounds of him growling, like some kind of wild animal getting ready to attack. The memory versions of Zoro and Sanji both put down their sacks of treasure, their faces serious, like they were expecting trouble. The crowd started to move backwards, fear and worry on their faces, and it really did look like it was about to erupt into a full fight right then and there.

But at that moment they heard the sound of a Transponder Snail started to ring and that got everyone's attention. They looked up to where they saw the Transponder Snail—having been set up on a rock—with large red lips, thick eyelashes, curly pink hair, and a shell with purple polka dot.

"That's probably Mama," Pekoms said nervously. "Grr! I already told her what's going on here a while ago."

The townsfolk gasped at the thought of Big Mom calling them in person. It soon became clear that the two didn't want to pick up the receiver and so they just let the snail ring for some time before Tamago whispered to Pekoms, "Hey, Pekoms…?"

"Why don't you pick it up? Grr!" the lion snapped back. "I don't wanna get yelled at."

"Not so high and mighty now, are they?" Franky asked as he folded his arms.

But clearly tired of waiting, memory Luffy just walked right up to it and picked up the receiver and said, rather rudely, "Hello?"

"HEY!" Pekoms and Tamago shouted in panic at the sight of it.

" _Hmmm?_ " asked a voice over the end in a dark way that cause the people behind them to freeze at the voice.

"Are you Big Mom?!" memory Luffy demanded even as Pekoms and Tamago were pulling at the sack of treasure on Luffy's, trying to get the receiver back from him.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, HEY!" they both cried out together.

There was a pause…

" _This isn't Tamago…_ " a woman's angry voice sounded from the other end. " _Or Pekoms. Who are you?_ "

"This is Monkey D. Luffy!" memory Luffy answered. "I'm the man who's gonna be King of the Pirates!"

"That is your catchphrase isn't it, pal?" Franky laughed out at that, expecting nothing less from their crazy captain. "You got balls saying that to an Emperor!"

"STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!" Tamago and Pekoms shouted in panic as everyone stared on in shock at what they were hearing.

"What is he doing?!"

"Straw Hat, don't!"

"Luffy-kun?" the Minister of the Left gasped out.

" _Monkey D. …?_ " Big Mom began slowly. " _Oh, yes. You're Garp's grandson. Yes, I remember now. You were the brat who meddled in the war two years ago!_ "

"Luffy, please don't do anything that could make her angry," Usopp said.

"Yohohoho, a little late for that, Usopp-san," Brook reminded him as Usopp fell to his knees and began to cry, with Chopper and Nami both at his side.

"The sweets are gone!" memory Luffy exclaimed. "I ate them all!"

" _So it's true they don't have any!_ " Big Mom screamed on the other end, sounding truly ticked off. " _They were supposed to have ten tons!_ "

"Yeah! I ATE ALL TEN TONS!" memory Luffy yelled.

"Seriously, where do you put all that food?" Nami asked their Luffy despite her despair. "How could you eat ten tons of the stuff?!"

"Hey, I ate a lot too!" Chopper added as the crowd gasped and Big Mom screamed in rage.

"Not now, Chopper!" Nami said. "Seriously, just how can you keep eating everything, Luffy? Just where does it all go?"

The present-day Luffy thought that over before he said typically, "No idea!"

She sighed, not sure what she was expecting otherwise.

"Straw Hat! Don't…?!" someone in the crowd gasped as the people stared in horror at what they were hearing.

"What does he think he's doing?!" Tamago shouted as Pekoms was now too scared to move.

Both memory Zoro and Sanji were standing there calmly as they watched on, knowing that there was nothing that could be helped, and they suspected where this was going. There was an agonizing pause as the Transponder Snail stared on, as if in too much shock to say anything. It was so tense that you could cut it in the air with a knife. And then…?

" _You fool_ ," Big Mom snarled. " _Stop lying! You're covering up for those Fishmen, aren't you?!_ "

"But it's true! I ate them!" memory Luffy yelled. "I didn't know it was supposed to go to you!" But then he then dropped his bag of treasure, where you could hear the sounds of the heavy gold hitting the ground—and causing Nami to whimper at the sound of it.

"Look!" he yelled out. "We just got a whole bunch of treasure! You can have ALL of it in as compensation repayment for the sweets, instead!"

Everyone gasped at this, with Pekoms and Tamago gapping at the sight of all that treasure.

" _I can't eat treasure, you fool_!" Big Mom shouted. " _WHAT I WANT IS SWEET CANDIES_!"

"What is wrong with you?" Nami gasped out. Who in their right mind would turn down treasure for sweets?

"Wait just a moment!" Tamago exclaimed as he came over. "Are those bags you're carrying really full of treasure?!"

"Yeah," Luffy answered as he glared at the Transponder Snail. As Tamago looked over it, he could see the few pieces of treasure sticking out from the bags and he was almost shaking at the sight before he snatched the receiver from Luffy's hand.

"Mama, this is Tamago," he cried out, "Let's think about this! A few days ago, that brat—Captain Kid sank two of our deux ships!"

"Kid?" memory Luffy asked.

"It's that guy," memory Sanji said. "The rookie who was worth over a 300 million that we met at Sabaody."

"Right, that red-haired guy who made that giant arm made of metal!" Usopp gasped as he thought back to the memory he had seen of them before.

"He's another one who's got balls doing something like that when he knows full well what that meant," present-day Zoro stated with a shrug. "Wonder how high his bounty grew over the last two years?"

"It was a heavy loss," Tamago reasoned. "And to be honest, we've been in need of money lately. So how about we save the fun of eating sweets for a couple of weeks and accept this treasure in exchange for our mercy and forgive them just this once? I think it's the best plan for us. If you want candies, we could pick up the most delectable sweets to bring you on the way back, I swear!"

There was another long pause as Tamago lowered his head close to the Transponder Snail and waited.

" _SCREW THAT, TAMAGO!_ " she shouted out, causing Tamago to cry out and fall backwards. " _How dare you suggest such a cowardly thing to me?! Pirates shouldn't compromise on what they want!_ "

"Excusez-moi, Mama!" Tamago cried, dropping to his knees as he begged for forgiveness.

"Well, I'll say this for her, she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to get it," present-day Zoro said. "But why does it have to be sweets?"

"Don't ask me what goes on inside the mind of an Emperor," Franky said. "But she is one of the four most powerful pirates in the world, so she can do whatever she wants."

" _Having said that…_ " she said before she began to chuckle, " _That brat who stood up to me has piqued my interest. Have it your way, instead of Fishman Island… I'll_ _alter the target of my wrath from Fishman Island…to YOU!_ "

Everyone in the crowd gasped at this news, shocked by what Luffy was doing for them.

" _Monkey D. Luffy_ ," Big Mom declared, speaking directly to him now. " _I will remember your name. Now COME! To the New World!_ "

"I hope none of you mind the fact that Luffy here went and said something that could get us all killed," present-day Zoro told them.

"Oh no," Robin said lightly. "Not at all."

"I'm cool with it," Franky and present-day Sanji nodded in agreement as the others all cried out in misery at the sound of this. Present-day Luffy began laughing as his memory self picked up the fallen receiver.

"Sure, you just wait for me!" memory Luffy snapped. "There's some business I wanna settle with you!"

" _Eh?_ " Big Mom's voice asked suspiciously.

"I can't leave this place in your hands, that's too dangerous," memory Luffy explained, his eyes shadowed over by his hat. "I'm gonna come to the New World and then kick your ass… and then… MAKE FISHMAN ISLAND PART OF MY TERRITORY!"

And he slammed the receiver down, leaving everyone in a stunned silence.

He did it now… they hadn't even made it to the New World and already they have one of the four most powerful pirates in the world hate their guts and want to kill them.

The memory faded all around them until they were back at the palace. The Monster Trio had just stepped inside, with memory Luffy still fuming as the rest of the crew, King Neptune, Shirahoshi, Jimbei, and the Minister of the Right all came up to greet them. And they watched on as they were told what happened in the town. It seemed to take about thirty seconds for the truth to sink in.

A pause came…but then everyone gasped in horror that made you think that they could be heard from down on the main island.

"WHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?!"

"YOU GAVE AWAY ALL THE TREASURE…" the Minister of the Right began.

"TO BIG MOM?!" Neptune finished for him, his eyes so wide that they looked like they were about to burst out of his head.

Memory Nami then cried out, "ALL OF IT?!"

Now that she saw what happened, while she understood, and knew that she probably would have done the same thing if it had been her… why couldn't they keep a couple pieces for her?

"She said she was gonna destroy the island because she couldn't have her sweets from the factory!" memory Luffy shouted out angrily. "Can you believe how crazy she is? I mean, if it were meat, I could understand."

"Really?" present-day Usopp asked their Luffy, who laughed good-naturedly back.

"Let's just hope you don't turn out as nuts as she is and destroy islands for their meat," Franky sniggered at the thought.

"But don't worry," memory Luffy said. "I got pissed and told her off."

"Don't worry? I think your words did the opposite of calming them down, Luffy," Robin laughed at the sight of seeing the others faces when they heard that remark.

"YOU MEAN YOU STOOD UP TO ONE OF THE EMPERORS?!" memory versions of Usopp, Chopper, and Brook questioned while Robin just chuckled at this news, like a little boy was telling her why he pulled a prank on someone rather than telling off one of the most dangerous people in the world.

"You mean you picked a fight with Big Mom?!" Jimbei questioned, looking just as horrified as the others.

Shirahoshi giggled at this and said, "I knew you were strong, Master Luffy!"

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM HERE!" memory Usopp barked and at his sharp tone, Shirahoshi gasped before she broke out in tears, again.

"WAAAAAH!" she cried. "NOSE-OPP YELLED AT ME!"

"It's Usopp!" memory Usopp yelled before he asked in a much softer tone, "And I'm sorry! Stop crying, already!"

"Boy, this is not good," Jimbei said, rubbing his hand through his hair exhaustedly. "It seems I'll have to cut ties with Big Mom before things get even more complicated."

"What does he mean by that?" present-day Luffy asked.

"Not sure," the present-day Usopp answered and you could almost see the question marks hovering above his head.

"Jimbei and the Sun Pirates joined up with Big Mom in order for her to protect this island," Robin reminded them. "I think that this may be one of the 'duties' that he was forced to deal with before joining up with us. If so, it makes a lot of sense. If you make a deal with one of the four Emperor's you have to be really determined to break that agreement."

"I get it," the present-day Nami said in understanding, "He's worried that if he breaks ties with her, then she could turn her anger onto the island!"

"No wonder he couldn't join with us at first," Chopper gasped out. "But if we pick a fight with her, then does that mean we have to fight against Jimbei too?"

"He did say that he wanted to break ties with her before things get any worse," present-day Sanji reminded him. "Let's hope that he's able to do that without getting himself killed."

Jimbei turned to the others and commanded, "Listen, all of you! You need to make sure that you do not do anything else that could make Big Mom any angrier!"

"We won't!" memory Usopp cried at once. "We're all gonna get killed since she's one of the Four Emperors!"

Robin noticed that both King Neptune and the Minister of the Right were looking dismayed and the two were whispering quickly to each other. It looked suspicious, but before she could point this out, both memory Zoro and Sanji came to Luffy's defense.

"Well, he had no choice," memory Sanji said as he breathed out a mouthful of smoke.

"What's done is done," memory Zoro added unconcerned.

"Of course, Luffy!" memory Nami said, a suspiciously sweet smile on her face, walking towards them with her staff in hand. "It seemed like you couldn't help but go and pick a fight with her."

"Run guys!" present-day Chopper cried out.

"No, it's too late for them," present-day Usopp sighed, clapping a hand on Chopper's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do for them anymore."

"Right!" memory Luffy said, oblivious to the danger he was in. "And besides, I'm not really scared of her, anyway! It doesn't matter who it is, I'll-"

"It's not Big Mom who you should be scared of right now!" present-day Brook gasped before he clammed up when the present-day Nami glared at him, daring him to say another word.

A few minutes later, the Monster Trio were lying on the ground, covered in bumps and bruises and been struck by lightning. Swollen, burned and in pain… the three of them were suddenly as lifeless as dolls. Memory Sanji seemed to be the only one who didn't seem to mind getting beaten to within an inch of his life for he was smiling… as memory Luffy and Zoro seemed to be close to seeing heaven as they laid there.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU GIVE AWAY ALL THE TREASURE?!" memory Nami questioned.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE MAD ABOUT?!" the past versions of Usopp, Chopper, and Brook questioned in shock.

"I'M GONNA HURT YOU!" memory Nami warned the Monster Trio as she raised her fist.

"BUT YOU ALREADY DID!" memory Chopper cried out before Nami glared at him and he shut up at once.

"Don't be a hero, Chopper," present-day Franky gasped out. "It's not worth it here!"

"Okay, guys…!" memory Luffy said through fat lips and a raised up fist. "Let's go to the New World…!"

"WE HAVE NO FUTURE AHEAD OF US!" the memory versions of Brook, Chopper and Usopp screamed at him as memory Robin giggled and everyone else just watched with nothing short of shock on their faces, unsure of how they should feel about it all.

"Maybe he's giving some second thoughts to joining us?" present-day Usopp sighed as he spotted Jimbei's stunned expression.

After taking at least an hour to calm down memory Nami, it was decided that now was probably the best time to leave. Once the shock had worn off, the royal family insisted on going with them as far as the harbor and they brought in the same ship that they…'borrowed' from the princes when they needed to get Sanji into town, and they produced a very large bubble of air for them. They were then going to be given an escort all the way to the harbor with Neptune on the back of Hoe, the princes sitting up on top of the oarfish's head that was pulling their ship, and Shirahoshi sitting up on Megalo's back. Soon they left the palace and were heading down towards the island.

"We're leaving already?" present-day Chopper sighed sadly as the people below started to cheer at the sight of the Straw Hats and their escort to the port.

"No!" present-day Sanji cried. "Don't make me say goodbye to those beautiful mermaids a second time!"

"Down boy," present-day Nami sighed, "You're drooling."

There could be no doubt that the entire island thought of them as heroes now, and soon there was a large parade of people behind them, wanting to see them off, and it was only with the help of the soldiers politely reminding them that they couldn't all say their goodbyes, that everyone living here couldn't fit at the port.

They watched on with bright smiles until they spotted the water on the horizon and knew that their time on Fishman Island was just about over. When they drew closer to the ship, they could see memory Franky and Den standing on the deck and waiting for them, giving them a thumbs-up when he saw them.

The ship soon touched down at the water's ledge and preparations were being made to leave. The citizens were handing over crates of food, clothes, and other supplies that they would need on a long voyage and even a handful of people offered to get the ship ready for them to go as well. Soon everyone was ready, and they were just saying their final goodbyes. But during all that, there was someone who didn't want to let them leave just yet.

"Must you leave now, Master Luffy?! And just when we were becoming really good friends!" Shirahoshi cried as she held up memory Luffy in the palm of her hands. "Can't you stay just one more day?! No, a week! No! A year at least?! PLEASE?!"

"Awww," present-day Nami sighed with a smile. "I really miss her now."

"So do I…" the present-day Sanji cried mournfully. "Don't be sad though, my dear Shirahoshi-chan! I promise I shall return to you!"

"You've been crying ever since the first time we met, crybaby," memory Luffy said as her tears were soaking his clothes.

"I…I'm sorry," Shirahoshi said with a sniffle. "I-I'll try not to be a crybaby anymore!"

Memory Sanji sighed in joy as he danced about. "To think, the day would come when the Mermaid Princess of Fishman Island herself would shed tears at our departure!"

"Sanji-kun!" an entire crowd of mermaids called sweetly up at him and he spun about in bliss, hearts surrounding him as he cried out, "I wish I could live here for another year!"

"Yohohoho! Yes, me too!" memory Brook agreed as he strummed up his guitar. "I shall sing about a dream life on Fishman Island for my new single!" he then began to sing as the girls began to cheer up at him. Memory Zoro then strolled over and clapped a hand on memory Sanji's shoulder.

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," he said sincerely. "Maybe you should stay here forever, Nosebleed."

That got memory Sanji out of his love-sick state and glared at Zoro.

"What did you call me, Moss-Head?!" memory Sanji questioned as his flames of anger began to burn about him and soon the two of them were going at it.

"Who are you calling Moss-Head?" memory Zoro shrieked.

"You better watch out, the next time we're sitting down for a meal! You don't wanna find out what happens when you piss off the cook!" the present-day Sanji snarled at their Zoro.

"Actually, I DO!" Zoro barked as he blocked Sanji's kick with his sword. "Bring it on! I can digest poison and razorblades! I can handle anything you have to serve!"

That was when present-day Robin noticed something unusual and looked to where King Neptune and the Minister of the Right were silently talking to each other. She watched how they were looking anxiously to the nearby sobbing versions of Usopp and Chopper.

"We're doomed!" memory Usopp whimpered, their depression hanging over their heads like dark storm clouds. "One of the Four Emperors has it out for us! We're gonna go to the New World just to die!"

"Do you think she'll forgive us if we send her all of the treasures we get from now on?" memory Chopper cried, their tears forming a pool beneath them.

"I don't care if she is mad at us!" present-day Nami shouted out suddenly, "Like hell I'm gonna hand over anymore treasure to her!"

"Please, Nami!" the present-day Usopp and Chopper cried out.

"Big babies," present-day Franky said with a laugh to the two of them.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH NOT WANTING TO DIE?!" they screamed out together.

"Then you picked the wrong profession," present-day Zoro yawned out. "We're pirates and any day could be our last."

"Geez, remind me never to go to you for a pep talk!" present-day Franky said.

During this argument, the Minister of the Left then stepped forward, holding out a small present to Nami. And that was when he handed her the new Eternal Pose, where there were three needles instead of just the one. He then began to explain how it worked, how the old pose would not be reliable in the New World. Here in the New World, not only do the currents and weather patterns change, but so do the magnetic fields, which were normally the navigator's sole means of navigation. So with just one needle, if you lost hold of the direction, you would still have two more to fall back on. But that was when memory Nami noticed that while two of the needles were still, the third was shaking just as much as needle on their old Log Pose was. That was when the Minister of the Left explained that each of those needles was tuned to a different island, and that only experienced navigators can determine where the safest route was. Based on the tiniest movements of the needles, you could determine just how dangerous the next island was, for the trembling indicates that the island ahead may be suffering some anomaly that was disrupting the magnetic field.

"He just had to tell us that, didn't he?" present-day Nami muttered as her past self shrieked at what this meant.

"What?!" she cried as she stared down at the pose like it was suddenly something poisonous as she cried out, "Oh, screw that! I rather not know!"

"You'll be able to see if it's dangerous?!" memory Chopper cried in horror.

"No way! Break that Log Pose! Get rid of it!" memory Usopp shouted as he went running up.

"But why?" asked the Minister of the Left asked in confusion. "You have to be able to navigate if you wish to survive in the New World."

But it was too late.

With a laugh, memory Luffy suddenly stretched out his neck and actually wrapped himself around memory Nami several time so that he could get a look at it, looking like some kind of boa constrictor. Memory Nami gasped as Luffy looked at their new Log Pose, his eyes clearly drawn to the middle one, where it was shaking.

"Whoa! Check out the way that middle needle is shaking a lot!" memory Luffy said. "I bet that island is where the party is!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" memory Nami shrieked with tears of terror streaking down her cheeks.

"HE HEARD US!" memory Usopp cried.

"Why couldn't he have told me this before they got back to the palace?" the present-day Nami sighed as she looked to their Log but as soon as she saw it, she frowned a little. The needle that they followed to get here in the first place was pointing in the same direction as when they first arrived. That wasn't… normal. It was supposed to be able to log onto this island before locking onto the next. Why hadn't it done that yet? It was supposed to only take half a day for it to reset and it was taking longer to do so. But before she could point this out to the others, her past self grabbed Luffy's neck and began to throttle him.

"LUFFY! YOU STAY QUIET!" she snapped. "I'M THE NAVIGATOR AND I'LL BE CHOOSING WHICH WAY WE GO FROM NOW ON!"

"NO WAY! I'M THE CAPTAIN!" memory Luffy shouted back.

"Please listen to the navigator, Luffy…!" the memory versions of Usopp and Chopper whimpered.

"Nami is so cute when she's threatening Luffy!" memory Sanji sighed happily from the deck of the ship.

"I have just the song for this situation!" memory Brook said, strumming his guitar. "Behold…'A Requiem for Us!'"

"Oh, good name," present-day Franky nodded as both memory Franky and Robin chuckled at the sight of it.

"Okay, gang!" memory Franky called as he appeared on the deck once again with Den at his side, and getting everyone's attention. "We're all set! I've got a hang of the surfacing controls, too! Whenever you're ready!"

"Right!" memory Luffy cried out as he unwrapped his neck from around Nami. "Time to go, guys!"

With that, the Straw Hats boarded the Sunny, preparing to ship off, with the Weakling Trio miserably heading aboard, acting like they were walking to the gallows of their execution.

"Luffy-chin!" Camie called as she held up Pappug happily.

"I'm gonna stay and help repair the factory!" Hachi said, back on his feet, and already feeling better. "Can you guys make it up to the surface without a guide?"

"We'll be okay!" memory Luffy reassured. "We've had a lot of fun on the way down here!"

"Yeah, that's right! We don't need a guide!" memory Usopp snapped, who until a moment ago was sagging over the railing of the ship in misery. "A man's journey always leads him straight to hell!"

"We don't need your stupid help! We're already on a crash course with death, anyway!" the present-day Usopp called.

"Yeah!" memory Chopper agreed. "We're at war with common sense!"

"Let's go to the New World!" the present-day Chopper added, despite the fact that he was feeling sick to his stomach.

"Poor boys are terrified," memory Robin noted.

Just then several of the mermaids began cooing up to Sanji, telling him that they will miss him and for him to come back again soon.

"And I will miss you, my undersea beauties!" memory Sanji swooned as he danced over to the railing and began blowing kissing. "You Mermaids are the all blue of my heart!"

"Stupidest dream I've ever heard of," memory Zoro said.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, MOSS-HEAD?!"

"YOU HEARD ME, DARTBOARD!"

It was hard to tell who shouted that since both Zoro and Sanji in the memory and present-day began fighting. The Mermaids couldn't help but laugh at the sight of seeing them battling it out. Meanwhile, memory Luffy was standing up on the railing as he talked one last time to the three princes.

"I've nothing but gratitude for what you and your crew have done for us," Fukaboshi said as he and Luffy shook hands. "You have my thanks! I will pray for your safe journey."

"Thanks!" memory Luffy said, as the two younger princes appeared at Fukaboshi's side.

"Next time you see us," Manboshi began as he began to dance his way up to say his goodbyes, "We'll be leading the greatest force the Sea Floor has ever seen! WHOO! Mambo!"

"That's right!" Ryuboshi agreed sang out. "Pretty soon, the tales of Neptune the Great Knight will replaced with a NEW legend, fa-so-la-ti-do!"

Memory Luffy laughed. "Can't wait!"

"Yeah! It's gonna be awesome to see!" the present-day Luffy cheered out, excited at the thought, not noticing how Neptune was chuckling at the declaration by his sons.

But memory Luffy was suddenly looking all over the crowd, squinting his eyes as he tried to find something. "Where is he?" they heard him mutter before he seemed to spot it. "Hey, Jimbei!"

They looked to where he was glancing and saw Jimbei standing in the crowd, close enough to see them off, but having no need to say goodbye. He promised that he would come to them again and they all grinned at the thought. As Jimbei and memory Luffy looked at each other, no words were exchanged… for none were needed. Jimbei just gave a simple nod of the head and grinned, as did both Luffy's.

"Okay, then!" memory Luffy said before he turned to the others before he jumped up into the air. "Okay, all! Let's go! Set sail!"

They unfurled their sail at that command and the crowd cheered for them when they saw the mark of the Straw Hats unfold. Memory Franky went up and took the wheel and began to set course straight for the exit. Soon, the Straw Hats began to sail away from the island while the islanders began to shout their farewells.

"Thank you Straw Hat!"

"Come back again, soon!"

"Come back to eat sweets and meat any time!"

"I like humans now!"

"Raccoons and robots too!"

"I have to say, it's a nice change to leave an island and not have to escape marines," present-day Nami couldn't help but speak out.

"Funny how that works out," present-day Brook chuckled. "Either we're waved off as heroes, or we're run out of town! Makes me wonder how we're gonna leave when we get out of this tower?"

"Huh?" memory Brook asked when they didn't say anything about him. "But… what about bones?"

"Take care, Luffy-chin and everyone!" Camie called as she waved.

"You can come have some octopus fritters, anytime you want!" Hachi shouted, waving all six of his arms in goodbye.

"We love you guys!" Pappug shouted tearfully as he jumped up and down.

"And we love you, too, skeleton!" the mermaid quintuples called out together. At the sound of that, all of memory Brook's depression vanished at once and he jumped back to his feet and ran over to the back of the ship, waving with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you, very much!" he called happily. It really didn't take much for him to cheer up. Just a few kind words meant the world to him.

The people continued to wave but in the distance they saw Shirahoshi dive headfirst into the sea. Mere seconds later she burst out of the water right at the Sunny's side.

"Master Luffy!" Shirahoshi cried, water splashing everywhere as her fingers reached up to the side of the ship like it was some kind of toy, making it shake was enough to knock Luffy over. "Please, wait!"

"Crybaby!" memory Luffy exclaimed with a laugh, trying to keep his balance.

"Shirahoshi!" memory Sanji swooned as Shirahoshi was panting hard.

"If I can see you all again someday…" Shirahoshi began softly, "I promise I won't be a crybaby anymore." She sniffled a little, tears still in her eyes, but she forced a smile as she asked, "So… could you take me out on another fun stroll again?"

"A stroll? Do you wanna go to your mom's grave again?" memory Luffy asked with a big smile.

"No," Shirahoshi replied with a shake of her head before looking upwards, as if she could see the real sky. "I wanna go somewhere further next time. I wanna go to a real forest up on the surface!"

"That's right, girl! Dream big!" present-day Franky chuckled.

"Oh, yeah," memory Luffy said in realization. "You've never been outta the sea, have ya? Okay! You're on! Next time we meet, I'll take you there!"

Shirahoshi beamed widely at those words as she wiped her tears away, and the other Straw Hats all smiling at her. She really was trying to hold back her tears as she held out her pinky and asked, "Will you promise?"

Memory Luffy, who realized what she wanted, grinned and stretched his pinky around hers.

"You bet! I promise!" he said and causing her to smile even wider.

"Hey, Luffy!" memory Nami spoke up suddenly. "We have to help you keep that promise!"

"Luffy-san, a promise is something you have to keep at any cost!" memory Brook added.

"Yes," present-day Brook agreed with his past self. "A promise is a sacred thing! Especially a pinky promise!"

"You would know that," the present-day Franky grinned at their Brook. "You cheated death to keep one after all!"

"Yohohoho! That is just a fact!" Brook answered back happily. "Death never counts as an apology! A promise is a promise!"

"Then Shirahoshi, I'll promise you too!" memory Nami added as she came up and put her own pinky to hers.

Shirahoshi gasped at that and cried out happily, and even more so when the other Straw Hats came up, one by one. Each one making the same promise. Soon, almost all the crew had followed suit, leaving only memory Franky and Zoro behind, but they were both smiling, with memory Franky holding up his own pinky to show her.

"With this many promises," memory Robin began before Brook finished for her, "I'm sure it will come true, one day."

"We all promise," they recited together, and tears of joy fell from Shirahoshi's eyes.

"So no more crying," memory Luffy told her and she wiped at her eyes.

"Of course!" she said happily, and with their final goodbyes, she waved them off, and she continued waving until they reached the gate and passed through the outer bubble and were back in open sea once again.

"What a sweet girl," present-day Franky grinned. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when we take her to a real forest someday."

"Here, here!" Chopper grinned as he jumped up and down happily. "I'm gonna show her all kinds of flowers too! I know she'll like them!"

"And the real sun on her face," Robin added brightly. "I'm sure she's eagerly waiting for us back on Fishman Island. Why don't we bring her a lot of exciting stories when we next see her?"

"Yes! It's gonna be an awesome adventure!" present-day Luffy grinned out.

Memory Sanji sighed as he fell back onto the deck of the ship. "I had a wonderful time," he said. "At the mermaid paradise!"

"Even when you almost bled to death?" present-day Usopp asked in confusion.

"I don't mind! I have no regrets and can die happy now," the present-day Sanji sighed.

"What about the All Blue?" Chopper reminded him.

"Now everyone! You need to pull yourselves together!" memory Nami called. "Once we're out on the surface, there's no refuge! We'll be navigator stormy seas, once again!"

That was when memory Franky began to throw up a long rope with several blocks of wood tied every few feet, explaining that this will help them to ascend to the surface.

"Hey, Franky!" memory Usopp asked when he saw Franky throwing out several of the wooden blocks. "What are those things?"

"This is to make the ship ascend," he informed them. "These logs are hollowed out Banyan. I can adjust the speed by how many I put out!"

At that moment, everyone noticed how eerily quiet that memory Luffy was and they looked up to the front of the ship where he was standing. They all began to call out to him, but he didn't look at them as he began to talk.

"Soon…we'll be in the same sea as Shanks!" he said as he pulled off his Straw Hat and smiled down at it. "I can't wait to see him again!"

"Me too!" present-day Usopp cheered, thinking of his father and wondering if he would become proud of the brave warrior of the sea that he became.

"Once we reach the surface," memory Luffy began, his fists trembling with excitement, "then we'll be on the mightiest sea in the world, guys!"

"Finally," memory Zoro said, smirking, his hands already going for his swords. "I'll cut everything down to size."

"I'm gonna be the greatest swordsman in the world by the end of this voyage!" the present-day Zoro grinned excitedly.

"Just wait a bit longer, Laboon!" memory Brook called out excitedly. "I'm halfway there!"

"And I will have all new songs and stories to tell you when I get back to you!" the present-day Brook vowed.

"We'll take you wherever you need to go!" memory Nami exclaimed as she held up her new Log Pose, knowing that there wasn't anything that could be helped but to just roll with it.

"No need to worry about getting lost so long as I'm here," present-day Nami added with a smile. "Well, Zoro may be out of luck."

"Hey!" Zoro snapped back.

"You got it, the Sunny can handle anything!" memory Franky added as he flexed and posed.

"Duh! Sunny is the best ship in the world! And she's gonna go all the way to the end!" present-day Franky added, posing as well.

"I'll heal you no matter how wounded you guys are, okay!?" memory Chopper asked.

"But don't get hurt too much!" the present-day Chopper added.

"You'll never go hungry so long as I'm here!" memory Sanji grinned.

"Until your food kills us off," present-day Zoro added.

"Why do you always have to ruin everything?!" the present-day Sanji demanded with a glare.

"And don't forget that you have at least one brave warrior of the sea to back you up!" memory Usopp shouted.

"I'm gonna see you guys through to the end, so don't you worry!" the present-day Usopp declared.

Both Robins only chuckled, but she knew that they were both thinking of the same thing, that they would find the answers to the Void Century here, and her heart was beating just a bit faster at the thought.

"HERE WE GO, GUYS!" both Luffy shouted out together. "WE'RE OFF FOR… THE NEW WORLD!"

"YEAH!" the Straw Hats cheered. Straw Hats have finally set off the New World…and once they make it to that side…their new strength and skills will be put to the test.

The memory faded until they were back in the tower and now Luffy was more pumped up than ever as he cheered and went running straight for the next door, ignoring how the others were calling for him to wait up for once.

But Luffy didn't want to wait, he wanted to see what else was waiting for them. He laughed as he sprinted up the rest of the way up the stairs to reach the next floor. He was so excited that he didn't pay any attention to the pair of golden eyes that shone from the darkness, watching him the whole way up. In his eagerness, Luffy stretched his arms out and grabbed the sides of the walls with his hands and then went rocketing upwards and grinned when he saw the next door open magically at he approached it. Luffy went flying inside and hit the wall opposite him before he bounced back with a laugh.

With a roll, he jumped to his feet and began looking around with bright eyes, wondering just what they were going to see next. But as he looked, he didn't notice how the door immediately shut behind him until he was alone in the dark.

But Luffy didn't notice this as he was still staring about. "Hey guys?" he called, "Where do you think we're going next? Guys?"

He looked about and finally realized that he was all alone in the dark room.

"Ah, guys? Huh… I wonder where they went? Did they get lost on the way up here? If they did, it was probably Zoro's fault," he said to himself just as the images came back and he looked up enthusiastically. But he soon blinked a few times in confusion as he was trying to make it out. There was a lot of fog in the way and he glared through it, trying to make out what he was seeing. But when it cleared and he saw what was going on… his eyes widen in horror.

Meanwhile, outside, the other Straw Hats were try to force their way through the door, not understanding what was going on.

"Dammit! It always waited until we were all inside before it shut," Franky hissed as he pressed against it where it didn't even budge an inch. "Come on! What's this door made out of?!"

That was when they heard Luffy screaming from inside. The sound made their hearts stop beating and their blood run cold.

"L-LUFFY?!" Usopp yelled in panic. "LUFFY?! WHAT'S HAPPENING?! ARE YOU OK?!"

"Move it!"

Both Zoro and Sanji had enough and they charged at the door, Zoro with his blades drawn and Sanji flying in and spun about as he was prepared to kick that door down. But before they even made contact with it, the door opened on its own and they were sent sprawling. They were back in the dark room, but they saw Luffy on the floor, holding his hands to his head as he yelled, like he was in terrible agony, thrashing about violently.

"Luffy?!" Nami cried out in worry as she and Chopper rushed to his side.

"What's wrong with him?" Robin demanded as the others surrounded them, trying to figure out what happened.

"I-I don't know!" Chopper said as he tried to look over Luffy for any signs of injuries, but was unable to see so much as a scratch on him. But then he froze when he got a looked at Luffy's eyes… they were wide and unseeing, as if he couldn't see anything but a nightmare in front of him. He hollered as he reached his hands up to his ears now and covered them as if he was trying to block out a loud noise, just continuing to shout out that it was all his fault.

"My fault! It's my fault?!" Luffy cried out as he thrashed about, his hands pressing ever tighter.

"What's your fault?!" Sanji yelled at him, his senses sharp as he tried to detect a trace of an enemy… but he couldn't find anyone else there but them. What could have done this? The only time that he had ever seen Luffy in this kind of shape was when…?

That was when darkness around them suddenly changed and they were standing among a thick cloud of smoke. Yet it wasn't long before the dust cleared and there were tall buildings standing all around them with the forms of hundreds of people fighting. They looked to be a mixture of marines and pirates, all fighting for their lives. It was like being trapped inside a nightmare as the sounds of gunfire filled the air and there were cannonballs exploding all around them. Blood was splattered every few feet with the forms of bodies and broken weapons lying all around them.

Luffy just stared on ahead with a kind of suspended horror. Robin realized too late where they were and spun about to cry to the others, "We need to get him out now!"

Zoro just stared on, having finally recognized the place as he said bitterly, "This… is Marineford."

 **(Yeah, that's right. Marineford… we're going backwards. All memory stories start from the beginning and end with the end, well, I decided that we'll be moving back and the further up the tower we go, the further back they will see. Don't worry, I will be skipping over the memories we saw back in the first story, this is more as from a point of view from the other Straw Hats with their pasts and their fights. Sorry about the really long wait for this chapter, but you see class has been brutal this month, I've been stuck going to class everyday and hardly had any time off. So I haven't had much time to work on writing. But I do have most of this next week off, so here's hoping the next chapter will be coming out much faster. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!)**


	12. Floor 11: Revisiting Memories

**Floor 11: Revisiting Memories**

"Ok, this isn't fun anymore!" Usopp cried out in panic as he and Brook both grabbed the other in a death grip. "I already saw this place once! And I didn't want to see it again! I have enough of that in my nightmares!"

"Luffy!" Nami yelled as she began shaking their traumatized captain. "Wake up! It's ok! None of this is real, remember!?"

But Luffy only continued to thrash about as he held onto his head, his eyes screwed up in terrible pain like he hoped that he could block out the bad images.

"What do we do?!" Sanji yelled out, struggling to make his voice heard over the sounds of gunfire and dying cries of pain around them. "Can't we break out?!"

"We don't even know where the door is!" Franky shouted back as Zoro was already trying to slice through the illusion. He mustered up all of his strength to send a flying blade off in one direction… which just kept going and going…?

"What is going on?!" Zoro demanded in frustration. "There aren't any walls here? Just how does this keep happening?! We're still in the tower aren't we…?! So why can't we feel a wall or anything?!"

Robin looked about, not sure what was going on anymore, but knew that they couldn't leave Luffy like this. "Usopp! Chopper! Pull yourselves together! Do either of you have something to put Luffy to sleep for now? At least until we find a way to get out?!"

"Huh…?" Usopp croaked out, tears streaming down his face. "Put him to sleep?"

"I do!" Chopper declared, who was already reaching into his bag. "I have an anesthesia! Just give me a minute!"

"I don't know if he's got that much time!" Nami cried, holding onto Luffy's arms as he continued to cry out, now screaming Ace's name.

"What's going on?! I thought… I thought that he was ok?! What happening to him?!" Franky yelled as he picked Luffy up and had him in a giant bear hug to keep him from continuing to thrash about. "We just saw him a few minutes ago! Why's he freaking out on us now?!"

"I guess reliving these memories of the Marineford isn't what he needed now!" Sanji shouted out, glaring in all directions. Something was wrong. Someone was setting this up, he just knew it! They lost sight of Luffy for just a few minutes! And then the door locking behind him and separating him from the rest of the group…? Someone was behind this and set this up as some kind of trap!

Zoro was grinding his teeth as he clenched his hands around his swords so hard that he knew that he was starting to draw blood. But it was hard to calm himself as Luffy continued to cry out as if he was being tortured. Chopper managed to prepare a needle as Nami, Usopp, and Brook all did their best to calm him down… with Franky struggling to hold onto him.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled as she grabbed Luffy by the face and glared at him until he looked at her with those wide eyes. "It's ok… you're safe! None of this is real! It's just a memory! Don't you remember?"

Luffy seemed to struggle just to remember to breathe at this moment.

"It's my fault…" he whispered back as tears began to fall and she felt her own eyes well up as her heart began to break.

"No, it's not, Luffy-san," Brook reassured him gently, holding onto his hand in a comforting way. "Don't you worry. Everything is going to be alright. Please, we just need you to calm down."

"Here is one of Usopp's specials!" Usopp called as he reached into his bag of tricks. "This is called a Sleep Star! It can make a powerful sleeping gas!"

"And put us all out?!" Sanji demanded. "Now isn't the time! Especially if we don't know what's going on."

"Besides, it might not be strong enough," Chopper countered as the syringe was filled. "Let me handle it. We'll use one of those if this doesn't work."

With the others continuing to calm Luffy down, he didn't even notice the long needle going into his arm until he felt it. He let out a cry of pain, almost bringing him back to the childish version they all knew… but thanks to Chopper's fast-acting medicine, his eyelids began to droop. It only took another thirty seconds before his eyes shut and his head slumped forward onto his chest as he began to snore. Once he had calmed down, Franky cautiously opened his arms and let Luffy fall to the ground, still fast asleep, causing sighs of relief from all around them.

Once he was safely out cold, they started to pay more attention to the full scale war around them. They had seen all of this the last time they went diving into Luffy's memories, of course, but it didn't do anything to prepare themselves for this hellish place a second time. They were standing on the ocean that had just been frozen over by Aokiji's ice and there was blood and bodies splattered everywhere.

As the marines and pirates continued to rage war, they realized what, or rather _who_ , was missing.

"Hey! Up there!" Usopp called suddenly as he pointed upwards, and against the sun, they saw the shadowed outlines of something falling.

"That's right! This is where Luffy makes, yet another, grand entrance!" Franky yelled as he remembered what happened here. "This is right after they escaped from Impel Down and ended up stuck up on that frozen wave trying to get here!" No sooner did he say that did they hear voices arguing from above them.

"I knew you would overdo it!" screamed a petrified, but whiny voice.

"Is that… Buggy?" Chopper gasped out as he shielded his eyes, trying to make out what was happening.

"Yeah, it's him alright," Sanji sighed as the shapes slowly grew larger. "Damnit, why do we have to see him again?! Why couldn't that idiot just stay behind in prison?"

"A mixture of both good and bad luck in his case," Robin stated as she and Brook were supporting the present-day Luffy's sleeping form. They then heard two more voices screaming out at that moment, both of whom they recognized as well.

"This is because of his wink!" a deep voice yelled in irritation.

"VYou're blaming this on vme, Croco!?"

"And that would be Crocodile and Ivankov," Robin stated sadly, for not even this slight bit of humor was enough to cheer her up. In all honesty, none of them had even begun to recover from the first time they saw it, yet there wasn't anything they could do but stand back and watch.

Robin sat on the ground, carefully resting Luffy's sleeping head in her lap, all of them keeping a close wall around him like they thought they could protect him from all of this. Right now, not even Sanji could bring himself to feel jealous Robin was paying such attention to Luffy. Meanwhile, Nami also sat down, with her knees drawn up to her chest where she kept her face buried and her hands pressed firmly over her ears. Chopper was crying softly as he could only stare at all the wounds of the pirates and marines around him while the rest could only watch with a grim kind of horror.

Soon enough, the destroyed battleship crashed, landing in possibly the only place on the battlefield that wasn't frozen over. They watched how memory Luffy had climbed up to the top of the wrecked ship, his body still dirty and injured from his rescue attempt back at Impel Down. They remembered all the horrors that he faced there, and they were not looking forward to the thought that they might be going there next once they were done with this.

"It's strange," Usopp said suddenly as memory Luffy began to stir and was trying to pull himself out of the wreckage to continue his search for Ace. "But why are we seeing Marineford? How did we go from Fishman Island, to this place?"

"That was what I was wondering about to," Sanji said darkly. "These memories don't seem to be adding up here?"

"I had thought that we would be going in order," Robin said suddenly. "But the thing is, we really didn't have too much happen after we left Fishman Island. Other than the fact that we ended up on that ghost island where we saw Luffy's memories before?"

"You mean we could have ended up watching ourselves watch the memoires? That would have been too weird!" Franky declared suddenly.

"No…" Nami said suddenly as she raised her head up a little to peer over her knees. "It's almost like…? Like we're going backwards? We're seeing the memories in a reverse order?"

"Wait? Does that mean what we could end up seeing all of those memories again?!" Usopp gasped out.

"I think that it may be even more than that," Robin confessed. "Because if you remember, the memories we saw weren't just Luffy's… the ones we saw about Fishman Island were proof of that. I think that we may be seeing our memories as well."

"Wait?! You mean… we could end up seeing everything?!" Brook gasped out.

"If we are going seeing past memories from everyone's point of view and are steadily going back far enough…?" she shrugged. "And given how large the tower was…? I think that every floor will lead to a separate version of memories. And the higher up we go, the further back we could end up going?"

"You mean we could see us all as when we were little kids or something?" Sanji demanded, his cigarette falling out of his mouth in horror at the thought. "To hell with that! Living through my childhood once was enough for me!"

"Agreed, I say that we get out of this place! We don't get up any higher until we find a way to get out!" Brook raised his hand, followed by Nami, Chopper, and Usopp… everyone on point with that idea.

"I wholeheartedly agree! But the question is, how do we get out?!' Zoro demanded. "I tried an attack, but it just kept going! I don't know how this is possible, but it's like we're not in the tower anymore."

"Wait, if that's true, then where are we?!" Usopp shouted before he reached into his bag and pulled out a long rope and began tying it around his chest.

"Usopp, what are you doing?!" Chopper asked nervously as Usopp handed him the other end.

"I'm gonna see how far away I can go!" he declared. "We're still inside the tower, I know it! I'm going to just keep walking until I hit a wall! You hold onto that end just in case. Once I find the wall, I'll keep walking around until I find the door and then you all just follow the rope to me! Just don't let go of that end!"

"You got it!" Chopper said as he sprang into a salute. "I won't let go no matter what!"

"It's very brave of you, Usopp-san," Brook said in wonder as Usopp turned in one direction, planning on just heading off to where the sea was and just hope that he found the wall. Once he did, feeling around until he found the wall should be a piece of cake! And with a cocky grin that he wasn't feeling, he went running off with his knees shaking together.

As they watched him go, memory Luffy had climbed up the side of the sinking battleship and was now standing at the top where he and Ace could see the other. They then began to call out to each other… yet only one of them cried out in happiness… the other was in a mixture of horror and terror.

Memory Luffy was soon joined by all the people who escaped with him from Impel Down, such as Crocodile, Ivankov, Jimbei, and all of New Kama Land. But soon Crocodile vanished, where they saw his cloud of sand go flying across the battlefield to where the massive ship of the Moby Dick was. And the man standing at the head of it…!

"Damn… to think we could see him again," Franky gasped as the imposing figure of Whitebeard stood at the head of the ship, overseeing the battle below.

"He truly was a legend," Sanji agreed as they got another good look at the man who was once known as the strongest man in the world. "It's an honor to see him again."

"I guess," Nami said as she raised her head up just enough so that she could see him. She be lying if she said that the man didn't frighten her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but grow to respect and admire him as well. Seeing how far that he was willing to go for Ace and the rest of his men…? He reminded her a little bit of her own adoptive father and how he was always there to protect her. She smiled sadly suddenly missing her family back home and hoped that they were doing alright.

In the memory, Crocodile struck from behind Whitebeard, ready to take him out before memory Luffy came flying out of nowhere and kicked the blow away from Whitebeard thanks to his Second Gear. When Crocodile demanded to know why Luffy did that, their captain just shot back that Ace looked up to Whitebeard and he wouldn't let him touch him because of that fact.

"Any friend of Ace's was a friend of his, I guess," Franky sniffled at that. "Man, he knew nothing about Whitebeard, but still did that! What a guy!"

"Careful Franky, the last time we saw these memories you cried so much you were starting to rust," Brook pointed out, but he was also starting to tear up in his empty eye sockets.

Several of Whitebeard's men jumped aboard the ship to hold Crocodile at bay while Luffy and Whitebeard were given a chance to talk. Whitebeard had told him that the straw hat he had looked a lot like the one that 'Red Hair' used to wear, which got Luffy's attention when he heard the name. He just answered that he was holding onto it for Shanks for him.

Whitebeard seemed to be sizing him up, as if testing him and trying to guess what he was capable of. "Have you come to save your brother?" he asked.

"Yes," memory Luffy said not even pausing to think about that.

"Why other reason would he bother coming here?" Franky hissed under his breath. "Because I think we can all think of other places we rather be."

"I think he's just testing Luffy's resolve," Zoro shrugged. "A fair question… though a bit obvious."

Robin suspected that was part of it, but it may also be that he was aware of how much Ace cared about his little brother, and wanted him out of here where he couldn't get hurt… for Ace's sake if nothing else.

"Do you have any idea what you are up against?" Whitebeard demanded, as if he was telling off a little kid from pulling off a stunt that could get him hurt. He then raised up the colossal bisento that he held in his hands, and slammed it down on the ship's deck with so much force that the entire world seemed to shake around them. That was when the Straw Hats could see just how vastly different their power levels were as he yelled, "Someone like you does not stand a chance!"

"Then you clearly don't know who you're dealing with," Sanji sighed as he lit up another cigarette, hoping that he had enough left in the box to make it through these memories.

"Yeah, we have a bad habit of doing what we're told not to just to prove we can," Zoro agreed suddenly with a nod as he finally put his swords away. "It a habit that we haven't been able to break yet."

Memory Luffy sure seemed to prove that when they saw the muscle going in his forehead and he shouted back up at him, "Shut up! That's not for you to decide!"

"He does realize he was talking to one of the most, if not the most, powerful people in the world, doesn't he?" Nami asked them as Chopper continued looking at the ever shrinking length of rope.

"Probably not," Robin shrugged as she fondly patted their Luffy's forehead in a motherly. "But if he does, he doesn't care. I wouldn't worry, I think that Whitebeard was just trying to scare him I bet."

"Well, in that case, he really doesn't know who he's talking to, does he?" Sanji couldn't help but snigger.

"I already know about you! You want to be the King of the Pirates, right?!" memory Luffy went on hotly "I'M THE ONE WHO'S GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

His declaration shocked everyone in hearing shot, Marines and pirates all around them froze, completely forgetting that they were supposed to be trying to kill each other—they were just so taken aback that anyone had the guts to say something like that to Whitebeard.

"He's got such a mouth on him," Nami sighed, knowing that one day it was going to get them all into a lot of big trouble… though it may be too late for that since she remembered what he said to Big Mom in the last memory and she shook her head bitterly.

"Of course he does," Brook said, feeling slightly cheerful again despite what was happening. Whitebeard remained calm as he glared down at Luffy, who glared angrily back up at him. Both were sizing up the other before Whitebeard raised up his weapon, and spun it around in his hands, creating a whirlwind that knocked over even those standing far off from the two. But when Luffy didn't so much as move an inch, Whitebeard grinned in amusement.

"You're pretty damn cheeky aren't you?" he asked before he looked forward again, adding smugly, "Don't think I'll spare you if you slow us down here ya little brat."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want!" Luffy snapped, glaring forward as well to where Ace was still in danger. "I'm going to save Ace!"

"You tell him, Luffy!" Chopper cheered, wishing that he could have those kind of guts before he looked back down at Usopp's rope and he was really starting to worry that they were going to run out of it.

"I don't need… your permission…" present-day Luffy mumbled in his sleep, getting them to all look down fondly at him once again.

"That's right, just dream of the good parts, no matter how few there are," Brook said kindly, glad that their Luffy was safe here with them. But just then, the memory Luffy started speaking to Whitebeard again, informing him of a message that they heard on the battleship shortly before they got here to Marineford. He let him know that the marines were planning on moving Ace's execution early so they were almost out of time.

Whitebeard raised his eyebrows at him, yet he didn't seem surprised when he asked, "They're moving up the time of the execution? You are sure that is what they said?"

"After they finished some kind of preparations," memory Luffy confirmed, "Then some code stuff that I didn't understand. Since you're here to save Ace, I thought I should tell you."

Whitebeard looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face as he stated, "I see. That is rather important news to know." He then added causally, "Sorry about before."

"Don't worry about it," Luffy answered back, just as coolly as if it had just been a little thing before and not worth getting upset over.

"I love that!" Franky couldn't help but laugh at how friendly they were suddenly acting towards each other—not even noticing the screams of shock as people were staring at them. Memory Luffy decided that he wasn't going to be waiting up there any longer and went dashing off to the ice below him, charging straight ahead without a fear in the world. He didn't get too far though, for Kizaru tried to stop him by aiming a kick of light at him… which was thankfully stopped by Ivankov's Death Wink, causing a massive explosion once the two attacks hit together.

"At least he has Ivankov and Jimbei here," Chopper reminded them gratefully. "They were a really big help! I wanna thank Jimbei again when we next see him! And Iva too if we can ever meet him!"

"Jimbei, sure… but I rather be torn apart by wild animals and eaten than ever thank him," Sanji said darkly as more marines showed up to try and stand against Luffy. It were the two morons named Ironfist Fullbody and Jango… the guy that Sanji had beaten to a pulp back at the Baratie on the day that he first met the Straw Hats, and then there was Jango… the hypnotist who was in Usopp's village. Of course, not that any of the Straw Hats remembered them until they yelled out their names to memory Luffy, who just looked on in confusion.

"Talk about holding a grudge," Nami said with a roll of her eyes as the two of them vowed to get revenge on him for what he did. "All that happened a long time ago! Just get over it already!"

Jango pulled out two of those blade rings, ready to try and put Luffy to sleep, which would have been bad news for Luffy, who was very easy to manipulate with such tricks of the mind. Thankfully, there was an explosion that got Luffy's attention at the right moment and he looked away when Jango finished… succeeding in putting himself and Fullbody to sleep.

It was as sad as it was pathetic… but just then, Captain Hina, the woman who tried to capture them as they were trying to escape Alabasta, appeared and proved to be a little more of a challenge for him—almost managing to capture him with iron bars that sprung from her hands. Which she would have done if memory Luffy didn't manage jump out of danger with his Second Gear and went flying over her head… unfortunately, it led him straight to Moria, who was pulling out his zombies to fight for him. Memory Luffy was surrounded by marines and zombies, his advancing slowing down to a complete stop for he couldn't take so much as a step forward now as he punched and kicked at them, while he was getting sliced apart by swords.

"STAY AWAY, LUFFY!"

Everyone turned back up to the execution platform to where the shout had come from. Ace was glaring down at Luffy… his face holding nothing but a fury and pain… grinding his teeth together as if he was fighting the urge to burst out crying. But his voice was firm as he continued shouting, "You and I are both pirates! You know that! Which means you should be out there sailing however you want! I have my own adventures and my own crew! You have no right to interfere with this!"

"The poor guy," Franky whimpered, tears forming back in his eyes as his heart went out to how much pain he was in. "He must feel like his heart is being ripped out of his chest! I have a bunch of little bros and sisters back home… if they ever did anything like this for me… Wait! They had! They came to save me from Enies Lobby!"

"So you understand better than anyone how Ace must be feeling," Zoro acknowledged as Franky howled miserably and Robin smiled at the scene as she ran a comforting hand through their own Luffy's hair, who was continuing to snore. She remembered seeing her crew standing there at Enies Lobby as they fought to save her. She had wanted them to save her, of course, but she also wished that they would just go away. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing them getting hurt any more than they had been through already. For Ace, to see his little brother fighting and getting hurt because he wanted to protect him, it must have felt more painful than any torture he endured in Impel Down.

"L-Liar… Ace…" present-day Luffy muttered in his sleep again and she looked down at him again and was wondering if he was really sleeping… maybe she should ask Chopper to prepare another shot in case he did wake up.

"I'M…" memory Luffy exclaimed for a moment, getting Ace's attention and when the two made eye contact, Luffy shouted out to the entire world as loudly as he could, without any trace of hesitation or shame, "YOUR LITTLE BROTHER!"

"I wish I had brothers like them!" Chopper gasped out.

"In a way, you have several," Nami reminded him kindly as Robin smiled. "And you even got two big sisters too!"

"Really?!" Chopper cried out, his eyes sparkling at the thought. He didn't really give it much thought, but the more that he thought about it, the more he realized that she was right. The Straw Hats were all just like one big family weren't they? The thought made his heart swell inside his chest until he felt that it would burst from happiness.

At memory Luffy's declaration, tears were actually forming in Ace's eyes as Luffy continued yelling that they were pirates and that they didn't listen to rules. Ace just shouted out if he had any idea what he was saying, but they all knew that Luffy did know, he just didn't care. Saving Ace meant more to him than anything, and the harder he tried to drive him away, the more viciously Luffy fought to get closer. Everything that Ace said was to try and get Luffy to believe he didn't care about him only showed just how much he wanted him to get out of here before he got killed.

At that, the more sensitive members of the Straw Hats all burst out sobbing and Nami felt tears rolling down her cheeks as well as she watched.

That was when Sengoku revealed the truth of Luffy's father, Dragon, to everyone—causing cries of shock and fear from both the marines and the pirates. But memory Luffy didn't bat an eye despite the fact that he was the son of a monster to the entire world right now. He just smashed his way through a giant marine with his Third Gear, claiming that he doesn't care if Ace hates him and he would rescue him even if it killed him.

"And if you did die out there, you idiot," Nami said to their Luffy as she gave him a bonk on his sleeping head, "I would've pulled you out of hell and killed you all over again! Don't you dare scare me like that again!"

"Nami! Please don't wake him!" Chopper pleaded. But the hit to his head didn't even cause Luffy to stir as he continued snoring. It was funny how young he looked while he sleep, and she felt her frustration fade a little. At least she knew that they were all safe and couldn't be touched by a memory… no matter how painful it was to watch.

"Guys?!" Chopper suddenly shouted out as the rope was at its last few feet. "What about Usopp?!"

"What do you mean?" Brook asked before he saw the rope quickly vanishing. "Oh no! What are we supposed to do?! Wait, does this mean that Usopp-san found the door out of here and is leaving?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Sanji said, half a mind to follow after the rope before he paused and felt something behind them. He quickly turned around, getting everyone else to look directly behind them when they saw a shadowy figure running through the clouds of dust at them.

"Usopp?!" Nami gasped as the familiar figure drew closer.

Through the dust, their Usopp had come running straight up to them, still jogging with the rope around his waist and panting as he seemed to be muttering to himself.

"Keep going… keep going… you're bound to find it… you're… huh?" Usopp gasped as he spotted them. He skidded to a stop and rested his hands on his knees, bending over double as he gasped for air. "What are… how did… you all get here?"

"We didn't move an inch, Usopp!" Nami informed him quickly. "What are you doing here? We just saw you go running off that way?!"

"Yeah, see?!" Chopper spoke up as he held up the rope and saw that it was almost gone and that it was stretching off in the same direction that Usopp took before.

"But… that… that doesn't make sense!" Usopp panted as he looked behind him to where the rope was still tied around him and was directly behind him now. "I just… ran straight! I was trying to get to the ocean and then…? Next thing I know, I'm here? How does that happen?!"

"Well, call me crazy, but I don't think that you could have walked around the world in just a few minutes," Franky said firmly. "I mean, that would be awesome, but… you sure you didn't take a wrong turn?"

"I'm telling you, all I did was run straight ahead!" Usopp retorted, now completely baffled as he took the rope off him. "If you don't believe me, then follow the rope back!"

"Alright! I'll do it!" Franky said as he took Usopp's end of the rope tugged hard. As he did so Chopper, who was still holding onto the other end was suddenly went flying off as Franky pulled. "Hang on, pal! Don't let go no matter what!" Franky yelled as he began pulling wildly and Choppers yelps of pain and fear disappeared.

"What are you two idiots doing?!" Nami demanded in fury as she leapt up to her feet.

"Don't worry! I'm sure that this will work!" Franky yelled as he continued pulling rapidly. They would have started a fight then and there, but the memory distracted them when memory Luffy joined together with Ivankov and Jimbei to force their way right through, and all of Whitebeards subordinate crews began to split up, attacking their enemies from left and right. As the battle raged, Jimbei broke away from the others as he went up against Moria, already having done away with his army of zombies with the salt water. Moria then stood the shadows of all the soldiers around him before absorbing them into his body so that he grew larger.

"Damn, I forgot all about how he could do that," Nami said anxiously before remembering that idiot who was all stitched up with animal body parts and she added, "At least those stupid crewmates of his aren't here as well."

"Lucky for him," Zoro said darkly as he remembered Persona and of all the times that she had used those damn negative ghosts on him. Still, if she were here, she could have tried to disable Luffy, so he supposed that he would just take the good news for now.

Memory Luffy, knowing that Jimbei would be just fine, went running on ahead. But he didn't get far for Smoker had just appeared, striking at him with his Sea Stone Jutte. The two clashed together with Luffy forced to shift back into his Second Gear once again. As Smoker and Luffy comment on how the other has become stronger, the former pinned Luffy to the ground, the tip of his Jutte rammed into their captain's throat

"Using that Jutte is low!" Usopp yelled in outrage as Franky continued pulling on the rope like a madman.

"Luffy can't even touch him because he doesn't know how to fight with Haki yet," Zoro said darkly. "And unfortunately, all's fair on the battlefield."

"We don't need to worry," Robin reassured them, looking off in another direction where another fighter had just realized what was going on. "Help's on the way."

"What do you…?" Brook began, having forgotten what happened next until something came charging in, screaming out, "GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HIM!"

Sanji's ears perked up at the voice and he looked up at once as he declared, "Could it be…?"

A high-heeled purple shoe came out of nowhere and kicked Smoker so hard that he was flung backwards, right off of Luffy and slide on the ice a few yards away.

"Hancock!" Nami cried out happily, having forgotten that she was here fighting too.

"Bet he felt that one!" Usopp cheered as he punched the air. "Man, it is good to see her again!"

"In more ways than one!" Brook gasped lovingly, "She is so beautiful… so radiant that it's blinding my eyes! Not that I have eyes anymore, Yohohoho!"

"Oh… my heart…" Sanji gasped at the sight of Hancock standing there. She looked even more beautiful than ever, however her face was now contorted with fury as she and her pet snake Salome stood between Smoker and Luffy. There was hardly a scratch on her, and with that long, purple dress that had patterns of her pirate mark and purple heels made her look like she was ready for a night on the town rather than in the middle of a war. But she was shaking with rage as she glared at Smoker, her teeth bared as Luffy gasped for air behind her.

"How did she hit me when I'm smoke?" Smoker muttered, glaring right back at Hancock and the marines watching seemed stunned by this as well, completely baffled as to why she would protect Luffy like that. Smoker pointed his Jutte at her, demanding to know what was going on and if she planned to resign from the Warlords too.

"SILENCE!" she roared out, causing everyone to jump; they had never heard her sound as furious as she did right now, and she suddenly looked like some kind of angel of death the way she glared at Smoker. "I am so infuriated right now that I don't care what you say here! But how dare you attack my beloved?!"

"Her beloved?!" Sanji repeated, tears falling at such a declaration. "No! Why?! How could she fall for someone like him?!"

When Sanji then turned a furious gaze to their sleeping Luffy, he grabbed him by the front of his shirt, ignoring some of the cries from the others as he shook him, demanding, "Luffy?! Why are you stealing all my dreams here?!"

"It's not his fault!" Usopp yelled out in worry as he tried to wave his hands at him to calm him down. "He didn't tell Hancock to fall in love with him!"

"Wake up!" Sanji demanded as he shook their Luffy, who only continued snoring. "Stop sleeping! You and I are going to have a talk about this right now!"

"Chopper? Do you think you can give him something to make him sleep too?" Brook asked Chopper, only to remember that he wasn't there at the moment as Franky continued pulling on the line—and hoping that Chopper was still being dragged along the end.

Thankfully, Robin was looking firmly up at Sanji before she said in warning, "Put him down, Sanji. Now is not the time."

"But…?" Sanji demanded as his fire slowly began to fade. When he saw the firm look in Robin's face, he felt himself sigh as he let go. Luffy hit the ground as he continued snoozing, not even aware of what was going on anymore.

Meanwhile Hancock was now ranting that she wasn't going to let Smoker leave this battlefield alive and that she was going to tear him to pieces and feed him to wild beasts for what he did.

"I think she may be a little over-protective," Robin offered as she moved present-day Luffy's head back into her lap.

"Or possessive," Zoro said, wondering if they should keep an eye out for her in the future.

"Yeah, which is why I'm telling you, Sanji, you might want to be a little more careful," Usopp warned, "She might kill you if you do anything to Luffy here."

But it was like Hancock's declaration that Luffy was her 'beloved' didn't even register with Smoker and the other marines, where now discussing that she must have used Haki to kick him. The others just sighed at the sight of this with Nami smacking herself with her hand as she wondered if all men had stone for brains.

Once memory Luffy caught his breath and looked up to see her there, he happily called out Hancock's name with a smile… which caused her to look back at him and it was like a completely different person was there. Rather than anger, she was back with a bright twinkling look in her eyes and a cute blush over her cheeks as she cooed how happy she was that he called her by name.

"And she's gone…" Zoro said knowingly for whenever the cook got all lovey-dovey his brain went somewhere else far away. But there was no time to discuss it for the marines were all wondering what was going on, unable to understand why the Pirate Empress was protecting Luffy. But Hancock turned her back completely on them as she held up her hands in a little heart, which began to glow softly.

It was clever, for that got the marines thinking that she just wanted to deal with him herself. Once that was taken care of, Hancock blushed again sweetly before she reached her hand down the front of her dress and pulled out a small key for him, whispering that it was the key to Ace's handcuffs.

"Once again, I am in awe of her," Robin smiled as she shook her head. "I wish I can speak with her one day. I'm sure I can learn a lot from her."

"So can I," Nami giggled softly. Just learning how to bat her eyes like how Hancock does was enough to make Sanji melt even more than usual. She liked to think that she, herself, was cute… but Hancock was in a league all of her own.

Once Luffy saw the key, he gapped at it, completely freezing where he stood before the marines all gasped, thinking that he was already turning to stone. But when Luffy said her name, Hancock gasped back at him, blushing worse than ever as she croaked out that he said her name once again.

"Wow, that's what I call having it bad," Usopp whimpered before glancing down at their Luffy and said, "I wish I was you, Luffy!"

Sanji broke down all over again as Hancock almost jumped back when Luffy took her hand and got the key, staring joyfully at it. That was when Luffy cried out in happiness as he jumped up and gave her a big hug, only causing some of the men in the crew to cry in envy at the sight.

"Why… why…?" Sanji gasped as he reached out a shaking hand, as if hoping to grab onto Hancock as well. "To touch her just once…? And Luffy touched a lot more than just in a hug, didn't he?"

"What do you…?" Usopp asked before he remembered. "Right, he was under her clothes as she smuggled him into Impel Down and…?"

Zoro had to stand protectively in front of their sleeping Luffy to prevent Sanji from trying to strangle him a second time. Hancock was stuttering, her face now as red as an apple as she told him that it was alright and that he should just keep going, which got Luffy back to reality and let go as he hit the ice running, hollering back a quick 'thank you' for all her help.

"Oh, my love!" Sanji sang out, "Please wait for me! I swear that one day, I will win your heart! Just wait and see!"

"You think he can?" Usopp asked as he sat down on the ground next to Luffy and the girls.

"Personally, I highly doubt it," Robin confessed. "But he's no quitter, Sanji. I don't think that anything will stop him."

"I wonder if he's ever gonna find love," Brook whispered in a soft whisper to them. "Oh, I hope I can be best man to the wedding once he does! Yohohoho!"

"First thing's first… he's gotta find a girl," Zoro said with a roll of his eye. "One who has low expectations if nothing else."

"WHAT?!" Sanji demanded as the two bared their teeth and growled at the other.

The rest of them ignored them as memory Luffy continued running straight ahead, but hadn't gone more than a few dozen yards when he was stopped again. But this time it was by Ivankov and Kuma facing off, along with a third man with blond hair and a pair of purple shades covering his eyes, matched with thick pink feathered coat on his back.

"I think we've seen him before…?" Nami said, knowing that they saw him the last time they saw the memories, but was having a hard time trying to pin down where she had seen him.

"We have…" Robin said knowingly, having seen his face in the papers more than once. "I believe that it's one of the Warlords… Donquixote Doflamingo."

"Doflamingo!" Usopp cried out. "I remember him from last time!"

"I can tell he's got fashion issues," Nami muttered as they watched on before they heard the sounds of a familiar yelling.

"Hey!" Franky yelled as he kept pulling on the line. "I think I found him! Chopper! Can you hear us?!"

"I'b gonna kell yo!" cried a distant voice that they knew at once to be Chopper, though he was sounding like he was having a hard time speaking as he was being dragged. Another minute later he came into sights through the dust cloud around them, still desperately clinging onto the end of the rope.

"Chopper!" Nami cried as she jumped to her feet and ran over to catch him as Franky gave one last pull and the little reindeer was flung into the air. With a cry of shock, Chopper began flapping his arms like he hoped he could fly, but safely landed in Nami's arms.

"Are you ok?" she asked him quickly as he began gasping for air, covered in dirt and cuts from being dragged here.

But once he caught his breath, he glared up at them all and shouted out, "WHAT AM I TO YOU ALL? A GUINEA PIG OR LAB RAT?! I'M YOUR DOCTOR! HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?!"

They had to sit him down and comfort him as he began treating his own cuts as they realized that, once again, they were forced to come back full circle. None of them could figure it out… surely the room wasn't that big? Something was definitely wrong here, and they had to find a way out. But as they tried to discuss this, memory Luffy was running up to Ivankov, trying to warn him to be careful of Kuma's hands. But Ivankov just answered that he was fine, but when they heard that seriousness in his voice, they knew that something was wrong.

Ivankov then demanded to Kuma that he move, getting Luffy to stop right next to Iva and ask if he knew him.

"Be careful Luffy," Franky warned as he looked cautiously at Kuma. "I still don't know what the government did to this guy, but that's not the nicer Kuma who spared our lives before!"

"I'm grateful for him saving us two years ago," Zoro said, taking great care not to think of not one, but two instances where he spared them, "But I still don't see what could be worth this fate for him to agree to become a human weapon?"

That was when he wondered about something. If they were going to see everyone's memories from the past…? Did that mean that they were also going to see that deal that he made with Kuma back at Thriller Bark? He gulped down hard, not noticed by anyone but Sanji, who raised an eyebrow at him, wondering just what made him so nervous. But before he could think of a good way to mock him, Brook spoke up, "We can worry about that later."

But Brook was also wondering what it would be like to be made into something like this. What happened to his soul, he wondered? Was it still there…? Or was he…?

"Yes," Ivankov admitted to memory Luffy's question, but his eyes narrowed a little. "But something's wrong. He's not himself."

Doflamingo seemed to know as he chuckled at the pair of them, their images reflected in his sunglasses. "It seems that both of you know Kuma to some degree. But the Kuma that you once knew…" he then pointed to the Warlord next to him, "And this Kuma are two different people!"

Memory Luffy seemed completely lost to those words as Iva refused to accept it, shouting out, "NO! That's not possible! This is, without a doubt, the man who ate the Paw Paw Fruit!" He then looked furiously at Kuma and demanded with real anger this time, "He's Kuma! Kuma, answer vme!"

But Kuma didn't answer him as he gazed ahead with empty, doll-like eyes. There really was no trace of humanity left in him now, was there? None of them like it, and it only seemed to worsen when Doflamingo grinned, telling them that it was useless no matter how much they talked to him for he wasn't in there anymore. He then began to explain that he had offered himself up as a test subject to Dr. Vegapunk, and over time he was made into a human weapon. Piece by piece was his body replaced until there wasn't anything left in him.

"Don't lie to me!" Ivankov yelled, still refusing to believe anything that he heard. "Kuma hates the World Government! He'd never offer up his own life like this!"

Robin frowned at that as she looked over at Kuma and thought back to the stories she heard about him while she was with the revolutionaries. The Kuma from those tales never would have allowed for something like this to happen. But then again… he wasn't…?

Before she could finish her thoughts, Doflamingo walked away as he said, "Well, can't say for sure what kind of deal this guy made with the government. And there was definitely some human left in him up till a few days ago…?"

He plopped himself up onto a pile of pirates that he had clearly just beaten, though it was impossible to tell if they were dead or just unconscious. "But now, he's forgotten that he was even born a human. He's as good as dead and is nothing more than a mindless killing machine that follows every order from the World Government. The Pacifista, PX-0!"

Kuma then began to open fire upon them, forcing Ivankov and memory Luffy to dodge it while Doflamingo cackled that the past was over and to just forget it.

"He is half right. The past is over… no matter what we do we cannot change it," Brook said at once but then said with new emotion, "But I have precious memories that I will never forget! No matter how painful!"

"The past is painful, but there are some memories that we shouldn't let go of," Sanji said as a dark image of a child in an iron mask, locked behind bars came to his mind. He shut his eyes for a moment as he fought to control the sudden surge of emotions that were threatening to rise to the surface. "We have to keep them to remind us what we rather not become if nothing else."

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Sanji?" Chopper asked as he put a bandage at the end of his blue nose after he spit out dirt from his mouth.

"Nothing, forget it," Sanji said firmly, forcing those bad memories down. The attention was drawn off of him when memory Luffy managed to avoid death from Kuma firing at him. Ivankov was also lucky enough to avoid getting hit as he jumped back to his feet, shaking off the ice shavings that was on his face before he demanded that Kuma speak to him once more. Memory Luffy then began muttering to himself about the scene back to Sabaody before the Kuma back then sent him flying. How he had told him that they would not meet again. The question was though, just what was he trying to do?

But there wasn't time to wonder for Ivankov yelled at memory Luffy that he would deal with Kuma and that he continue on ahead. Luffy did what he was told, yet he was stopped again when another figure appeared from the dust.

"Hawk-Eye," Zoro said darkly when the black blade cut through the dirt and shone in the miserable light.

"Crap! I forgot about him!" Usopp cried out as sweat began to roll down his face when he appeared.

"Right, and from what I remember of the last time we saw him in a memory, he was a big pain for Luffy," Zoro nodded. He knew that Hawk-Eye had no grudge against the Straw Hats, but he was left with no choice but to fight him here. And that was confirmed when Hawk-Eye spoke to Luffy, asking what fate had in store for him… to see if he will meet his end here or escape from the black blade.

Zoro then reached up to touch the scar that Mihawk left him the first time they met back in the East Blue. That had to be one of the hardest lessons he had ever been forced to learn. And this scar was a constant reminder of how much he still needed to learn.

"Wasn't there another way he could escape?!" Chopper cried out as he jumped up onto Zoro's shoulder and begged, "There wasn't any time and he wasn't in any shape to fight!"

"Too bad that this is a war and it's free game for everyone," Franky hissed out anxiously. "I know that Luffy pulls out alive, but I hear ya little bro."

They could only watch as memory Luffy tried to escape but Mihawk was more than able to keep up with Luffy. He knocked aside the New Kama swordsmen who went charging at him before able to track Luffy who was already a good distance away after using his Second Gear. With a single graceful stroke, Mihawk created a green burst of devastation in its path, able to aim directly at the wall without touch another person—and going straight for memory Luffy, who was slammed from the side and lifted off the ground. He was only able to save himself when he noticed the attack coming literally a split second before it hit and moved just enough to avoid the full impact.

Memory Luffy managed to avoid the worst of it, but when the smoke from the attack cleared, they saw him stuck in the rubble, upside down, and his limbs all trapped.

"Damn…" memory Luffy hissed in pain. "That hurt… he cut me!"

"Just be happy he didn't cut you in half," Zoro said darkly. He had seen what Mihawk was capable of and knew better than anyone to think that he was going to go easy on Luffy. It was lucky that their rubber-brained captain has senses that were so sharp when it came to battle, for if he didn't see it coming, there was no way he could have avoided a fatal blow.

Jimbei, who had seen the whole thing, then stepped in and positioned himself between Luffy, who was still struggling to pull himself free, and Mihawk, who was observing him curiously. Zoro frowned, not liking how calm that Mihawk was… it was with that expression that he was at his most dangerous. Cannonballs were suddenly fired at him as he struck forward—his Fishman Karate actually able to cause the cannonballs to freeze in the air around him as they exploded when Mihawk sliced them apart, creating a thick cloud of smoke around him. Jimbei went right through it as he dashed across the ice, able to leave deep footprints whenever he stepped down.

Though both of them were Warlords, or at least one of them was a former Warlord, it was clear which the stronger one was in this case. The two just barely passed by each other… it was a stand-off for a moment before the shockwave from the sword was so great that Jimbei was sent flying back, crashing right through the ice and sunk out of sight.

"Jimbei!" Nami cried out in worry.

"Don't worry!" Zoro reassured her at once. "He was just hit from the backlash of that last attack. It'll take a lot more than that to finish him off."

"Right, and he's gonna kill you one of these days, Moss Head," Sanji offered as Mihawk continued looking about for his 'prey'. "This guy is deadly!"

"Shut up," Zoro responded before Hawk-Eye turned his attention back to Luffy, who was still trying to pull himself free.

He suddenly jumped up, almost flying, into the air, high over the battlefield and memory Luffy's eyes widen in terror as he guessed what he was going to do. Luckily, Luffy managed to pull himself free as Mihawk brought his blade down, their captain's reflection shining in the black blade. Luffy suddenly bounced off the wall and slid over a fair distance before he let out a loud yell of anger and began to throw his arms back, ready to fight once more.

"Remind me to have a word with you when you wake up, captain," Zoro said to their Luffy. "You don't ever fight a swordsman like that. You're lucky that he didn't cut your arms off."

"Oh, right," Nami said as she covered her eyes, remembering what was about to come at them this time. She did it in time, for as soon as her eyes shut, there was a sudden white light around them and they saw the shadowy forms of Luffy's arms stretching out before being sliced clean off. The image faded at once, where they could see memory Luffy's eyes widen in shock and gasped out before slamming his fists into the ice to stop the attack. He slowly faded out of his Second Gear as he breathed hard, trying to understand what just happened.

"Observation Haki is both so cool and scary!" Chopper gasped out.

"And this was where he didn't have any control over it," Robin added, sounding impressed.

"Yes," Sanji sighed, "Good thing that his Haki was looking out for him when his brain wasn't."

Mihawk was looking down at him, perhaps his expression showing just the tiniest trace of being impressed. But if it was there, he was hiding it very well as he complimented, "You're remarkably clear-headed."

He slashed his sword at him, forcing memory Luffy to bend over backwards to avoid losing his head. They felt the impulse of the sword ringing out across the battlefield and hit the mountain of ice that was the frozen wave that they had come crashing down from. The incident seemed to draw everyone in the memory and out to stare up at it. The faint, greenish line in the form a clean cut suddenly cracked its way across half the mountain of ice. The top half suddenly broke right off it, actually rising up in the air before it cracked and shattered apart, covering the battlefield right below them with large chunks of ice and forcing people to run for cover.

"Incredible," Robin whispered in awe, just in shock that anyone could do such damage with a single stroke of a sword. The last time that they had seen this, Nami had freaked out… and it turned out that she was just as shocked as she was then.

"JUST WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE THESE GUYS?!" she screamed out in terror, her body shaking at the thought of meeting this guy somewhere in the New World.

"We're gonna have a lot of work to do if we want to match up," Franky grinned as he posed. "We better start getting ready. Cause things are only gonna get harder!"

"Oh… boy…" was all that Usopp could say. "And this is what will be waiting for us? People who can do all this stuff? The first half of the Grand Line is like nothing compared to this!"

"Of course. The first half was just the easy part," Robin said, obviously enjoying herself for just a moment. Memory Luffy tried to make a run for it, but Mihawk wasn't going to let him go that easily. He cut his path of escape once again with another blast from his sword, just forcing him farther and farther away from the execution platform.

"Now what are you going to do?" Hawk-Eye asked in a more curious way than mocking him as Luffy was forced to keep dodging to stay in one piece. "You're going farther and farther away from your brother," he reminded him, sending out countless flying blades at him.

"Yes, thank you for reminding us!" Sanji said coldly. "If you want the answer to that, why not let him go?!"

Zoro knew that feeling. Mihawk was testing Luffy here by wanting to see how he would get out of this. That was a tactic that Mihawk loved to test him with. He could remember the time that he had been forbidden to drink any booze until he got the hang of using Haki. He knew just what to say to make a person do what he wanted, didn't he?

"Damn it!" memory Luffy cried out, seeming to have just had enough and went charging straight at Hawk-Eye, clearly no longer caring what happened.

"Luffy! For once in your life, use your head!" Nami shouted out angrily. "Didn't you learn anything last time you tried that?!"

"Maybe you'll have better luck yelling at this Luffy," Brook offered helpfully as he pointed to their Luffy, whom Nami frowned heavily, knowing that it wasn't going to matter since neither one was listening.

"Don't worry! Turns out that clowns have a use after all!" Franky said brightly as he looked up to where there was a massive sand cloud, obviously having come from Crocodile, and it was heading straight for them.

The two fighters in the memory didn't notice at first for they were busy dealing with each other. Mihawk raised his sword and pointed it at Luffy as he declared, "So this is how it will end? Your skills has increased considerably since we've last met. But I've already seen through all your tricks. There isn't even a ten thousand to one chance I will miss from this distance."

"Well, that must've hurt his pride then because he did end up missing," Usopp couldn't help but smirk.

Right on cue…

"HELP ME! STOP THIS RIDE!"

The twister from Crocodile was speeding straight towards them, where they saw inside were Mr. 3, many of Buggy's new followers from Impel Down… and Buggy… who was now dressed in new clothes that he must have stolen from the marines… including a hat that had the name 'marine' crossed out in black.

"Buggy sure gets around, doesn't he?" Brook asked brightly. "Where did they even come from?"

"Probably got caught up in that whirlwind, if I had to guess," Robin offered reasonably as Buggy was thrashing around inside it. Memory Luffy saw this and got an idea as he stretched his arms out and grabbed hold of Buggy, pulling him right out of the twister and down to the ground in front of him. Buggy let out a cry of relief having just been rescued from the tornado as the flying blade went straight at Luffy.

"GUM GUM…!"

And in a blink of an eye, Luffy brought Buggy straight down and in front of him and ducked as the attack hit Buggy instead. The Straw Hats only stared as Buggy was disconnected from his lower half and screamed in either shock or pain…

"Jet Substitute!"

There was a moment of silence.

"I forgot he did that," Sanji said at last. "Should I be concerned that it doesn't faze me in the least?"

"Nope," the rest of them reassured him.

"It may be strange, but if it works, who are we to complain?" Brook reasoned. "It's not like swords can hurt Buggy, anyway?"

"Hey! What the hell are you doing, Straw Hat?!" Buggy screamed furiously as his upper half turned around to grab Luffy by the front of his shirt.

"Oh, what's the harm? He's alright, isn't he?" Usopp asked with a sigh.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Luffy demanded as he waved his hand right between the places where Buggy was disconnected from his body. " _He's_ the one who cut you! Besides, I thought you wanted to help me?"

"How diluted is your hearing?!" Buggy screamed, shaking him hard. "You only hear what you want to hear!"

"Sure it's annoying, but you can't help but laugh at it in this case," Franky snorted as the others all nodded at those words. Before Buggy could finish yelling at him, memory Luffy grabbed him by the coat and tossed his upper body at Mihawk, who instinctively sliced Buggy up like an onion. Not that it worked, for Bubby suddenly pulled himself back together, now looking seriously ticked off. Mihawk was looking with slight confusion as to what kind of trick that Buggy was using.

"That was unforgivable!" Buggy bellowed in Mihawk's face. "You're Hawk-Eye, right?!"

To their amusement, Buggy's lower half jumped up, shooting out a one of his Muggy Balls from his shoe right at him. All Mihawk had to do was hold up his sword and it bounced off the steel as if it were a rubber ball and went flying right back at Buggy, whose angry look was replaced by one of stupid surprise.

"Ok, maybe not…" he whimpered with that same dumbfounded smile there as the little ball flew at him. "Do you know why my Muggy Ball is so popular with plumbers?"

"Sad when even a clown can't tell a good joke," Usopp sighed.

"All together now," Buggy said, "Because it goes…"

BOOM!

And the little ball exploded into a thick cloud of flames and smoke, clouding their vision.

"Thanks, Buggy!" memory Luffy called as he went running on ahead out of the cover of the smoke and back towards the wall once again. "I'll never forget you!"

"That's a little rude of you, Luffy," Nami said to their Luffy. "But because it's Buggy, I'll let it go."

"Manners of a primate," Sanji sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"But you gotta admit… it's funny as hell," Franky snorted out again as one of Whitebeard's commanders, Vista, came flying at him, ready to fight with Mihawk and giving Luffy time to get out of Mihawk's range.

At that moment more battleships began to appear behind them, backed up with an army of Pacifistas, causing cries of fear all around them. Hell began to rain down upon them as the Pacifista's all joined together to fire their lasers from their mouths and hands—destroying even their own ships as they launched against Whitebeard's army.

"Stupid…" Franky hissed out, sounding pissed off as he looked at the sinking ships and the hellfire that continued to rain down on them. "They're destroying their own ships. Where do they think that battleships come from? They aren't there for them to destroy whenever they want so they can get new ones!"

"Franky-san, there's nothing we can do about them now," Brook reasoned kindly.

"Sorry," he said as he shook his head. "It's the shipwright in me. To see perfectly good ships being destroyed by their own captains… it's disgusting. All ships deserve to be treated with respect and love! My old mentor would be rolling in his grave if he knew about this!"

But that was when Sengoku called out to everyone that they would move up the execution time and that Ace was to be executed… as well as the pirates be wiped out as soon as possible. Luffy rushed in until he was stopped by Kizaru who sent him flying back with a kick of light. Thankfully, Jimbei rushed in and stopped him from being flung back too far, reminding him that this wasn't supposed to be easy. But soon Whitebeards commanders rushed in to help and they all stood together against Kizaru—who just looked on with that blank look.

"Damn, what kind of drug is this guy on?" Zoro asked in annoyance. "Does nothing faze him? He's always got that stupid expression on his face!"

"Brain injury?" Nami offered grimly.

That was when there was new commotion and they all looked to where everyone else was… only to see the man named Squardo standing on the deck of the Moby Dick… having just rammed his blade through Whitebeard's chest. That was where Marco the Phoenix appeared, knocking Squardo aside as he demanded to know how he could do such a thing, with Squardo shouting out about Whitebeard's deal with the marines. Furious, Squardo demanded to know why Whitebeard never told him that Ace was the son of Gold Roger, whom he despised for taking the lives of his crewmates.

"What his father did has nothing to do with Ace!" Chopper yelled out. "Stop blaming him for things that Roger did!"

"That is how people think," Robin sighed. "Since they can't punish Roger for the things he did, they have to take it out somewhere. Ace is just the most convenient since he is his son."

"Well, that's just the biggest piece of crap I've ever heard!" Usopp retorted.

"I didn't say it wasn't," Robin sighed again, "That is just how people think."

Squardo then began to shout out that Whitebeard had sold out his subordinates crews in exchange for Ace's life and the other Whitebeard Pirates. He claimed that there was the proof how the Pacifistas were only attacking the other crews, leaving those who served directly under Whitebeard alone. But though he knew that he was lucky to even get this attack, Squardo admitted that he was ready for Whitebeard to kill him. But Whitebeard only told him that he was aware of Squardo's hatred for Roger, but angrily asked how he could raise his sword against his father.

"Depends on the father," Sanji muttered so quietly that no one else heard him. He gritted his teeth, of those terrible memories.

Instead of attacking and killing Squardo, however, they watched as Whitebeard hugged him close, merely telling him that he will always love him even though he was a fool. Squardo refused to believe this was genuine as he declared that Akainu told him all of this, before Whitebeard told him that it was wrong to hold a child accountable for what their parents had done and asked what Ace had done to deserve all this. He reminded them that they were family and that they all met out here on this vast ocean and that he should get along with his brother.

"I love this guy!" Usopp cheered out.

"And he's completely right about all that too," Nami added, a smile coming back to her face as tears blurred her vision. "It doesn't matter who someone's birth parents are. It's the ones who we chose to look as our parents that do."

Sanji glanced down at her before he realized that she was right and he smiled as he closed his eyes.

"Indeed," he agreed simply, thinking of an old geezer back in the East Blue who was working in a restaurant out at sea.

Whitebeard then stood tall as he shattered the frozen waves with a quake, opening up an escape route for them all should they choose to take it—proving that all that was said about him as a lie. Whitebeard just called out for them all to choose what they wanted to believe, and that if they wanted to follow him then that was their chose. Hearing this, all of the pirates who had their doubt suddenly had their faith in him restored in it's entirely before they declared their loyalties to him.

Whitebeard charged ahead, finally entering the battle himself, while he left Squardo to wallow in misery on the deck. But the Straw Hats were looking back to the memory Luffy, who was able to start running towards Ace once again. As Whitebeard took on a massive giant, the rest of the pirates began to follow after Luffy to make it into the city… only for the iron walls to go up all around them.

"Not this!" Brook gasped as he knew what was going to happen.

The others all felt their insides freeze what the marines were about to do. Nami grabbed hold of Chopper and hugged him like a teddy bear as she buried her face in his fur; Usopp was now starting to panic before he jammed his fingers into his ears and screwed up his eyes, trying to block everything else out. The others tried to prepare themselves for the horror that was about to come, but they knew that nothing would ever prepare themselves for this slaughter.

The clouds were as dark as a storm out on the Grand Line, but none of the storms they faced since coming to this sea made them feel as sick as this one did. The rumbles went on to sound like thunder booming throughout the sky… yet what came through wasn't rain. Enormous chunks of magma were falling, each one in the form of a fist, and it fell like a meteor shower on the bay and the pirates were trapped inside. A fraction before the fists hit them, they heard Sengoku's voice echoing from inside the walls that seemed to make them feel as if they were being judged by some kind of demon…

"WE WILL NEVER LET YOU ESCAPE HERE ALIVE! MELT THE ICE AND TAKE AWAY THEIR FOOTING!"

The lava hit the ice and fire exploded out of it and struck everyone and everything around it. The force of the explosion was so great that it knocked them off their feet. There was nowhere for anyone to go and no cover as the magma crashed around them.

No one even saw what hit them as the pirates tried to protect themselves from the onslaught, yet there wasn't anything that they could do to save themselves here. Most of the Straw Hats were screaming in terror, crying and clutching at each other as they tried to ride this whole thing out. Even the calm ones of the crew were watching with horrified expressions of what was happening. The worst was probably Robin, who was shaking and hugging her body as the memories of her home being consumed by hellfire began playing in her mind. Her mother, her friends and teachers, Saul… even the island itself, all being reduced to ash before her eyes.

The memory Luffy was clinging to the ground, trying to find some kind of footing even as the ice broke apart all around him and the pirates were being boiled alive in the sea. But Luffy just stared with his eyes full of fear as he saw this display of power and cruelty from the marines.

Robin held onto their Luffy as she tried to prevent her own mind from breaking at the sight of all this death and pain. But it just kept on getting worse. The marines were all firing down at the pirates from all sides, cannons from the walls and the Pacifistas shooting at anyone near the sea, leaving meteors of magma falling from the sky above them. There was nowhere for anyone to go, the pirates were all trapped inside and were being killed left and right.

It was murder on a grand scale as the magma destroyed the ice and turned the water below so hot that you could see it starting to boil. Those who were lucky enough to avoid the fire had fallen into the sea and were literally being cooked and screamed in agony as they struggled to pull themselves out.

Memory Luffy looked ready to curl up and just try to pretend that he was somewhere else, but was spending all his focus trying to keep himself from being hit by the rain or even falling off into the water.

Whitebeard raised up his fist and made a last-ditch effort to try and get everyone out of this mess by breaking through one of the walls. But to their amazement, not even his Quake Quake powers could break down a portion of the wall. He left a deep scar and even dented it, but other than that, it stood strong.

But then more magma began to rain down upon them, this time hitting the main flagship of Whitebeard's ship—the Moby Dick.

The Whitebeard Pirates shrieked in fear and outrage that they dared to attack the ship, trying to put out the fire with anything at hand. But Franky knew that the fire was just too big to be able to do anything to save her. Already, the fire had spread to the insides of the ship and even the frame of the ship, collapsing and breaking apart even as he looked.

Franky just shook his head, his heart torn apart at the sight of such a beautiful and obviously loved ship being burned to ash. That ship was more than just a ship… it was a home to Whitebeard and his crew. They all knew the feeling as they thought about Merry and all the suffering she had to endure for them. Those marines truly had no souls, did they?

"WHITEBEARD!" a horrible voice filled with malice shouted over the roar of death. "YOUR ERA IS AT THE END!"

They were trying to see who shouted that, but couldn't see anything but fire around them. Whitebeard's form appeared though, his back to them as he stared at the beloved ship slowly burn… their flag burning off from the main mast and fall caught their eyes as the ship was now no more than ashes.

"Monsters…" Franky whispered in disgust.

Still, memory Luffy hadn't given up just yet. He was back up and began making a mad dash to the fallen giant, who was lying over a part of the wall that couldn't rise up thanks to his weight. He charged recklessly towards it, with the Whitebeard pirates right behind him… before taking a heavy hit when more fire rained down from the sky and was sent falling back into the ocean.

The memory almost blacked out before they saw Jimbei through the haze appear before them and pulled memory Luffy back out and onto the ice. As Luffy gasped for air, Jimbei and Ivankov were at his side, with the latter berating him for being so reckless.

Once he caught his breath, Luffy was back on his knees as he grabbed Jimbei by his front, begging for another favor. He told Jimbei his plan, which Jimbei refused at once. But Luffy wouldn't be swayed, so Jimbei had little choice but to go along with it. As Luffy grabbed hold of a fallen piece of mast, Jimbei emerged the idiot in a pillar of water and sent him flying through the air and right in front of the execution platform… and the three Admirals.

"I am going to kill you for this, Luffy," Nami muttered darkly. Was Luffy trying to give her gray hair? And if he was, she was really gonna kill him.

Luffy demanded that they give Ace back as he threw the mast, which Aokiji froze and sent flying back before Luffy stomped on it and shattering it into a rain of frozen projectiles. He then shifted back into Second Gear and made a mad dash for Ace… only to be stopped by Kizaru who kicked him aside.

They watched as the marines made their attempt to kill Ace… only for everyone to be stricken dumb with shock when they saw that it had been Crocodile who stopped them from taking Ace's head. They still hated the guy, but they were oddly grateful that he managed to stop the execution. No matter what his reasons were though, this gave the pirates in the bay time to make it onto another coated ship burst out of the sea, allowing them to climb aboard.

The giant, who was just clinging to life, had come too, and used whatever strength he had left to pull Whitebeard's ship into the air and through the hole in the iron wall, letting the rest of the crew storm into the city. But when Oars went under fire once more, collapsing a second time, Whitebeard leapt into the plaza, swinging his weapon in a circle and knocking all the marines out of the way.

Things seemed to be growing desperate for both sides. Whitebeard was up against Aokiji now until Diamond Jozu steps in to fight him while Luffy was forced back once more by a couple more Zoan Devil Fruit users and was then shot back by Kizaru once more. They watched on in anger as Luffy was finally brought down, remembering all too clearly all the harm he had taken onto his body after all that had happened finally becoming too much. Their anger only grew when Kizaru kicked him straight back until Whitebeard catches him… leaving Kizaru mocking him.

"Next time I see him, he's gonna be introduced to my fist," Franky declared as he cracked his knuckles.

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with that face of his, and then we'll see who's pathetic," Sanji snarled out as the memory blacked out after Whitebeard tossed Luffy to his men, telling them to treat him, but it came back at a much later time, still on the battlefield. But then they saw Ivankov.

"I know this part," Brook gasped at the sight of it as memory Luffy was now begging Ivankov for one last favor.

"This is where he crosses stupidity and goes into insanity," Usopp said knowingly, hugging his knees together as he remembered what Chopper had said to them before about those tension hormones.

"I think he crossed that line a long time ago," Franky reminded him bitterly as Luffy asked Iva for his request and the Okama's eyes widen in shock.

"WHAT?!" Ivankov screamed out.

"Please… Iva…" Luffy begged, using what little energy he had into squeezing Iva's ankle.

"Are you sure about this?" Ivankov asked, his voice croaky before his eyes narrowed in anger, as if furious that Luffy would dare ask this favor. "You want another shot of the Tension Hormones!?"

"Why? Why did he do it?!" Chopper demanded furiously. He then went and jumped up onto their Luffy's chest and began to shake him as he screamed out, "DON'T YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU WERE DOING, LUFFY? YOU WERE KILLING YOURSELF! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! WHY I OUTTA…!"

But before he could finish his rant, Nami picked him up and hugged him, needed one just as much as Chopper did at that moment. There was nothing else that could be done. They knew that Luffy had been pushed to his breaking point and without something big here to help him, he wasn't going to be able to get back up for anything. Not that it didn't still hurt them though. All they could do was ride this out and hope that it wouldn't be able to reduce them all to tears again.

"That's too reckless!" Ivankov screamed down at him, "Don't vyou see what vyou're asking? We fought together all the way from Impel Down and even then vyou pushed yourself too far! Vyou're body had been fatally poisoned and then brought straight back from death's door! You pushed it passed your limits!"

Yet despite the warnings, memory Luffy was still trying to push himself up to his feet. All the while, Iva continued yelling, "I've told vyou before! This isn't anything but used for an emergency treatment! Nothing more! It just tricks vyou into thinking that vyou're alright! If you keep on deceiving vyour body like this then vyou really will die once this is all over!"

"And I am going to be having another long talk with you about that!" Chopper said to the present-day Luffy, and was wondering if he should wake him up just so that he could keep screaming at him.

Usopp wanted to hit Luffy as he muttered darkly, "If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you have no regards for your own life! You idiot, at least think about other people before you risk your life like that!"

But there was nothing else that could be done. They knew that the Luffy in the memory had reached his limits and he wasn't going to be moving from that spot without some help. He stretched out an arm to grab hold of Ivankov's collar and dragged him down with such force that Ivankov was forced to his knees as he continued to stare at him.

"As long… as I've done… all that I can," memory Luffy gasped out, determined to let him know what he thought. "Then I don't mind… dying!"

To hear those words over again was a hard pill to swallow. Luffy was only thinking of saving his big brother, having long since stopped caring about his own sentence. He knew that he could very well die if he took more of that adrenaline. But right now, he didn't care if he lived or died, so long as he could save Ace, then that was all that mattered. And his words confirmed that when he begged, "Please! Let me fight, Iva! If… if I don't… if… if I can't save Ace then… then I… THEN I WILL WANT TO DIE!"

"You may be prepared to meet your maker, pal, but you have to go through the rest of us before that!" Franky declared as he sat down miserably.

"Exactly," Nami agreed as she grabbed hold of their own Luffy's cheek and began to pull it hard so that it stretched out. "We're gonna give you a nice, long lecture when you wake up so you better enjoy yourself now! You're gonna be wishing that you're dead by the time I'm through with you."

Seriously, didn't he realize that they needed him too? Despite all the times that they complained about him, all the times they suffered because of Luffy's stupidity, they didn't have a clue what they would do if he wasn't here anymore. He was more than just their captain, he was family to them all, and was the glue that kept them all together. The Straw Hats would fall apart without him there. And as for Ace…? He would want him to keep living no matter what happened. She knew that for a fact after all…

She remembered when they were able to speak with Ace's spirit, how he had asked them to take care of Luffy for him. Well, they may have let him down big time here at Marineford, but they were going to make sure that never happened again.

"We really messed up here, didn't we?" Brook asked grimly. "Luffy never should've been forced to make such choices!"

"What could we do though? We're stuck miles away in different parts of the world!" Chopper pointed out.

"Make all the excuses you want, the fact is that we weren't here to help him and he had to go through all this on his own," Zoro said darkly.

"If it wasn't for Jimbei snapping him outta it, we may not have had a captain to get back to," Sanji added just as grim. "We're really gonna have to step it up a notch if we want to prevent something like this happening to anyone else in this crew. And I mean all of us have to get tougher. So I'm looking at you, Moss Head. Stop fighting like a three-year-old."

"What?!" Zoro demanded furiously. "How many fights have you had where you didn't need someone there to back up you since we got to the New World?!"

It was almost a relief to see them fighting since it took their minds off what was happening for just a moment. But soon, they were brought back to the matter at hand when memory Luffy begged, "Iva! Please! Let me fight!"

Ivankov just looked at him, torn between smacking him and letting him do this if it made him happy. But his more logical side won out here as he shouted out, "I keep telling you, that if I let you die here then I'll never be able to look Dragon in the eye again! You stupid idiot!"

"He really is an idiot…" Nami cried quietly.

"The biggest…" Usopp sobbed out as he was now torn between strangling their Luffy and hugging him.

Luffy ignored Ivankov's words as he looked back to where his brother was still trapped, waiting his death. The memory turned almost completely black again, with only Ace's face clear.

"Ace…" both Luffy's croaked out at the same time. At long last, Iva seemed to realize that this couldn't be helped and he agreed. His fingertips turned back into sharp syringes once again before he shouted out, "Do whatever the hell you want!"

He jammed his fingers into memory Luffy's side, causing a gasp of pain. Even as a couple Whitebeard Pirates stopped, barking at him to know what he was doing, Iva ignored them all as he pulled his fingers out and waited.

That shot was what Luffy seemed to need for the memory lightened until everything became clear again. The ringing in his ears stopped and he was able to push himself back up again… the effects kicking in almost immediately. His fists clenched tightly before he slowly reared his head back and let out a loud roar, sounding ready to take on anything.

"ACCCCCCCCCE!" Luffy screamed out as loudly as he could, Ace staring down in shock to see that his little brother was back in the game. Luffy only looked right back up at him after he got that screaming out of his system, Ivankov standing right behind him, giving him one last warning before he ran off.

"Remember, Straw-Boy," he said seriously. "The booster deceives your body. Nothing more. Your injuries haven't healed at all. And if you fall again, no matter how persistent you are, you won't be getting up again."

"Was there really no other way?" Usopp asked softly, having to sit down beside their own Luffy to make sure that he was still with them and safe. Though he made a note to start hitting him when they got out of this tower.

"I want to say there was but…?" Sanji said quietly before he gave his head a shake when he knew that there really was no other option here. He hated seeing all this, but he also knew Luffy. He wasn't going to give up. Nothing short of death was gonna make him just sit there while Ace was in danger.

Memory Luffy spit out some blood as he kept his eyes on Ace, still standing tall as he declared, "Don't worry… I… won't fall again!"

And he went running on ahead as the battle continued around him. Soon enough, another familiar face stood against them… this time though it was as a friend.

"Coby…" Chopper said anxiously as Coby kept his head down as Luffy went running at him.

"There are times were you must stand up for what you believe in, no matter how much you hate it," Brook said softly. "I know that Luffy-san would never do any serious harm to him, but it's a good thing that all he got was that punch."

"He's _lucky_ that was the worst that he got," Zoro stated as the two friends charged at each other. But it wasn't even a challenge, for memory Luffy took him out in a single punch, leaving him behind without even having to pause for breath.

As for Luffy though, he was suddenly cornered by even more Pacifistas… but before they could open fire on him, he was saved by Hancock once again as she stood in front of him with her arms outstretched. Recognizing her as an ally, the Pacifistas ended their attack before it even began, giving Luffy time to run around them… and Hancock even took a few of them out for saying her name in a way that she didn't like.

"That chick is badass!" Franky said in awe before he gave their Luffy a slap on the shoulder as he laughed out, "Bro, you bagged one fine woman!"

"Shut up," Sanji glowered at him, his body shaking in suppressed rage. He was grinding his teeth to keep himself from screaming up to the heavens how unfair this all was. He was going to have a talk with Luffy when they got out of this… and give him a few good punches to the head.

But Marineford was really turning into hell all around them. People were fighting all over and bodies covering the ground—causing some of the more sentimental members of the crew turn away, unable to watch. But things really got out of hand when a small army of marines tried to go after Whitebeard… where he defeated them all by sending them flying when he brought his weapon down and causing a massive whirlwind that picked them up and upwards until they were miles over the ground.

"He really is a marvel to watch," Brook muttered in awe as they were all stunned by this display of raw power, marines falling back to the ground like rain. "And to think that he was in the twilight of his years! If this is how strong he was at the end of his life, then imagine just how powerful he was during his prime?"

"One badass dude!" Franky said as he punched the air. "Everyone here is crazy powerful! And to think that a day will come when we can join their ranks!"

At that moment, Whitebeard declared that he would not die until he had seen a future for his sons. When the marines tried to attack his back, his crew then stood behind him, claiming to defend his honor. But while dealing with all that, the executioners up on the platform with Ace tried to kill him for the second time… at least until Luffy's desperation grew so strong that he unleashed his Haki and took out most of the army around him… shocking everyone.

As those who remained awake tried to recover, they all began to turn their attention towards him, the marines now freaking out about that display of uncontrolled power, now crying out that he would become a fearsome opponent in the future if they let him leave here alive.

"Well, they're right about that much, at least," Usopp offered on the up side, determined to find something good from this mess.

"Yeah, but it just gives them another reason to want him dead," Robin frowned anxiously.

"Damnit, Robin, why are you always doing that?!" Usopp demanded as Chopper cringed at her words.

She shrugged back as she answered, "I only speak the truth."

"Well, then lie!" Usopp retorted. "Please! Do it to keep my heart from stopping if nothing else!"

Back to the memory however, Whitebeard struck at the marines, acting offended that they forgot all about him. He brushed the marines aside like knocking over blocks and commanded all his forces to back up Luffy. Taken aback by the order, but they did what they're told and jump in to protect Luffy and clear the way. When Iva asked him about living up to Whitebeard's expectations, memory Luffy only answered that he couldn't care less what Whitebeard thought since he was only here to save Ace.

But it seemed that Whitebeard wasn't the only one who put their bets on Luffy. Hawk-Eye came charging at Luffy for a second time, but he was stopped by Mr. 1 and then by Crocodile after he dealt the former bounty hunter a dangerous wound.

"I don't like that," Nami said with a pout as Crocodile told Mr. 1 to stop sleeping on the job. "I still haven't forgiven those two for everything they did to Vivi and her country. But I would have hated it more if they didn't step in to protect Luffy. Why are they helping anyway?"

"Well, it's not like they can be fighting for the marines," Usopp pointed out when Mr. 1 responded that he guessed that he grew soft in prison. "I suppose it's still the pirate in them that's making them want to see the Navy fall."

"Well, he hates Luffy, but he rather not see the marines get their way," Sanji offered with a shrug.

Robin gazed at her old partner as she thought that over. No… it was something else. Luffy had won Crocodile's respect. Not that he would ever admit to it. But the fact was that he was willing to protect Luffy because he wanted to see just how far he could go.

Luffy went running on, they caught sights of other battles, such as Sentomaru yelling at Hancock for destroying most of their Pacifistas, and the Whitebeard Pirates were all forcing back a pathway for Luffy that led up to the execution platform. That was when Inazuma appeared from Ivankov's hair, having recovered from his poison enough to aid them. He cut up the ground and made the path straight up to Ace. Things looked good until Garp stepped in, landing between both Luffy and Ace, causing the platform to crack from the impact.

"Grandpa!" Luffy shouted out, as if thinking this was some kind of joke. "What are you doing?! Get outta my way!"

"Don't they realize that the bridge is falling apart?!" Usopp cried as Garps new weight added to the giant hole he made was causing the stone to crumble.

Zoro's hand was twitching as he rested it on his swords when he answered, "I think that, given everything happening around them, this is the least of their problems."

Garp declared that he was not going to move, so if Luffy wanted to cross, then he'd have to kill him.

"Gramps!" Ace yelled pleadingly behind him as Luffy almost stopped dead in his tracks at that.

"IT'S THE PATH THAT YOU BOTH HAVE CHOSEN!" Garp yelled back out.

"Ironic that the harder he tried to stop them from heading down this road," Brook said, thinking back to all the abuse he put the two brothers through as they were growing up, "the more that he pushed them down it."

"There was nothing he could have done to stop them," Zoro said firmly. "Their minds were both made up a long time ago. And nothing that he could have done would have stopped them."

There wasn't anything that could be done. Ace was screaming Luffy's name in terror, trying to rip off his chains once more and if he wasn't more careful, he could end up ripping his own skin off in the process. Memory Luffy then pleaded one more time, "I can't do it, Grandpa! Please move!"

"And if you don't do it then Ace will die!" Garp yelled back, causing Luffy to scream back, "I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!"

Those words were like a smack to the face for them all, they felt almost as bad at Garp's next declaration, "It's going to happen no matter how hard you try! And I'm not holding back anymore, Luffy! From here on out, I see you as an enemy!"

Had Garp truly meant that, they were sure that the outcome would have been very different. But when Luffy went back to using his Second Gear, they could see the torment in Garp's face when he saw the memory Luffy's expression. The sight of seeing it seemed to cause any parental instinct in him to react to what was going on. And he closed his eyes at the last second, allowing Luffy to punch him hard in the face. The hit was enough that it cause blood to burst from Garp's mouth, falling off the bridge and sent to the ground.

"Grandpa…" their present-day Luffy muttered as he continued sleeping, getting a few of the Straw Hats to look down at him in surprise.

When they looked back up to the memory, watching Garp slowly fall, they knew that however harsh that the old man was, he truly loved his grandsons more than anything. No matter how dysfunctional they were, they were still a family.

Garp fell as the bridge collapsed, but Luffy managed to jump from falling rock to falling rock before he made it, at long last, to the top of the platform. It was hard not to feel joy and pride when they saw Luffy touch down right in front of Ace, gasping for air, as if it hadn't sunk in that he had finally made it.

"Finally…" he gasped as he looked up, "Finally… I FINALLY MADE IT!"

And he punched the air jubilantly as Ace stared up at him.

"Luffy…" Ace said but for the first time since this war started, he actually smiled, real pride on his face as he said, "You're one hell of a guy…"

Franky nodded in full agreement as he said, "Took the words outta my mouth there."

"GO LUFFY!" Usopp, Brook, and Chopper all cheered out, kinda forcing themselves to forget that this rescue mission wouldn't end like how they wanted.

They watched as Luffy tried to get those cuffs off Ace with the key that Hancock gave to him… at least until Sengoku began to transform into a living Buddha and Kizaru destroyed the key. It all looked hopeless until one of the guards who tried to kill Ace suddenly woke up and they saw that it was Mr. 3—though how he managed to get there in the first place was anyone's guess. Memory Luffy took the hit from Sengoku as Mr. 3 created a wall of wax to protect him and Ace. But the blow was enough to destroy the scaffolding and send all three falling.

As they fell, Mr. 3 formed a key out of wax as he cried out, asking if Luffy would laugh at him if he told him that he wanted to make sure that a fallen friend wasn't in vain. At those words they were all reminded of Bon Clay… remembering how he sacrificed everything to help Luffy escape from Impel Down, and practically got himself killed as he struggled to find a way to save him from Magellan's poison. They all silently agreed that if anyone ever laughed at that, they would beat them to within an inch of their lives.

Memory Luffy seemed to feel the same way as he declared would never laugh at that as he grabbed the key, having shrunk down to his tiny form after using his third Gear effect. He went straight for Ace's cuffs just as the marines opened fired on them… but as they watched, they saw the unlocked cuffs falling to the ground as the three of them were being protected by the flames from the explosion. Ace had been set free at long last, and was pulling Luffy through along with him as he scolded his little brother for how reckless he was.

"True, but I find that strangely endearing as well as frustrating," Robin chuckled as there were cheers from all over the Straw Hats as they watched Ace gain his freedom at long last.

"Ace-san! Luffy-kun!" they heard Jimbei's ecstatic voice over all the noise as Whitebeard was laughing loudly as both brothers landed safely and Mr. 3 sort of crashed into the ground. Horrified that they weren't able to stop it, the marines all began to point their swords and guns at the pair as they readied themselves for another fight.

"Still up for a fight, Luffy?" Ace asked seriously, ready to cover for him in case he wasn't.

"Of course I can!" Luffy answered fiercely, holding his fists up, ready to start punching people.

Ace just smirked at that as he said, "I never once thought I'd see the day when you would save me, for once." He looked at him from the corner of his eyes and added, "Thanks, Luffy."

"Awww…" Franky sniffled. "I love those two. Seeing them together just gives me this warm feeling inside! Anyone who looks at them and doesn't feel anything has no heart!"

Memory Luffy chuckled as he rubbed his finger under his nose and answered, "Well, I couldn't have done it without Old Man Whitebeard and his men to help me!"

The marines opened fired on them, forcing them back into the serious situation that they were far from home free. Thankfully, it was only ordinary bullets that were being fired, so that they went right through Ace's body when he became flames and Luffy caught them all, sending them back once they stretched his skin out.

"You think that they would have remembered that ordinary bullets won't work on them, by now?" Sanji asked in annoyance. "I'd feel almost bad for them if they weren't so stupid."

"Don't complain," Nami said firmly. "I prefer when they underestimate us. Makes us fighting to survive a lot easier."

The two brothers then began to fight them all, with the swordsmen running at them. Ace jumped up to do a handstand on Luffy's head until he was forced down far enough that the blades struck at Ace's body, which just went right through him.

"He's my little brother," he informed them as if they were being rude. "So I'd appreciate it if you'd back off!"

Ace launched himself into the air before he began to use his signature Fire Fist attack at the marines, forcing them out of the way. Luffy then went back to his Second Gear, causing Chopper to yell out furiously, before he disappeared when three marines tried to drop down on him with swords. Memory Luffy then went spinning through the air before stomping down and taking them all out in one shot.

Ace landed before he began to fire out balls of flames at more marines, hitting everyone in his line of sight before another marine appeared with a spiked mace right above him. But Luffy stepped in and kicked him away before he could even touch Ace.

It was a marvel to watch them working together so perfectly, as if they were reading the other's mind and were able to keep up with ease. They were far from the wild little boys from Goa Kingdom who ran through the jungles causing trouble where they went, but at the same time they realized that they really hadn't changed much from those simple days either. Yet it was hard to find a way to explain that in a way that made sense to any of them.

Both brothers were grinning as they continued to kick the asses of all the marines around them, who realized that they were outmatched, and it only ended with Ace calling to Luffy that it was time for them to go. The two seemed to be filled with a new love of life and they were running together back to the other Whitebeard Pirates, knowing that the sea was calling to them.

It was hard to believe that this blissful moment of freedom wasn't going to last for long.

As the rest of Whitebeard's men started to clear a way for them, the marines gave chase. But the two brothers were at the heart of the action, more than able to take out any of their pursers. Seeing the love of fighting that the two of them had, and their perfect teamwork, seemed to light a fire beneath the other pirates, who were cheering and fighting back harder than ever. One could almost believe that victory was theirs.

The two having come so far from when they were children, with the younger brother able to run side-by-side with his big brother. Maybe Ace saw that to as he looked at him as they ran.

"You've gotten strong, Luffy," he told him, causing Luffy to stare back at him in shock.

They all knew by now how much those words must have meant to Luffy. He was no longer the weak little brother that Ace needed to worry about protecting; no longer was he the one who was running to catch up with Ace… he was finally strong enough to run beside him and to hear Ace admit that to him, must have made him so happy at that moment.

The memory Luffy grinned back, pride in his face as he looked up at the person he cared about and admired the most in the world and said determinedly, "And someday… I'll surpass even you!"

"Oh…" Chopper sniffled tearfully as Brook whimpered out, "Just stab me in the heart, why don't you? Not that I have one anymore…?"

Ace just grinned back, knowing that Luffy meant every word he said. If he didn't want to lose to his little brother he was gonna have to step it up. But knowing what was coming very soon, was enough to make them all feel sick to their stomachs. Especially when Aokiji appeared in front of the two of them. Ace, instinctively, stopped and held up a hand to stop Luffy—letting him know that he would handle this.

"Well, until then, let me protect you a little longer," he told Luffy as he moved protectively in front of him so that he was facing Aokiji. The Whitebeard Pirates tried to create a path for them as the Marines continued to attack and Ace squared off against Aokiji. Despite the fact that Ace had been chained up for who knows how long, beaten and tortured, the two of them were completely even as fire and ice clashed against the other.

But even with this new burst of confidence things suddenly started to go downhill fast. Squardo, the same man who had stabbed Whitebeard before, drove their extra ship right into the plaza, calling that they will stall the marines while the rest of them escaped. But were stopped at once when Whitebeard used one hand to hold them back—causing cries of amazement from both the Straw Hats and the marines. Whitebeard was glaring up at him before shouting out that his wound from Squardo had done nothing, for the truth was that he was dying already. That was when he gave his final Captain's order to his crew.

Despite all his crewmates shouting out that they wouldn't leave without him, Whitebeard ordered that they must part ways and the rest of them were to return to the New World for he was nothing more than a dying piece of a bygone age. That there was no longer any ship that could carry him to the New World.

"But…?" Usopp began, having a hard time believing that the legendary Whitebeard could no longer sail.

"We all have to die sooner or later," Zoro said. "Even if he left with them, he wouldn't have lasted long."

"I'm afraid that's true," Chopper nodded grimly. Even from this distance, he could tell that Whitebeard was suffering from some serious injuries. He doubted that there was anything that he or anyone else could do to help him now.

Things really started to get crazy when Whitebeard caused another earthquake, now shouting out for his men to hurry up and leave him. Marineford started to disintegrate from the quake, with the pirates still pleading for Whitebeard to come with them, the marines raged war against the sole pirate—who continued fighting as the pirates who couldn't walk were carried away.

The Straw Hats all watched on as he stood his ground against all of Marineford, not giving them an inch as he fought on with life-threatening injuries. It was seeing him here really showed just what a great man he had been. He didn't need the title of Pirate King, for he didn't need it. He ruled the seas anyway.

But they were brought back to reality when they heard Iva barking to memory Luffy that now was the time for them to go. Luffy agreed with him, but the problem was that he was having a hard time trying to get Ace to come with them. Ace said that he understood and that there was nothing that he could have done to convince the old man from coming with them, but he still seemed to be having trouble trying to get his body to turn around and leave with the rest of them.

It was heart-breaking to see Ace blow another wave of marines away, creating a wave of fire around both him and Whitebeard… and then he bow low to Whitebeard, thanking him for all that he had done for him. And when Whitebeard asked if he was a good father, to which Ace answered whole-heartedly that of course he was… which caused Whitebeard to laugh.

No one wanted to watch anymore for they knew where it was going. They did their best to block out the sounds of Akainu's taunts, and Ace's anger as he mocked Whitebeard and insulted them all by calling them cowards.

"Just run…" Nami whimpered as she looked away, not wanting to see what was going to come. "Please Ace… ignore him, just run."

But Ace would not run; attacking Akainu in a fury as he declared that the name of this era is known as Whitebeard. However, in his hot-headed anger, he found out that his fire was no match for the admiral's magma and his arm was badly burned in the process when they clashed.

Brook didn't not think that he could stand it anymore and turned to a sobbing Chopper, "Chopper-san, could you give me some of that stuff to make me sleep too?"

"I could…" he wailed back, "But I don't see how if you're just a skeleton!"

"Then give it to me!" Usopp sobbed, tears flooding down his face like a waterfall. "I wanna go to sleep too!"

Chopper might've done so if he had time. Just as he was reaching for his bag, memory Luffy tried to rush back to Ace's aid but his body wouldn't respond any longer and he fell, dropping Ace's vivre card as he did so.

Akainu was looking down at Ace with a dark shadow over his face for a moment "The son of the Pirate King, Roger, and the son of the Revolutionary Dragon," he began. "To imagine that their sons have met and have become brothers is a frightening thought. But know that your very bloodlines are a sin of the highest order. Your fates have long since been decided. I don't care if every other pirate escapes here, but I will not allow you two to leave here alive."

"That's not true!" Brook roared out angrily. "They're good people! And they deserve to live! Don't you dare say otherwise!"

"Yeah, you monster!" Chopper roared out furiously with tears still streaming down his face. "You're gonna pay for what you did."

Zoro looked back at Robin and walked her side as she watched on miserably.

"It really is hard, isn't it?" he asked as she sighed.

"I know that I deserve to live," she confessed quietly to him. "But still… after years of being told that I should never have existed, it's hard to remember that sometimes." She glance down at Luffy, realizing just how young he looked there. "It's tough… isn't it, Luffy?"

Zoro's one good eye softened at the sight of them there before he glanced back up to where Akainu was before promising, "Don't worry. I won't let the government have another chance to get either of you."

She smiled up at him and answered, "I know you will. Thank you, Zoro."

Zoro turned only slightly red at the gratitude in her voice. But his embarrassment quickly vanished when Akainu was now looking behind Ace to where memory Luffy was before leering, "Now take a good look…"

There was nothing else that they could do, they all knew this, yet they all had to fight the impulse to run to Luffy's aid. Zoro's hands were shaking as he gripped his swords, and fire was already licking Sanji's legs as he watched on. Nami spun about and buried her face into Robin's shirt as Chopper, Brook, and Usopp all kept their eyes on their own Luffy, trying to just remember that he was here with them and he was safe and sound.

Robin held onto Nami as she closed her eyes as the others heard Ace's scream out for him to stop, crying out his brother's name and they heard the stunned silence where they knew that Akainu had landed his blow…

It was almost as bad as watching this the first time and Zoro and Sanji finally looked away for just a moment, their hearts aching at the sight. Chopper burst out crying as he clung onto their Luffy and sobbed, his tiny face pressed against the X-shaped scar on their captain's chest. He wasn't the only one, for Nami was sobbing to herself and Usopp was tearing at his hair as Brook broke down completely. Franky and Robin both remained silent, but even they had silent tears rolling down their faces as memory Luffy cried out his brother's name.

"Why?" Nami croaked out as she cried, unable to bring herself to look up… not wanting to see all the blood there. "Why did this have to happen?"

But no one could offer her words of comfort… even present-day Luffy had tears falling down his face as he slept on.

Zoro and Sanji turned back on the scene as the Whitebeard Pirates were all screaming out for Ace when Akainu finally pulled his fist from the hole he punched right through the pirate's body… blood already flooding the ground while another fountain of it burst from his mouth. Memory Luffy was back on his feet, knocked out of his stunned state as the Whitebeard Pirates continued firing at Akainu, where he merely said mercilessly that Ace had some life left in him it seemed.

Memory Luffy seemed numb from shock as he croaked out for him to stop before his voice rose up into a scream for him not to touch Ace again. Thankfully, Jimbei came running in once again and took the punch with his bare hands, standing between him and the two brothers… though it was already too late for one of them.

"No!" Jimbei hollered, grinding his teeth in the effort to hold back the pain and stand his ground as Akainu's magma burned his webbed hands. "I will not let you hurt him again!"

"There's no more point," Franky whispered in grief. "It's already too late. Stop it… can't you see what you're doing?"

"Quit this pointless stalling, Jimbei!" Akainu yelled, now trying to force his way through the fishman. "You used to be a Warlord! I am sure you recall how strong I am!"

"If by tearing this body apart, I can delay you in the slightest, then I am content!" Jimbei declared, struggling with the effort of holding on but refusing to let Akainu have his way. "I have already accepted my death!"

"Please… I don't want to see anymore! I don't want to hear it!" Brook gasped out, his hands over his non-existent ears. "It was horrible the first time to see what happened! But to hear his last words again…?!"

Robin only kept her hand protectively on their Luffy's forehead as he continued to cry in his sleep. She knew why he had started losing his mind on them before when he was separated from them when the door closed. Luffy had never been able to fully move on from this point in his life. He had only really begun to move on from then just a few weeks ago when they left that cursed island. But forced to relive those moments again so soon…?

It was no wonder that just the thought of those hellish days were enough to torture him.

"Thank you, Jimbei," Nami whispered, her face red from the tears when she heard Akainu hiss a warning at him. But she knew that help came for him when she heard someone order for Jimbei to get down. Zoro and Sanji watched as Marco and Vista came flying in out of nowhere and slashed at Akainu, which they hoped that it hurt.

"For a moment of neglect, I feel boundless regret," Vista stated, holding his swords steady, yet there was a shake to his voice as he steadied his blades against Akainu.

"How could we let this happen?!" Marco demanded, sounded repulsed with himself.

"I hear you there," Sanji said softly, feeling the exact same way. How could they allow this to happen?

"Pointless," Akainu informed them as he sneered at the duo. "Can you not see it is too late for Fire Fist?"

At those words, they heard sounds of Ace falling to his knees… and finally everyone looked up to see Ace was slumped over Luffy's stunned form. Ace had wrapped his one good arm around his little brother's shoulders and the other laid useless at his side, blood pooling beneath them… even drawing breath seemed to be agony for him.

Memory Luffy's eyes were just filled with shock as he stared forward, as if it hadn't registered what just happened. Seeing that heartbroken face was all that they could see as he held tightly onto Ace—barely clinging to life.

"Ace…?" he whispered hoarsely, even as Ace was rasping for air. "Hey…" he said a little louder, "Can you hear me?"

But when he pulled his hand away from Ace's back to look at it, they could see that it was drenched in blood. There was so much dripping off it, so much coated that all they could see was red. Seeing it there was causing Luffy's eyes and face to twitch wildly before he said, "Ace… we… we have to hurry and treat your wounds."

But Chopper just buried his head even harder into their Luffy's shirt, knowing that there was nothing that could be done. Ace's injuries were far too serious to ever be treated.

"I'm sorry… Luffy…" Ace finally croaked out, which caused Luffy to stiffen at the words, gradually hugging Ace closer. "Just for me… you did all that crazy stuff… but… I couldn't let you save me properly. I'm… so sorry…"

You could almost see the hope in Luffy shatter at those words.

"Wh… what are you saying?" he squeaked out before anger flashed in his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous! Don't say stupid things like that!" he screamed before he turned his head back and he shouted at anyone who would listen, "Someone, help him! Ace… please save Ace! Hey, isn't there anyone who can save him!? Come on!"

Everyone else just stared on, like they didn't know what to make of what they were seeing. Even when a doctor was finally called over to check on them… only to see his injuries and know that it was far too late… it was like watching a dream… or a nightmare. Memory Luffy didn't seem to understand this fact yet, or at least he couldn't bring himself to accept it as he demanded for the doctor to hurry up and do something.

The doctor couldn't seem to bring himself to look at him as he choked out, "Forgive me…"

"What… do you mean?" memory Luffy asked, still not understanding why he wasn't doing anything. "What are you saying?! Do something! Hey! Hey! You're a doctor, aren't you? Aren't you?!"

"He can't accept it?" Usopp gulped down.

"Hell, I can't accept it!" Franky broke down, a river of tears flooding from his eyes and Chopper began to howl at how helpless he felt. The others all seemed determined to hang onto some part of their Luffy to reassure themselves that he was there with them and that they were there for him.

"It's no use…" Ace spoke up, his voice sounding strained and it was clear it was a terrible effort just to speak. "He fried my insides… I won't… be coming back from this… I can tell… my life is at its end…"

But Luffy was still in denial about that, unable to believe that his strong, big brother was dying in his arms. He called back to Iva, begging that he use that same injection that he used to save him with before…

"STRAW-BOY!" Ivankov screamed out when he couldn't stand to hear Luffy's pleas anymore. When Luffy fell silent, Ivankov then told him honestly, "Ace-boy… is beyond saving."

Someone finally came out and said it to him… and at last, it seemed to sink in. Memory Luffy was shaking as he turned back to look at Ace, whispering out, "That can't be… Ace… are you going to die?"

Every word he said felt like a knife to the gut and their hearts were breaking apart at the scared tone in his voice. When Ace didn't answer him; that seemed to have been too much for Luffy to bear. His eyes shone with anger now as the hand that was still covering the wound clenched into a fist as he demanded, "Didn't you promise me?! You promised! You… said you will never die… DIDN'T YOU?! ACE!"

But Luffy's anger faded to sobs as he hugged Ace as tightly as he could to him, as if he held on tight enough he could find a way to keep him from leaving.

"Ace… what are you saying…?" he demanded tearfully in a way that just broke their hearts. "You promised me! You said you would never die! You told me that, didn't you Ace?!"

Ace didn't seem to answer him at first as he raised his head just a fraction and looked behind him with a blank look in his eyes… staring off in the direction of the sea. But it was obvious that he knew that there was nothing that could be done. So instead, he wanted to just hold on for what little time he still had.

"Was it…" Ace began, not answering Luffy's questions. "Good that I was born?"

"Of course it was," Brook whispered softly. "This world was a better place with you in it, Ace-san…"

"It's not a sin just for being born," Franky nodded firmly. "No matter what anyone else said, bro. We're glad that you're here. And we won't forget ya!"

"Nobody… wanted me to be born…" Ace went on grimly, leaving the Straw Hats even more miserable when they remembered he couldn't hear them. "I… probably wouldn't even have wanted to live if it weren't for that whole deal with Sabo… and having an wild little brother like you to look out for." Ace's voice was fading with every second, yet he stopped speaking for a moment as he looked like he was trying to find the right words. "No one else wanted me… after all. So… it was only natural…"

"I think… he would have been happy knowing that all these people disagree with those words," Robin said softly.

"Oh, right…" Ace went on, just remembering something. "If you ever… see Dadan… then give her my regards. For some reason, now that I know that I'm going to die, even her name sounds touching to me…"

"Dadan… right… I remember her now," Nami said tearfully and how much she saw the boys as her sons. She could only imagine what went through her mind when she found out about Ace. "Oh, poor Dadan…"

Memory Luffy's eyes were screwed up tightly as he kept yelling out, "I keep telling you… don't die!"

"I want out! Someone get us out of this freaky tower! I can't stand it!" Chopper sobbed out, feeling like he would've been happily dragged across the ground again if they could just stop the memory here.

"I only have… one regret," Ace confessed. "That I couldn't see you… fulfill your dream… But… I'm sure… you can make it. You're my little brother."

"Of course he can, we'll make sure of it," Usopp choked out, feeling like he was crumbling just by listening to these words over again.

"On that day… just like… we promised on that day… the way I had lived my life…" And Ace finally smiled again. A sad, but true smile as he admitted, "I have… no regrets about it."

"He's lived a wonderful life then," Brook gasped out, knowing that feeling. His one regret was that he had died before he could reach Laboon. And it was the only thing that kept him going all those years in the Dark Sea.

For Ace, he promised that he would protect Luffy as they lived freer than anyone else. It seemed that Ace only broke one promise… in that he would never die. But Luffy no longer needed a big brother there to take care of him… and so one would say that he fulfilled his end of the promise anyway.

"That's not true!" Luffy continued to shout out, "Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not lying," Ace informed him gently as more blood dripped off him until there was more on the ground than in his body. "What I truly wanted… wasn't fame or to be renowned or anything like that, after all."

Robin shook her head, tears gently falling from her eyes onto the present-day Luffy's unhappy face as Ace asked once more, "Was it good… that I was born? All I truly wanted… was just the answer to that question."

"I know that people like us can never really understand," Sanji said suddenly. "But the fact that you will condemn someone just for living… is sick."

"The world is cursed," Robin reasoned for him. "And we are just people who are cursed more than most. It is almost as if we were born with a terrible disease that they want to wipe out before it spreads."

Ace's pained expression suddenly turned strangely peaceful as his eyes grew cloudy. The sounds faded until it was silent around them… all they could hear was Ace's rasping breath as he struggled for air. Though he was smiling, he could no longer speak up louder than a whisper, "I… can't speak loud enough for the others to hear it…"

Nami was struggling to hold whatever was left of herself together as she pulled their own Luffy up into a hug like a big teddy bear when she saw memory Luffy's eyes widen with horror and pain as tears formed.

"Please… pass on… what I'm about to say…" Ace pleaded with him, sounding like the words were causing him pain in more ways than one. "Old Man…" he began in a thick voice, "Everyone… and you, Luffy…" his voice was breaking and becoming choked up with emotion, but still he went on. "Even though… I've been good for nothing my whole life… even though I carry the blood of a demon within me…"

"No… that's not true," Brook said firmly. "I don't believe any of that."

Ace was crying openly now as he said his final words, happiness in his voice despite the pain that he was in, "Thank you… THANK YOU FOR LOVING ME!"

How could such simple words could carry so much weight… the weight of a person's entire life? Ace held onto Luffy firmly for that one last moment… took one last breath before his trembling mouth curled up into another smile. Peaceful… contented… and his tear-filled eyes slowly became empty, the fire in them fading as they began to shut for the final time.

His good arm slackened, as if still wanting to hold onto Luffy for just a moment longer, but all that strength had left it and it slowly slipped…

And he fell…

They all looked away, unable to bear to look until they heard the sound of the sickening thud… no one could even bring themselves to glace up when they heard memory Luffy's whispers of Ace's name… before he began to scream in pain.

Louder and louder his cries grew as they screwed up their eyes, and then everything stopped. Luffy's mind had snapped once again, leaving everything in shambles around them, as if looking through a shattered window. But when they finally looked up, they could see everyone calling out in mindless grief over Ace's death, as well as Luffy no longer even moving.

It only got worse, their hatred growing to spilling over when Akainu began rushing towards memory Luffy on a river of lava, burning everything that he touched. He declared that Luffy was to follow after Ace… but bright blue flames erupted between the two in the forms of Marco the Phoenix, his face filled with pain but also determination as he stopped Akainu dead in his tracks.

"I won't let you kill him!" Marco declared firmly as Akainu glared at him with fury. Jimbei went running up to memory Luffy, trying to shake him back to reality. Akainu was now pushing harder and harder to get through Marco, who stood strong, shouting out to everyone in earshot that it wasn't over yet. The other heart-broken pirates were looking as confused as he did, their eyes still full of tears and grief still there… yet they looked at Marco, wondering what he was talking about.

Marco then shouted for Jimbei to carry Luffy away from here if he couldn't run, which Jimbei picked Luffy up like a ball and began running as fast as he could go.

"Straw Hat's survival was Ace's final wish!" Marco declared to them all. "That is the life, the 'determination', that allowed Ace to live!"

"Ace may be gone, but he still lives on through Luffy," Sanji nodded. "That's what he was trying to tell them."

The remaining pirates slowly wiped their tears and stood up, their weapons held at the ready. A new kind of fire burning there as well as they remembered that there was still a reason for them being here.

Still struggling, but still fighting, Marco then shouted out, "We will absolutely protect him in Ace's place!" Dark shadows had appeared on the remaining Whitebeard Pirates faces, but there was a hard resolve that was there as well as they listened to Marco's words. "If we let him die… IT WILL BE THE WHITEBEARD PIRATE GREATEST SHAME!"

There wasn't a single pirate who disagreed with that statement. They had a new reason to fight to the death and they began to part as Jimbei ran through them with Luffy still out of it before closing the path to give Jimbei time to get him to safety.

But as Akainu went straight for him, Whitebeard appeared behind him… this time letting them all know that he had just made things personal. He not only buried him, but he destroyed whatever was left of the island, the city crumbling around them from the largest quake yet, the noise deafening as the land split, keeping the pirates on one side, and Whitebeard and the marines on the other.

Whitebeard was no longer giving his mean a choice but for them to retreat back to their ships. He was giving the marines a run for their money, for even though there was only him left and an army against him, he was strong enough to knock them aside like they were dust in the wind. But as the pirates continued to retreat to their ships, Blackbeard chose that moment to appear with his crew—including the ones he just recruited from Impel Down. As the idiot began to brag about his plan, Whitebeard declared that he no longer saw him as a son. Instead, Blackbeard just insulted him by telling him that he had always respected Whitebeard, but he had grown old and that he was too weak to rescue Ace even after he was left alive. The Straw Hats all felt rage boiling under their skin at those words and it was with no small amount of savage pleasure when they saw Whitebeard struck at him with a quake punch… at least until Blackbeard blocked it with his Dark Dark Powers, before continuing to taunt him.

"He's really asking for it," Robin said.

"WHITEBEARD!" Nami screamed out, making some of her crew jump. "KNOCK THAT SMUG SMILE OFF HIS FACE AS WELL AS WHAT'S LEFT OF HIS TEETH!"

He did… Whitebeard struck at him with his weapon and pinned Blackbeard down with his Quake Quake powers as he choked him. Suddenly realize that he was in danger of dying, Blackbeard continued to gasp out how it would feel if he would end up killing his own son.

"I thought that Whitebeard already said that he wouldn't call him a son?" Chopper demanded.

"He's trying to play off Whitebeard emotions," Robin said knowingly. "No matter what Whitebeard said, Blackbeard still sailed with him for many years. He's trying to get him to remember that and spare his life." She sighed as she added under her breath, "He's nothing like the others with the name of D."

Whitebeard did a lot of damage to Blackbeard, who was screaming in terror that he should have been dead with all his injuries. Before he could finish the task of taking his life, however, Whitebeard's body had finally failed him and he was no longer able to move. This gave Blackbeard the opening he needed for he and his crew suddenly began to open fire on him, filling him with countless bullets, but Whitebeard was like a brick wall… he wasn't budging as he stood his ground.

Over and over they began to fire as the Whitebeard Pirates were all screaming out their father's name, half of them looking like they were ready to run back to help but were to shocked to move. At last the Blackbeard Pirates had run out of bullets and Whitebeard remained on his feet, covered in scars, wounds, and blood… his eyes shadowed over. Blackbeard was spitting out a mouthful of blood, and possibly another tooth before he shouted for someone to bring him another gun.

"It is not you…" Whitebeard spoke up causing cries of shock from every single person.

"How can he still be breathing after all that?" Nami gasped.

"These are his last few moments of life," Robin said firmly. "He wants to make them count."

"He's cheating death until he says his piece," Zoro nodded as Blackbeard let out a shriek of fear, his cockiness fading once again.

"You're still alive!" he cried out as Whitebeard continued to try and breath.

"The man Roger is waiting for…" Whitebeard said firmly, ignoring Blackbeard's cries as he went on with true conviction in his voice. "At the very least, Teach, is definitely not you."

"I remember that's what he said before," Usopp said as the memories they saw before also rang inside his mind. "But I still don't get it."

Robin had long since wondered about those words as well. She had no idea what it was about, but somehow she was willing to bet that the Will of D had something to do with the Void century, though she couldn't for the life of her figure out what the connection was.

Whitebeard when on speaking, his words loud and clear so that no one could miss them on the island.

"Just like there are those who carry on Roger's will…" he panted hard, sounding almost dazed at this point, but his words still coming as if he had prepared this speech for a long time. "I am sure someone will appear to carry on Ace's will, someday. Even if you extinguish his bloodline, there is no way that their flame will ever burn out. It has been passed down since ancient times… And in the future… someday… someone will appear, carrying the history all those decades on their back, and challenge this whole world to a fight. Sengoku, you guys in the World Government, all fear that immense battle engulfing the world that will eventually come."

No one dared to say a word as Whitebeard spoke directly to Sengoku now as he confessed, "I do not care myself… but as soon as someone finds that great treasure, the entire world will be turned upside-down. And someone will find it. And that day will definitely come sooner or later," Whitebeard then took a deep breath. And then he shouted out as loudly as he could, his voice echoing around the destroyed battlefield, "ONE PIECE… DOES EXIST!"

"He did it now," Sanji said. Those words alone were enough to turn the world upside-down right here. Now that it was confirmed that the legendary treasure was out there, anyone who had a boat would be going out to sea to become a pirate. All it took were a few words for Whitebeard to get his revenge on the marines for killing Ace… he just made their lives a living hell.

After that, Whitebeard died… still on his feet without a single wound upon his back, dying a true warrior's death. One could only dream of meeting such an end…?

The memories continued to play themselves out once that moment had passed. As they did though, present-day Luffy began to stir in his sleep, with Chopper having another shot ready at hand in case he woke up too soon. None of them wanted him to relieve these moments yet. At that moment, Jimbei was carrying the memory Luffy away, begging for him to hang on for the sake of his brother if nothing else. But that was when Akainu burst out of the ground right in front of them, causing several screams of panic from the Straw Hats.

"Just what the hell is this guy?" Zoro demanded furiously. "Doesn't he ever give up?"

"There's a reason that he's known as the Mad Dog at Marine HQ," Robin answered darkly. "Once he sets his sights upon killing someone, he won't stop until he gets the job done. He won't let Luffy live if he has a choice."

And here, Akainu wasn't going to be giving the pirates any mercy if they didn't give him what he wanted.

"I said I wouldn't let him escape," Akainu growled at them all, his voice dripping with menace. "Why don't you just give up on life already, you imbeciles?"

Jimbei redoubled his grip on the comatose Luffy, moving so that he could shield him from Akainu's gaze. Even as the admiral's body melted into magma, dripping everywhere so that the heat felt like it was melting their faces.

Akainu glared down at him and ordered, in tone very clear that he was only going to say this once, "Hand the son of Dragon over to me!"

Usopp's eyes narrowed as he shouted out, "His name is Luffy! Use it!"

The other pirates were stunned at the fact that Akainu was still breathing, but Jimbei only focused on Akainu as he declared, "I cannot obey that order! I have already decided to protect this man even if it cost me my life!"

"Jimbei…" present-day Luffy muttered in his sleep, causing the girls to both look down at him.

"You sure you're sleeping?" Nami asked in worry as she gently raised one of Luffy's eyelids. No… there no question that he was out cold. But she wondered if this had something to do with his Haki; somehow letting him know what was going on. It wouldn't surprise her… after all, the boys can all argue in their sleep, so who can say that he can't understand what was happening in a memory?

Akainu just looked at him with disgust as he snarled out, holding up his molten fist, ready to kill every single person in front of him as he said, "Then… I will not ask again!"

But the Whitebeard Pirates stood in front of Luffy and Jimbei, ready to fight to keep Akainu from getting any closer. And it wasn't just them, Ivankov and Inazuma had also appeared, making declarations to protect Luffy as well, giving Jimbei time to escape, even as Blackbeard had just received his new powers from the fallen Whitebeard. Testing them out, he began letting the powers of the Quake Quake Fruit run wild as they began to destroy whatever was left of Marineford.

Just then, Sengoku appeared in his full Buddha form and struck at Blackbeard and that they would not let him sink it. As that battle went on, Akainu seemed to be completely obvious to everything else as he set his sights on killing just one pirate. The New Kamas and Whitebeard Pirates were do everything they could to try and stop him, but they might as well have been using water guns for all the good they were doing.

"Jimbei, hand over Dragon's son!" Akainu screamed as they had finally reached the walls that would take them right to the sea. They all knew what would be waiting on the other side though, so hearing the hope in Jimbei's voice as he stated that they could escape if they could just get into the water was enough to make them feel like they wanted to beat their heads in. Jimbei reached the top of the wall and leapt into the air… only to see that the entre see below them had turned to ice.

"Damn you, Aokiji… couldn't you just let them escape?!" Franky yelled out.

"Seriously," Nami shouted out as she looked back to were more buildings were turning to dust as the fighting went on. "They have Blackbeard sinking the island and all they can think about is going after Luffy?"

It was awful to see the hope die in Jimbei's eyes as he realized that they were in the air and had no place left to go. Even if he could land safely on the ice, Aokiji was still there and he was surrounded with an admiral on all sides. But just then, Akainu reached the wall and launched himself into the air like a rocket, leaving hot magma and smoke behind him as he flew up to deal with them both.

"So you've come…" Jimbei said, glancing back with deep anger there, his mind clearly working fast. He spun about in one last attempt to stop him, and punched Akainu; where his fist went right through his chest and into the magma. But it made no difference to Akainu.

"It did not work," Jimbei growled in frustration, as they started falling, with Akainu finally getting a clean shot of Luffy.

"Straw Hat Luffy!" Akainu screamed, his face nothing more than a wild, beast-like look that showed how crazy he truly was as his fist of magma fell, aimed directly at Luffy's chest—going right for his heart. "YOU'RE MINE!"

Jimbei had no choice but to spin about, shielding Luffy with his body as the blow hit him in the back and blew right through them both. The shock and pain that memory Luffy felt was shown as the damaged memory began shaking violently around them until there wasn't anything but darkness and fire all around them. Blood burst from Jimbei's mouth as he tried to hold his scream of pain, just using whatever life was in him as he held onto Luffy protectively. With anger in his face, Akainu pulled his fist out as Jimbei stuttered in agony and they began to fall as memory Luffy's new injury smoked and bubbled like a piece of meat that Sanji just cooked up. How Jimbei remained conscious none of them knew, but soon they were falling, with Jimbei aware of what was happening. He rolled over in the air as he protected Luffy from the impact and they hit the ground before slid along the ice.

Akainu landed on the ice as he yelled out, "You got in my way… Jimbei!"

Jimbei couldn't even answer as he gasped in pain, carefully laying the barely alive Luffy on the ice next to him as he gasped for air. Memory Luffy just laid there with a large hole burned right into his chest, the blood dying the ice all around them as the wound shone… with Luffy's face showing all the pain and anguish he was in.

They all glanced down at the memory Luffy, where they could see the horrific injury. Like a bullseye for Akainu… he had marked him with that X-shaped scar and will follow him to the end of the earth. But they all knew that Luffy's true scars must still go much deeper… far too deep to ever heal… maybe even still bleeding to this day.

"Jimbei-chan!" Nami cried out in terror as Jimbei was lying on his side next to Luffy as he tried to breathe. Jimbei glanced next to Luffy, his wound so bad that they could see through and into his chest.

"Luffy-kun… forgive me…" Jimbei gasped out regretfully. "I let you receive another injury…"

"Thank you, Jimbei…" Chopper cried out, sounding like a lost little kid who had no idea where to go anymore.

Akainu approached, dripping magma which froze instantly when it hit the ground until he was leaving a trail of harden magma behind him. Jimbei was growling savagely at the sight of him as he tried to act as a shield for Luffy.

"My aim was a little off because of your interference. It would have been easier for him if I pierced his heart," Akainu asked him as his own face was dripping with blood. "Don't you think, Jimbei?"

"Touch him one more time, then you die!" Sanji threatened. "Damnit! The next time we see this freak, I'm gonna kill him!"

"Get in line! In want to deal with him!" Zoro shot back, his teeth gritted as he was now halfway to drawing his swords. He hated just standing here and doing nothing while this guy walked around like he was a god or something.

But Jimbei was far from giving up, for he was now trying to force himself back to his feet… yet with the hole in his chest continuing to splatter blood, he couldn't even get to his knees.

Chopper wanted to scream for him to stop moving or he'd kill himself, but Akainu was still speaking.

"Are you still trying to protect him, with that hole in your chest?" he asked coldly. "You'll both die before you know it."

Perhaps Jimbei seemed to sense that he was right, but he turned his head and let out a wild roar, one last attempt to do something, but his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed. It only lasted a few split seconds though, for Jimbei seemed to force himself to come to for he started to move once more, trying to force himself to sit up again to all fours, still shielding Luffy from Akainu as he said determinedly, his head now pushing against the ice to get him up, "I will not let him die…! Even if I die myself… I will not let Luffy-kun die!"

Their hearts went out to Jimbei, suddenly wishing that he was here with them so that they could all thank him in person for what he did. Jimbei was more than just a friend to them, he was practically family and they wanted him to join their crew as soon as possible.

But Akainu approached close enough to be able to deal the final blow, he suddenly split in half by a wave of sand. Crocodile appeared and used his Sables to throw Luffy and Jimbei into the air, yelling at him that if he wanted to protect something, then to do it right. He didn't like either of them, but he didn't want to see the marines win here.

Their luck continued when Buggy, who was in the middle of escaping, accidently caught them and took off flying when Akainu began firing into the air at them.

The memory soon faded when the submarine broke through the water to reveal the Surgeon of Death: Trafalgar Law. He called to Buggy that he was a doctor and that they should leave Luffy to him.

They tuned everything out until the memory faded with Luffy being taken inside the ship and Law was readying the operation and they were all back in the tower, feeling as though they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. There wasn't a single dry eye in the room, though some had better control over their emotions than others…

Luffy continued to sleep on, even as the steady stream of tears fell from his closed eyes, muttering his big brother's name over and over under his breath.

 **(Once again, sorry for the wait. But had a busy time at school the last month. But here we are, a review of the war of Marineford. I know I got a few questions about it, yet we are going backwards throughout the series, but we will be skipping over Luffy's memoires in a summary because we've already seen them and it will be too long otherwise. We'll be heading off to their childhoods and showing things from the other straw hats point of view during their adventures. We'll be going into summaries for both Impel Down and Sabaody before we're able to reach Thriller Bark and see what everyone else had been up to while on the island. And for those of you who are asking, yes, we'll be seeing Zoro's memories of when he fought against Kuma. That will be coming up in a future chapter so I hope you look forward to what I have planned. Don't know when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully it won't be as long as a wait since it will be another summary. Thank you once again and please leave a review if you liked it.)**


	13. Floor 12: Cold Prison Bars

**Floor 12: Cold Prison Bars**

"You really think that, Sanji-san?" Brook asked as he sniffled miserably. "You think that someone is watching us and is manipulating all this?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Sanji said as he was puffing on his second cigarette in the last five minutes to try and calm his nerves. "Luffy ran on ahead of us and went through that damn door before it shut behind him. I'm guessing that he saw what happened to… to Ace all over again and that caused him to have some kind of panic attack."

"More like a relapse," Chopper sighed. "There's no way that Luffy could ever fully recover from something that traumatic."

"Is he alright?" Usopp asked as Chopper finished examining their sleeping captain.

"Yeah, he's fine," Chopper reassured him. He had been worried about seeing Luffy crying in his sleep, but then again, with their captain's sharp senses, he probably had an idea of what they had just seen. He hoped that he wasn't having nightmares about all that again, he didn't deserve that. "But… after all that happened at the last island. I felt that he was really starting to heal from what happened at Marineford."

"He was," Nami said as she wiped a stray tear away. She wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. "He was able to see Ace again and got to say everything that he needed to say. He was able to move on from Ace's death. It was just too early to force him to relive through all that?"

"It was all too perfectly planned," Sanji said angrily. "We couldn't unlock that door and so they separated us from Luffy on purpose."

"But if that's true, why did the door open up as soon as you tried to attack it?" Robin asked.

"Ah… well…" Sanji said slowly, unable to think of a good answer to that.

Robin glanced grimly down at their Luffy before looking around at the room again. "Whatever the reason, I do think that someone's behind this."

"So this is someone's idea of a joke?" Usopp demanded in outrage. Whoever was doing this had a sick sense of humor.

"No, more like someone's funhouse that we just walked in and now they're having fun when they noticed that they had guests," Zoro said darkly as he glared about. "From the moment that we set foot in this place, I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching us."

"We're being watched?!" Chopper gasped out.

"The only problem is that I don't sense anyone else in this tower other than the nine of us," Zoro finished as if he hadn't heard a word that Chopper just said.

Sanji let out a puff of smoke before adding, "Though it kills me to say this, I agree with Moss Head for once. There's something not right about this place. It's like… there's some kind of presence in the air and it's breathing down my neck. I don't know how else I can explain it. But… ok, just imagine that you're standing in a mist or a fog and there's someone right behind you. You keep turning around and calling out to it, but they don't answer. And it's so thick that you can't see them but you know they're there."

"That does sound creepy," Franky admitted. "So… what about these memories? How are we seeing them? You think that it's… a Devil Fruit power?"

"And… why can't we get out of here?" Brook added as he went to the door and opened it again only to see the brick wall blocking their way.

"I wanna know how I ended up running around in a circle in that last memory if I was just running forward the whole time," Usopp added in frustration. "Why can't we get out?" He then looked to the ceiling and yelled up, "H EY! WHOEVER'S UP THERE WATCHING US?! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES! SO LET US OUT! LOOK YOU CAN KEEP YOUR TREASURE IF YOU WANT! JUST LET US OUT!"

"You think that maybe this is all some kind of dream?" Brook offered lightly. "It would explain a lot."

"How could we be having the same dream?!" Zoro demanded before Franky gave Brook a bonk on the head.

"OW! FRANKY-SAN! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" Brook demanded as he rubbed his sore head.

"That hurt you? Then that means that it's not a dream," Franky said with a frown. "Damn, and here I was hoping that it would work."

"Warn me next time!" Brook whimpered as he rubbed his head. "You hit me so hard that my skin is swollen! Ah! Though I don't have skin anymore… yohohoho!"

"We appreciate you trying to cheer us up, Brook," Robin sighed.

Brook stopped laughing as he froze there for a moment… and then sighed. "I guess no one is in the mood to laugh after seeing all that?" he asked grimly. "Forgive me."

"You've done nothing to apologize for," Usopp said as he stared down at their sleeping Luffy, wondering if they should wake him up by now. "Our top priority right now should be finding a way to get out of this place?"

Zoro went over to a nearby wall and felt it for a moment. He gritted his teeth as he knew that the room was a lot smaller than he thought. That attack he tried to use before… it just kept going even though it should have hit these walls. Why was that? He warned for the others to stand back as he pulled out his swords, determined to try slicing through this stone. He mustered up all of his strength and sliced as hard as he could… only for it to stick against the wall and hardly leave more than a scratch.

"Damn it!" he yelled in frustration. "What is this stuff made out of?! It's like it's made of Sea Prism Stone or something!"

"You're right," Usopp said as he walked over to the wall as well. "It's as hard as Seastone, but…"

"But it's not draining our strength," Robin nodded in agreement. "Brook? Chopper? Do either of you feel anything?"

"Ah… nope!" Brook confessed as he went and did a 45 degree angle against the wall… only to fall over and bonk his already sore head on the wall. "Ow…"

"I don't feel anything either!" Chopper added was he rubbed his hands against both the wall and stone floors.

"And give how much energy Luffy had before, I doubt he felt anything," Franky added. "So… it's as hard as Sea Prism Stone, but it's not. Damn, is there really no other way out?!"

"Normally I'd suggest that we cut our way out of here, but…?" Zoro snarled as he glared at the rock in front of him.

"Move, let me try!" Sanji yelled as he charged at the nearest wall and spun about in the air as his leg was set ablaze. He landed a solid kick against the rock where the burn of a grill pattern appeared there…. but it seemed that all he did was just torch the surface. Sanji landed, and to their amazement, he stumbled slightly, falling to his knee.

"Sanji!" Chopper cried out as he ran straight over to him to check on if he was injured.

"I'm fine," Sanji said firmly as he forced himself back up, knowing that he actually hurt his leg trying to break out of here. "Well, if I can't break through it, then there's no way that we could get out."

"It's beginning to feel like there isn't a way out," Nami gulped before she began shaking their Luffy, wanting him to wake up and find them a way out with his dumb luck.

As Luffy grunted in his sleep, that was when something happened.

"Nami! Don't move!" Zoro barked out and Nami stopped as she looked over at him, ready to question what he was talking about when she saw his face. Zoro's face was tense, and his one eye was glaring about as he had all three of his swords at ready.

"What is it?" Chopper asked in confusion for Sanji was loosening his tie and though his expression was calm, there was sweat on his forehead and he was gritting his teeth anxiously.

""Something's here," he said.

"EH?!" Brook gasped as he spun about, trying to find some kind of enemy. "But… I don't see anything! Other than us, I see only darkness to my eyes. Not that I have…?"

"Shut up!" Zoro barked. "Can't you feel it?!"

The others fell silent and listened. For a moment there was nothing. But then they suddenly felt cold chills going up their spines as a strange murmur seemed to be echoing around them. Like the breath of some giant creature.

"Is that… breathing?" Usopp whimpered, going as white as a ghost.

"Ah huh…" was all that Chopper could say as tears flooded down his face and his eyes were threatening to roll into the back of his head.

The breathing suddenly stopped. And then…?

"WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA! SOMETHING'S IN HERE WITH US!" the three members of the Weakling Trio all screamed in terror as they bolted straight for the door that would take them to the next floor.

"WHAT A MINUTE!" Zoro yelled in anger towards them as Robin stood up and Franky picked Luffy up under his arm like a ball. "GET BACK HERE!"

Brook was now practically crying as he went charging after them, yelling for them to wait for him while the rest of them went running after.

"Wait a moment, Nami-san!" Sanji called, "Don't go into the next room without us! We need to think of a plan!"

"There's definitely something in this tower!" Zoro said firmly, in full conviction on that. "What it is though, I don't know. Just for a moment though I felt someone else being there."

"Do you have an idea of how strong they were?" Robin asked him quickly as they ran up the stairs.

"It was just for a split second," Sanji explained. "Like someone let their guard down for that brief moment. But it felt…?"

"Felt what?" Franky panted as Luffy was now snoring again.

"There's something watching us," Zoro said with no doubt in his mind. "I don't know who, but they're very powerful. They are the ones controlling this whole tower."

"So what do we do?" Franky demanded. "We can't seem to get out of this place!"

"For now we'll have to keep playing their game by their rules," Robin said at last. "We'll just have to wait until we're given our chance to escape. I can't say how many floors that we made it up yet, but we must be getting somewhere by now."

They reached the next landing where the door was flung open and waiting for them as the four crybabies inside were now trying to force the next door to the next stairs open. But it seemed to be stuck and no matter how many times they tugged on that door, it wasn't budging.

As soon as the others joined them the door slammed shut and everything went dark.

"NO!" Nami, and the three boys all cried out together tearfully.

"We were trying to run all the way up the rest of the way of the tower so that we didn't have to see any more memories," Brook explained to them all miserably when they caught up to them and the images around them began to change.

"Look, we can't panic, I have a feeling that whoever's behind this, wants us to start freaking out," Zoro told them all firmly. "We've got to stay together here and so we can't risk getting split up again!"

"B-B-B-But Zoro!" Chopper cried out tearfully, "I don't like this place! I wanna go back to the Sunny!"

"We all do, but we won't be able to go anywhere if we start to break down," Robin said gently to him. "That won't be helping anyone. We must stay calm."

"We need a plan," Sanji said firmly. "We've got to try and put our heads together and come up with something. I know that many of our crewmates don't have good ones, but we got to put our minds to getting out of here."

"You call that a plan?!" Usopp demanded furiously before the images finally took shape once again.

"What other choice is there?!" Sanji demanded. "Look, whoever's behind all this has got to be hiding in this tower somewhere! And when we find them, we'll take them out! Other than that, I don't think that anything short of a bomb will be getting us through those walls!"

"Let me try my SUPER Franky Radical Beam!" Franky began but as he held up his hands, preparing to fire, he stopped dead when he realized where they were.

"This place… it's…?" Nami gasped, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the dark walls and the echoing screams of people from deep inside.

"Impel Down…" Sanji gulped, feeling sweat on his forehead and his cigarette fell from his open mouth. "Well… shit…" They were soon back in another memory and there were gasps when they recognized the cold stone walls of the underwater prison, all of them suddenly feeling sick to their stomachs.

"No… not this miserable place again! This is hell!" Usopp cried out in panic. "Alright! I'm all for the plan now! Everyone start using your brains and think of a way out of this place! We have to get outta here now!"

They all agreed and soon they went to work on coming up with some kind of plan as to how they were to get out. But it was very difficult for the memories were very distracting. Like the moment that Boa Hancock entered through the front doors. At the sight of that, Sanji remembered just how Luffy got into this place and he burned with fury as he reached for their own Luffy so that he could—either strangle him or ask in detail just what Hancock looked like from underneath that robe.

Thankfully, Franky kept Luffy far out of his reach, giving Robin time to calm Sanji down; seemingly have taken over the role of protecting Luffy from Sanji's jealousy. It helped when Zoro remarked how pathetic that Sanji was behaving, which lead to a loud argument, which kept Sanji distracted long enough for Hancock to turn the guard and the Transponder Snail who was watching her to stone. Memory Luffy was able to slip out from under her clothes and Hancock was apologizing to him for not being able to go any further with him.

"Man, I wish I had someone love me like that," Usopp sniffled.

"You have a girlfriend back at Syrup Village, don't you?" Franky pointed out.

"I guess," Usopp said before he realized what he said and barked, "HEY! SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! SHE'S JUST A FRIEND!"

The two weren't given much time to talk, but memory Luffy disagreed with Hancock's apology, telling her that he never would have made it this far without her and he thanked her for all she had done. Before they parted ways, Hancock told him to promise her not to cause trouble for she didn't want to see him get caught.

"Too bad that he doesn't hold that promise for long," Nami sighed.

"He did try," Usopp pointed out. "It was that stupid clown's fault that he was spotted so early!"

"Clown? Oh, right… him… Buggy," Zoro sighed.

"Oh, Luffy-san… you're so lucky," Brook sighed enviously as Hancock seemed to almost faint from happiness just for memory Luffy saying her name.

"Wow… she's acting a lot like Sanji does around women," Chopper said innocently.

Robin only chuckled as she commented, "Oh, I'm sure that he'll find love one day. He just has to wait for the right person to come along."

"Maybe he should try acting a little like Luffy then," Franky said as he looked behind him to where Zoro and Sanji were both still fighting. "It seems like that's what girls seem to go for."

"Watch it," Nami said firmly. Once Hancock had recovered, she unfrozen her spell and everything seemed to return to normal. Hancock kept her eyes anywhere than looking at the rafters where Luffy was hiding until they were allowed to leave the room. The marine who escorted her inside informed her that special precautions had been made to prevent anything from happening so long as Ace was here. Hancock was then told to place the cuffs on her wrists, which got Sanji's attention—for he was furious that anyone could dare place such things on a woman.

But Hancock bore with it as they went back to more of the guards and the vice-warden Hannyabal. Memory Luffy seemed to grasp just how serious their situation was for he remained remarkably still and quiet the whole time as he watched the others below him talk before heading to the lift.

"Too bad that Luffy couldn't slip onto the lift and take it down with them," Choper said sadly.

"And risk running into Magellan a lot sooner?" Zoro demanded.

"Not only that, but my dear Hancock could have been accused of helping him in here and then she would've been locked way!" Sanji snarled at the thought. "Oh, if they had dared do such a thing then I would've…?"

"Aren't we supposed to be concerned about Luffy?" Nami asked with a sigh.

Once they were gone, memory Luffy began his search for Ace. But the prison was a lot bigger than they remembered, and the screams from the inmates weren't helping things. He was doing an admirable job of sneaking about without being spotted, taking time to glance down hallways for guards and sneaking around the Transponder Snails on the walls.

At one point he stopped to question some of the prisoners, asking if they knew anything about Ace when they questioned why he was outside. They informed him that if Ace was here, he'd be on level 5… but though Luffy had a lead, he was in trouble when one of the prisoners tried to escape.

"Buggy…" they all groaned out at the sight of the clown running for his life from the giant blue gorillas they had seen last time. Thanks to him, Luffy was spotted and they were forced to team up to deal with them. Not that Buggy did much. He tried to use his Chop Chop powers to escape and went into a spin to take one of the overgrown apes out. But he failed to even deal a hard blow. Memory Luffy was forced to pick up the slack from him by taking out all the guards around them, shocking Buggy at how much stronger he had been since they last saw each other in Loguetown.

"Just why was this guy on Roger's crew?" Zoro asked as he thought of people like Rayleigh and Shanks and wondered why this idiot was so pathetic.

"They do say that every crew has a blemish," Franky pointed out, which lead to another fight between Zoro and Sanji on who the blemish was when they accused the other.

Chopper looked like he was about to step in and stop them, but Nami told him that it didn't matter. If they killed each other then maybe they could get a break from them.

They went back to watching Luffy explain that he was looking for Ace and was wondering the way down to Level 5. Buggy claimed to want nothing to do with it and told him that he was now going to escape; at least until Luffy informed him that there was a fleet of battleship waiting outside. Buggy was shocked by this, but then he reasoned that the marines must be expecting Whitebeard to try something here and he questioned just how stupid the marines were for getting on Whitebeard's bad side.

"And if he's calling them stupid, then you know they messed up," Franky said with a roll of his eyes. "Jeez, when even a clown knows that you did a stupid thing…?"

"He knows Whitebeard?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"He was part of Roger's crew, and Roger and Whitebeard had clashed against each other more than once," Nami reminded him. "So I'm guessing that he's at least seen him."

Just as Buggy was talking to himself on just sticking around until things quieted down, he noticed the armband on memory Luffy's arm, causing Nami to sigh. To think that thing was actually valuable. She could only hope that the treasure turned out to be a bust in the end.

Buggy grabbed hold of Luffy's arm, making such a fuss over it that they were spotted by guards and Luffy was forced to start running. He was trying to throw Buggy off him—who was now drooling over the sight of the band—as Luffy continued searching for the stairs downwards. When Luffy wouldn't hand it over, Buggy offered to show him the stairs. As they headed off together, he explained how Impel Down worked, that if he wanted to get down to the bottom level then he would have to go through all the other levels first. Buggy stated that he would show him as far as Level 4, which they all knew was a load of shit.

But naïve Luffy agreed, even when Buggy accidently blurted out that the armband was actually a map. The only thing that Luffy was thinking of was saving Ace and decided to hand it over to Buggy in advance for helping him.

"I hope that joker's soul rots," Franky growled when they saw that slimy look in the clown's face that he planned to escape now.

"I have got to have a few words with you on how to tell when someone's lying to you, captain," Nami said darkly as she pulled their own Luffy's cheek again, who continued sleeping even though Franky was still carrying him under his arm.

If Buggy held any guilt over lying to Luffy, it didn't last long. But before he could escape, Karma seemed to set it for he wasn't watching where he was going and crashed into a wall… causing Luffy to think that this was a shortcut they needed to go through and he broke right through the wall and into the jailer's room where they were watching them on video.

But they quickly went crashing through the other side and were soon in a freefall, glancing below, they soon remembered why they hated this place.

"What the hell is all this?" memory Luffy yelled as he fell down towards the trees with Buggy. "What's a forest doing inside a prison? A red forest? There are lots of people down there too!"

"Crap! It's the Crimson Hell!" Franky yelled, his eyes widening at the sight of the crimson-red trees.

"This is one forest I never wanted to see again!" Usopp screamed as Chopper cried out in terror at the sight of the crimson red trees.

"People? They're all prisoners!" Buggy yelled back in freefall. "And this isn't a normal forest! The leaves on the trees are all razor sharp! They're the Sabertrees! And there's grass poking up from the floor that's known as the Neeldegrass! They pierce your body like spears!"

"Damnit, who came up with these hells?" Usopp shouted. "You know what? I think that the devil came up with this idea or something."

"I'm starting to think that may be true," Brook said as he looked piteously at the sight of all those people covered blood.

Buggy then told him the grim truth. "You're chased by the jailers and poisonous spiders in the grass so that you get cut up and stain this place with your own blood! This is your punishment here… to be sliced up and covered with blood… WELCOME TO LEVEL 1: THE CRIMSON HELL!"

"All that blood to get this color…" Nami whispered before she looked away, feeling tears burning in the corner of her eyes. "It's horrifying. Hard to believe that this is just the first level!"

"Indeed," Robin sighed as their Luffy snorted a little in his sleep and stirred a little. "Chopper? I think that it might be better to prepare another injection. Maybe it's a little too soon for him to be reliving these memories as well?"

Chopper nodded and reached into his bag to pull out another needle and prepare the dosage. But it was only going to be a small one, just to make sure that Luffy continued sleeping for a little longer. Hopefully it will be long enough that they're able to leave these bad memories behind.

"And they say that pirates can be cruel," Sanji said as he lit up another cigarette, "The government made this place purposely to keep their prisoners alive so that they can torture their victims."

The screams of the prisoners below them were soon clearly being heard. All those people who had their bodies torn to shreds and their blood splattered all over as they cried for mercy. Buggy then shouted for Luffy that they should just keep falling like this. When Luffy questioned what good that would do since they would all get cut up, Buggy retorted that he couldn't be cut. They continued falling until memory Luffy was sitting up on his back and Buggy ordered him to hang on and toss his feet down there. Confused, but doing what he was told, memory Luffy tossed the pair of feet until they reached the ground and began walking. They were cut over and over by the needle-like grass, but just continued on as if nothing was happening, giving Buggy the ability to glide right along above the needlegrass but below the sabertrees so that they didn't so much as a cut.

"I guess even a clown has his uses," Sanji offered.

"Luffy couldn't have had a better person helping him here," Chopper said brightly.

"Right, because he's made of rubber, he would've been sliced apart! Thank goodness that didn't happen!" Brook said happily, but he felt his heart still going out to all the people who were watching with stunned expressions even though they were already in a lot of pain. Though… he no longer had a heart to begin with. "Buggy's getting him through here without even touching anything!"

"Too bad that he was also the reason that Luffy was caught so quickly," Zoro frowned darkly.

"Yeah, but given the fact that it is Luffy, there was only so long that he could have gone without causing some kind of trouble," Nami sighed, petting their own Luffy's head like a pet. "You are crazy, aren't you?"

"Well, we're the ones who are following around this maniac, so it makes you wonder what that makes us," Sanji smirked as Buggy bragged that as long as his feet were on the ground then they were fine. He also began to explain that they didn't need a staircase or anything to get to the next floor.

"Right, the only way down from here other than the lift is that hole," Robin said as her memory of this place came back, though she rather not remember that much. "I suppose they figured that most would never want to go to level 2."

Buggy continued flying onwards until they reached an area that was clear of the trees, leading to a large hole in the ground. Buggy took him as far as the very edge of the hole where he was able to reconnect his feet to the rest of his body, with Luffy still on his back.

"Take a look! This is it, Straw Hat!" Buggy warned as Luffy looked over his shoulder in interest to see the pitch black pit.

"Man, it's almost as dark as the hole we jumped into to reach Fishman Island," Franky said as he looked down.

"Well, don't forget that we are also underwater so we must be starting to get deep," Zoro offered. "You think that this place goes all the way to the ocean floor?"

"It's certainly possible," Robin offered before Buggy began speaking again.

Buggy let out a rather evil laugh as he explained, "This is the only escape route here. But nobody will use it. Do you know why, Straw Hat?"

"If nothing else, at least he was giving some information for Luffy to use," Nami sighed.

"Yeah, too bad he's such a coward the rest of the time," Sanji added darkly.

Buggy then finished by saying, "That's because this escape route will take you straight down to Level 2… an even worse hell than this one!"

"Which leads us to… to…?" Usopp said as he tried to remember which Hell was witch.

"The Accursed Beast Hell," Robin offered, suddenly wishing she had her sketchbook so that she could look through some of the drawings she made the first time. Memory Luffy continued to gaze down into the darkness, muttering how dark it was as Buggy said that there might be some lucky enough to escape from that hell and make it back up here. But there was no one dumb enough to jump from here and head deeper into this place.

"I don't know, I still think this place is worse than that hell," Chopper said, looking back to at those red trees with a shudder. "At least all the prisoners have to do is stay in their cells."

"Did you forget some of those manticorns?" Usopp demanded, "Listening to them for a couple days could drive anyone mad!"

Memory Luffy was grinning now when he realized that all they had to do was jump in and he leapt right over Buggy's head, with the rest of them following. With memory Luffy's voice the only thing they could hear through the darkness, sounding almost excited to see what was down this far despite how serious everything was, "Wow! This hole sure is deep! What'd down here?!"

They followed them down into the deep pit which took them straight to Level 2, where the beasts were waiting for them. It was a massive maze, and after he came tumbling after, memory Luffy dragged Buggy's head with him as his body was struggling to keep up. But they were soon hopelessly lost in this maze, at least until they came across a few of the cutie monsters, such as the little hippo and the flying mantis guard. Which really weren't too much of a threat. It wasn't until they came across the Basilisk, the snake born from a chicken, were they forced to deal with a real problem.

Thankfully, Luffy spun about and used his Third Gear to nail a single punch and smash the creature right through a wall and knocking it out. Buggy's jaw hit the floor when he saw what Luffy was capable of—which got the Straw Hats laughing when Buggy realized that he was no longer a match for this guy—if he ever was.

At the sight of the Basilisk's defeat, however, the prisoners around the floor started cheering for them, where they got sick when they saw Buggy drinking all of this in.

"Really? Weren't they watching? He didn't do anything," Franky asked as they all had sweat drops hanging on their heads.

"Don't give this guy an even bigger head," Sanji sighed with a shake of his head. "He's gonna get it stuck every time he walks through a door."

Buggy managed to unlock the cells and soon he was making the prisoners get on their knees and thank him, making some of the Straw Hats gag before they ran off. They were glad when Luffy grabbed him and told him to hurry up and show him the way to Level 3… leaving Buggy to admit that he didn't know the way to Levels 3 or 4. As the two argued, the prisoners they just set free came running back to their cells and closed them. When Buggy demanded to know why they were back, they told him that there were still beasts about and that they could wait it out.

"Uh, we got a little ahead of ourselves!" said one of the prisoners as the sounds of countless cells were being closed. "There's no way we can leave this place as long as the Boss of this floor is roaming around."

"Yeah! We're a lot safer in here!" one of the others shouted.

Buggy was once again stuck with Luffy as his only way out and took on an uncharacteristically meek attitude as he told him that they should hurry to level 3 now. But Luffy finally decided that he's not buying it.

"HEY, DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW, BIG NOSE!" memory Luffy yelled at him.

"That's right, Luffy! Call him out!" Nami cheered.

"Don't know why he thought he could trust someone like Buggy to begin with," Zoro sighed,

"Desperate times," Robin reasoned. "Buggy had been here for some time and knew more of what was happening here than Luffy did. Besides, he did help out on Level 1… even if it was unwillingly."

"WHO YOU'RE CALLING 'BIG NOSE'?" spat Buggy.

"I don't know… maybe the guy with the clown nose?" Franky sighed. Seriously, how did this guy survive on Roger's crew of badasses? But at that moment they heard a rather sly voice speaking up from behind them and another familiar face stepped out from the shadows—Mr. 3.

"You know… he can change his hair now that he's not in Baroque Works anymore," Nami could not help but point out. Why was this guy still wearing his hair as a three?

"If you are having problems finding your way on this floor, how about I lend you a hand?" Mr. 3 offered with a grin.

"Right… a lot of Baroque Works agents ended up getting stuck down here too, didn't they?" Zoro asked.

"Yes… including… including…" Robin began before her voice trailed off as she remembered who else was here. Franky, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook all cried out together in both joy and sorrow, "BON CLAY!"

"Oh, damn… that won't be fun to watch again," Sanji whispered out, growing pale and suddenly feeling bad for the beating that he gave to Bon Clay in Alabasta.

Memory Luffy was looking at Mr. 3 in confusing as Buggy questioned, "Who're you?"

But Mr. 3 just went on talking to Luffy, saying with a smirk, "It's been too long, Straw Hat. It seems as though, thanks to you, I'm a free man! I am a man who repays his debts!"

"I have a particularly bad memory of being locked in a cage at Rainbase where he threw the key away so I think I'm gonna call him a liar on that," Nami muttered darkly.

"He thinks that Luffy's planning to escape and so he's trying to see if he can go along and earn his freedom as well," Robin pointed out for them.

"Uh… who are you?" Memory Luffy finally asked when he drew a blank.

"I _wish_ I could forget him," Nami sighed as Mr. 3 was looking deeply annoyed by this and held up his limp hair so that Luffy couldn't mistake it as the number 3.

"Oh, that '3' means…" memory Luffy said slowly before his eyes widen and he pointed at him as he cried out, "You're that guy who was on the giant's island! Three!"

"It's MR. 3!" Mr. 3 corrected angrily before he put his hands together and began to form some wax as he laughed. But before he could try to regain his cool attitude, they were caught by a whole mob of beasts. There appeared to have been a group of lion-like creatures with human faces, as well as a giant centipede, the Monster Mantis, and even the Giant-Mouth Hippo from before hot on their tail so that all they could do was turn and run.

"Damn, those Manticores again!" Usopp cringed at the sight of the human-faced lions. It was just one mess after another. The three of them were forced to just keep on running for their lives, but things weren't looking good. If they were caught, then they would end up as those beasts dinner, but if they wait around for them to leave, then the prison staff would surely catch up to them. Memory Luffy had enough of this and yelled he was in a hurry so they were forced to face them. Yet when he turned to try and hit the giant centipede, but as soon as his fist collided with it, it broke apart into several scorpions and went charging at them.

The Manticores were thankfully weak enough for even someone like Buggy to take out several, and Mr. 3 was able to create wax shackles around the legs of several others to stop them.

"The centipede just exploded!" Luffy exclaimed as he continued to run.

"It was made up of a bunch of Puzzle Scorpions!" Mr. 3 explained as they were forced to keep running. "They're poisonous!"

"Poisonous?" Brook gasped before he remembered just what was to happen on Level 4. "Oh no…"

But the problem was that there were still so many beasts on their tail. The three of them were forced to run all over, up and down stairs, through corridors and hallways, the beasts unrelenting… until at last they lost sight of the three escapees. Buggy's powers turned out to be useful again when he was able to get his feet to slip off and make footsteps in the opposite direction of where they hid, getting the monsters attention and they went running down the hall towards the sound. Not that it worked for long, Buggy's loud voice was enough to get the monsters to turn back and start running for them again.

"You just blew our cover!" memory Luffy yelled at him and soon they were running again.

"Again!" Sanji yelled as they ran on. As Buggy asked more on what these things were, Mr. 3 explained that they were Manticores, and if they caught up to them then they'll eat them whole, bones and all.

"At least they value bones," Brook said before he realized what he said. "Wait! That's bad for me too!"

"Even our bones?!" Buggy cried out in fear.

"You got a problem with bones?!" Brook demanded, suddenly annoyed.

"Brook!" Chopper yelled angrily at him.

"It's true that I am nothing but bones, but I still have feelings," Brook sniffled. That was when the Manticores began speaking, gasping how much pain they were in begging for keys. That was when Mr. 3 warned them that they were just able to imitate human speech and that they were just repeating things that they heard the prisoners say.

"C-Creepy!" memory Luffy gasped out.

It was, at least until the beasts all began begging for underwear.

As they ran, memory Luffy turned to Mr. 3, asking if he really would end them a hand. Mr. 3 promised that as he began panting for air, saying that they should combine their resources to escape from this place. Well, he got a nasty shock when Luffy instead asked how they were supposed to get further down.

"WHAT? BROTHER?!" Mr. 3 cried out in shock, "STRAW HAT, YOU AND FIRE FIST ARE SIBLINGS?! AND YOU'RE HERE TO RESCUE HIM?!"

"Why other reason would he want to head deeper into hell?" Usopp demanded hotly.

Zoro was looking around this place before saying, "I don't know… I can think of a few reasons."

"I'm in a hurry!" was memory Luffy's only answer. It seemed to take a few moments for Mr. 3 to realize that he wasn't lying and just what this meant.

"STOP JOKING AROUND! YOU MUST BE INSANE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!" Mr. 3 ran for the nearest flight of stairs but Luffy stopped and stretched out his arm to grab hold of his shoulder to stop him.

"Wait!" Luffy cried as Mr. 3 continued to try and run as Buggy stopped as well. "In that case, can you at least tell me where the stairs are?!"

Nami shrugged at the sight of this and said, "What's the big deal with telling him that much? It's not like he's forcing them to come with him."

"He did drag Buggy here," Chopper pointed out.

"Only because he offered to come here even if he was lying about it," Nami countered. "He deserves it."

"Just tell him to get downstairs to Level 3… wait… isn't that place the…?" Franky asked slowly as he remembered the sand-covered floor of…?

"Starvation Hell," Sanji said darkly, his entire body getting cold at just the thought.

Mr. 3 seemed to be thinking that request over, but they knew what he was really thinking. How to use Luffy as a way to get out. And so he turned back and hopped down the stairs as he agreed, "Alright, Straw Hat! Let us go on together!"

"Luffy, you can't trust either of these clowns," Franky said as he scooped their present-day Luffy up to his eye level and held him by the scruff of his neck as he talked. Though Luffy just snoozed on.

"But why did he want to come with them?" Chopper questioned.

"He had always been like that in Baroque Works," Robin answered. "He's kinda like a business man. He's looking for some kind of profit. In this case, he believes it to be his freedom. He's willing to show Luffy as far as the entrance to the next level before he'll make a run for it with the guards focused on Luffy."

"Which is why I'm gonna wring Buggy's neck when I next see him," Franky snarled as he dropped Luffy over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

"Why not Mr. 3?" Sanji asked.

"He kinda made up for all that when he helped to get those cuffs off Ace," Franky said as his eyes watered up a little at how brave Mr. 3 was at that last moment even if it was for only a few minutes. "So I don't hate him nearly as much as I did before. Make no mistake, I still don't like him, but Buggy's the real pain in the ass here."

"Agreed," they all said together. Mr. 3 guided them down another flight of stairs, telling him that they should be nearing the stairs that would take them straight to Level 3. Luffy was happy that they were making some progress, but they soon ran into more trouble… literally, Mr. 3 went headlong into a furry gray wall… They looked up at the massive creature to see the long tail that was brushed at the tip like a lions while it's forelegs and shoulders were covered in a light colored feathers… surrounding the old, man-like face and gray mane.

"The Sphinx," Robin said, staring at it with a mixture of fascination and horror.

"I forgot how big that thing was. I wonder if they ever got it off Level 3?" Brook asked reasonably.

Right behind them, the creatures that had been chasing them up till that point had arrived. Yet as soon as they saw that the Sphinx was there, they immediately stopped dead in their tracks, staring up in terror at the ancient face. And then they turned and ran as fast as they could the way they came from, clearly have forgotten all about their prey.

"The Sphinx wasn't all that strong I seem to remember," Sanji said slowly.

"All muscle, but no brains," Zoro offered.

"Kinda like you, Moss Head," Sanji offered as Zoro glared back at him, his hands going for his sword. The Sphinx then closed his eyes, as if tired, before speaking, "Somen…"

They had all kinda forgot that the Sphinx could only talk about food and they watched as it went around trying to stomp on the three of them.

Over and over the Sphinx continued shouting out random words, mostly about noodles, as he continued to try and get at them. They all felt more guilt as they watched, knowing that Luffy really was on his own here, with the only two people with him couldn't care less if he was eaten. At one point memory Luffy was so hungry that his stomach was making so much noise that he stopped still and had his hands over his stomach, which both confused the sphinx and made it hangry, forcing Luffy to continue running.

"Maybe we should plug his ears in a fight," Zoro offered.

"I don't see how anyone could be getting hungry while a monster's attacking you!" Usopp yelled.

"You've been in this crew for how long now?" Nami demanded with a poke to the back of Usopp's head.

But things started turning really serious for Luffy. For as he continued running for his life, they saw Buggy and Mr. 3 muttering quietly together and they clearly overheard them blaming Luffy for them being stuck here. And so they came to an alliance to use Luffy as a decoy and that they would head straight on out of this place.

They all felt anger boiling inside them at the look of smugness on their faces as they were now wishing that they were there just so that they could clobber the two of them.

As the Sphinx continued to cry out about food, memory Luffy looked back to seem them huddled there as he asked, "Hey, what're you guys doing there?"

"Nothing good!" Usopp yelled, not wanting Luffy to be stuck on this floor any longer than he was forced to spend already. Buggy and Mr. 3 froze when they realized that they had been spotted plotting, but luckily for them the Sphinx threw his paw down, hardly giving them time to warn Luffy that he was under attack. Memory Luffy looked up just as the paw was over his head and he jumped up, climbing the Sphinx's body until he was right above it, pulling his arms back, readying himself for an attack.

Memory Luffy hit the top of the Sphinx's head, almost knocking the thing out. But it just roared out in fury as Luffy was forced to cling onto its head. Buggy, however, freaked out and went flying off to some higher grounds while Mr. 3 stared around in horror. Mr. 3 cried in terror as they watched the paw slam down on him.

Only for the Sphinx to realize that it was just a wax statue.

Mr. 3 was already making even more wax clones of himself, all of them in different positions and expressions on their faces. He began to spread them around the room so that there were several dozens of them all around them and even they were starting to have a hard time keeping track of them all.

"Now…" they heard his voice cried out from the crowd of fake Mr. 3's. "Which one's the real one?"

The Sphinx was looking over each one with great interest as well as confusion. Finally, it made a guess and stomped down on a random figure, and they heard the crunching sound of wax over the crash of his paw.

"Wrong!" Mr. 3 laughed out and the Sphinx went out for two more.

"Wrong again!" Mr. 3 called out tauntingly. Over and over the Sphinx went to smashing at the wax statues, but there were so many around them that even with his size, he was having a hard time trying to figure out which one to go for next. Even memory Luffy was starting to laugh and have fun as he began pointing out random statues for the Sphinx to get. And that was how it went, Luffy would cheer on the Sphinx even as it kept guessing wrong. Even the Sphinx seemed to be enjoying himself with this guessing game.

"Let's just hope he didn't want to make it a pet," Usopp whispered, knowing that it was something that Luffy would've wanted to do.

Sanji shrugged as he reminded him, "Wouldn't matter, we wouldn't have anywhere to put him."

"And we'd probably just eat the poor thing anyway," Robin offered reasonably.

Some of the Straw Hats even began cheering for the sphinx as they continued playing, but the tremors that they were making were quickly growing louder and louder. But then the shaking spread to the walls and a deep rumble began.

"Oh, here we go!" Nami cried out as she looked down to the floor.

"Right, hold on everyone!" Sanji yelled. "We're about to go to Level 3!"

They readied themselves before deep cracks began to appear and the floor was collapse underneath them. The bricks fell away perfectly like a puzzle and they saw darkness below them as they began to sink and next thing they knew was that they were falling through it. Luffy was falling, still clinging to the Sphinx's mane, and his laughter turned to fear as he, along with Buggy and Mr. 3, fell through the darkness.

"Well, it's one quick way to get to the next floor! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed as they all fell.

"STRAW HAT!" Buggy's voice bellowed out, "YOU'RE LIKE THE GOD OF HORRIBLE FORTUNE!"

"Of course he is," Zoro grinned. "I thought that they knew that by now."

"It's their fault for being so difficult. Just go with it, it's what we all do," Robin chuckled happily as they went down into the darkness.

The memory blacked out before coming back when they were in Level 3. The hot desert and they cringed as they looked down at the sand, knowing where it came from. Luffy was just starting to come to, and soon the other two woke up and they were leaping around in pain from the heat beneath them.

"I don't like this place," Sanji said in disgust. "This really is hell for me."

"Everything about this place is horrible, pal," Franky pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's hard to top this place," Sanji retorted as a memory of nearly starving to death on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere came back to him. He looked piteously at the cages in the distance, wishing that he could be there to feed these poor guys. Criminals or not, no one deserved to be treated like this. Anger boiled inside him at the thought of the World Government.

As the other two began yelling at Luffy for dragging them down here, memory Luffy headed off in search of the stairs for level 4. As they walked, how it happened they didn't know, but a roasted bird even fell from the ceiling, causing Mr. 3 to comment that it may have found its way down here from level 2 and was roasted by the air on the way down here.

Chopper tilted his head as he asked innocently, "Can that really happen?"

"Can you think of another reason why there's a roasted bird falling from the sky?" Franky offered.

"Besides, it's as hot as an oven, stay here long enough and you're sure to roast something," Nami added almost at the same time.

Memory Luffy wasn't picky though as he picked it up and began to dig in before Buggy pointed out to the cages in the distance. They went running off, looking for some shade from this heat, but instead they found the starved and emaciated prisoners who were sentenced to this place. Sanji cringed at the sight of them all as Mr. 3 explained that the prisoners here were given hardly any food or water so that they were constantly near death. That was the nature of the Starvation Hell.

"Hell is right. Forget fire and brimstone, this is what hell must truly look like," Sanji said as his hands shook when he reached for his cigarette and breathed out a mouthful of smoke.

The three of them continued to argue, with Luffy still thinking that they were helping them while they squabbled that they wanted to break out of this place, not go in any deeper. But soon, they ended up walking around in circles and finding themselves right back where they started with the unconscious Sphinx.

As they continued arguing, a net made of seastone sprang up from under them hoisting them and the sphinx into the air. Thanks to the seastone, they couldn't move as the guards gathered underneath them, including a tiny little imp-like person who claimed to be the chief guard and commander of the Blugori. Saldeath then reasoned that they should be happy that they were the ones who caught them for if they had gone any further, then they would have met with the four Jailer Beasts, and they weren't anywhere near as kind as they were.

"If this is kind, I hate to see what they consider going too far," Usopp whimpered at the thought before suddenly remembering that there was supposed to be some former jailer of Impel Down that was so violent that they locked him away in a cell here as well. Why was everything shaking? Oh… that was his legs…?

Luckily for them, the Sphinx couldn't have picked a better moment to come to and it began to thrash about wildly in the net, eventually breaking it, freeing the other three in the process. Memory Luffy quickly took advantage of this and made a run for it as he began fighting his way through the Blugori. He took them down quickly enough before noticing that the other two were gone. When a drop of wax fell onto him, he looked up to see that Buggy and Mr. 3 were climbing up the net onto the rafters. They mocked Luffy for his stupidity and that they were going out of here. But memory Luffy just waved up and shouted his thanks to them for helping him get even this far… with caused cries of shock and guilt from them both.

"I hope they have heart failure one day," Zoro hissed. "Not that I believe they have hearts, but still…?"

Memory Luffy was in trouble for Saldeath was having a small army as well as the Sphinx as it comes after him. Luffy then hopped across the guard's heads and makes a mad dash down a hall with them all right behind him. He ends up running down a flight of stairs, reasoning that if he could just keep going down, he was sure he could make it to the next floor.

Yet somehow he ended up going up the stairs, much to everyone's confusion. He was at a huge disadvantage here for he had no idea where anything was or where to go, whereas the guards knew every single stair and hallway in this place. They soon set up another trap, where Luffy went running straight into another lineup of guards who fired seastone nets his way. While able to avoid the seastone, he was pinned down by the Sphinx, who finally caught up to him.

"Stop right there, lion!" Zoro's voice yelled out.

"It's a Sphinx, Zoro," Nami reminded him.

"It wasn't me," Zoro said as he rolled his eye, pointing upwards to one of the tower of cages to see a familiar face there.

"It's you…!" Chopper gasped out.

"No," Zoro said firmly, guilt raging inside him at the sight of his double up there when he was stuck fighting stupid baboons. "But damn, I wish it was me."

"Bon Clay!" most of the crew cried out in tears at the sight of their friend looking like their friend.

"Prison's a good look for you, Moss Head," Sanji offered, trying to lighten the situation when they remembered what was going to happen to the poor guy. It was a sign of how miserable they were all feeling for Zoro didn't even try to snap back.

"Just kidding!" the fake Zoro suddenly cried out with a bigger smile that made him look like some kind of nutjob. Bon Clay, disguised as Zoro, jumped and gave the Sphinx such a powerful kick to the jaw that they knew that it could easily have rivaled Sanji could pull off. In fact, it was so strong that it ended up freeing Luffy from being trapped underneath the paw.

Once memory Luffy was free, he looked up to where his new ally was twirling about happily. Bon Clay was back with his own face. He looked out of place without his ballerina outfit, but he still had his make-up on and was beaming happily when he saw Luffy down there.

"Long time no see, Straw Hat!" Bon Clay cried, tears streaming from his eyes. "It's me!"

"Oh, that idiot… I'll never forget what he did for Luffy back there!" Franky sobbed before he broke down completely. "I LOVE THAT PERVERT BALLERINA!"

"Bon… Clay…" present-day Luffy mumbled in his sleep and they all looked to their Luffy.

"Ok, now I know that you aren't asleep," Nami said sharply, trying to poke their Luffy awake, but he just went on dreaming, leaving Nami wondering just how he could do all that?

"Bon Clay!" memory Luffy cried, a joyful smile on his face. "I'm a little disappointed you're not Zoro, but… at least you're alive!"

"Why'd he disguise himself as me?" Zoro asked suddenly. Out of all the people he could have chosen to look like…? Why get Luffy's hopes up that he was there too?

"Who cares?! He's here!" Brook laughed, as Bon Clay jumped at the guards and kicked their asses as he shouted for them to get out Luffy's way.

"Go for it, Bon Clay!" Usopp and Chopper both cheered as the Sphinx got his feet once again.

Saldeath, who was watching the whole thing turned to the overgrown cat. "That's right, Sphinx!" he called, pointing to the two, "Take them down!"

But the words were hardly out of his mouth when Luffy and Bon Clay jumped up and finally gave the Sphinx a beating. Together they attacked, taking the cat down until there was a large mass of lumps on his head and his face was bloodied. Saldeath let out a cry, calling for more guards, but the two didn't even notice him.

Bon Clay celebrated by doing a pirouette before the two ran at each other and embraced in a tearful, joyous reunion.

"Oh, Bon Clay!" memory Luffy cried. "I was sure you'd died for us back then in our place!"

"Quit joking around!" Bon Clay cried, laughing off the fact that he ended up getting shoved into prison because he helped them out. "A swan never dies! Unless that isn't true?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Sanji sighed as he remembered how hard that he had to work to even land an injury to those ugly creatures for two years.

But soon Saldeath interrupted them by holding up his tiny pitchfork to his mouth and began to play it like a flute. The sound was enough to bring the Blugori running in. As the two were quickly surrounded, Bon Clay let go of Luffy, still beaming, as he asked, "While we're at it, Straw Hat, Is it true that you want to go all the way down to Level 5?"

"That's right!" memory Luffy replied excitedly. "Mind telling me how to get there?"

"Well, shall I accompany you then?" Bon Clay asked as he moved into a fighting stance. "After all, I have someone I'd like to meet up in Level 5!"

"Yes… we'll be meeting Ivankov very soon," Robin said softly.

"Did you have to remind us of that?!" Chopper demanded angrily before the others felt their hearts sinking at the thought.

"No! I can't bear the thought of seeing all that again," Brook said as glanced over at their Luffy before reaching over and clasping their captain's hand. He had tried to do that before when he first saw Luffy strapped to that table and screaming in pain in a memory before. At least he could do it now.

"Seriously?" memory Luffy asked, also poised to fight.

"Yes!" Bon Clay shouted. "So let's go together!"

The two charged ahead, ready to take on anyone dumb enough to get in their way. With the two of them fighting together, it didn't take long for them to finish beating up the guards and making a run for it. But the Straw Hats all knew that it wasn't going to be long before more guards would show up… they had to get off this floor as soon as possible.

As they ran, Bon Clay informed Luffy that he ran into a clown and Mr. 3 when they let him out of his cage. That was when he asked if it was true that he broke in here to save someone.

Luffy confirmed this by telling him that it was his brother Ace, who was down on Level 5 and that he was going to be executed soon. If he didn't get him out of here fast, then he wasn't going to live much longer. The thought that Luffy was here for his big brother was enough to bring tears to Bon Clay's eyes, and some of the more emotional Straw Hats were also becoming a little teary at the thought.

Not long after that, the Straw Hats watched as the Demon Guard, the pathetic looking Minotaurus, confront them. It smacked Bon Clay into a wall before doing the same to Luffy. No matter how stupid it looked, it was fast…

"Something I don't get," Chopper said. "Here, Luffy's having trouble fighting that thing, but when they were escaping, he was able to take one out with one punch?"

"By this point in his one-man rescue mission, I guess Luffy must be getting tired," Sanji offered. "I mean, you can't really blame him. I'm beat just watching him fight through three levels."

"Luffy's strength seems to just keep growing," Robin added. "Especially in a desperate situation… as well as the fact that he was angry at the time? What with Blackbeard…?"

"Please don't remind me," Nami said at once, hatred boiling inside her at the thought of Blackbeard.

Memory Luffy was stuck with a blow and was smashed through the wall with the Demon Guard's club. Bon Clay managed to get up and protect Luffy before the Mintotaurus could finish him off. But Bon Clay was quickly pinned down before Luffy was forced to enter his Second Gear, and hit the Demon Guard with a Jet Bazooka, knocking it back so hard and fast that not only did it not see it coming, but it was sent flying off and landed who knows where.

There was only one causality… Bon Clay's make-up was ruined.

"I think you have more important things to worry about!" Nami screamed at him.

"Men shouldn't wear make-up anyway," Sanji hissed darkly, almost able to feel cosmetics on his own face again and he shivered at the thought.

But Bon Clay soon recovered, saying that all he needed was the Okama Way, and was back to his feet when Luffy asked how to get down to Level 4, which Bon Clay was only too happy to lead him to. They only had to go on a little bit further ahead to a large building with hot air and smoke billowing out through windows at the top.

They cringed at the thought of what was coming when Bon Clay warned Luffy not to get so excited that he went charging in. Memory Luffy seemed to listen for once and he stretched out an arm to the window. He let out a cry of pain when he pulled his hand back, for the floor was so hot that he couldn't touch it without burning himself. The two then leapt up to the platform, the heat from the floor causing Luffy's sandals to head up and he danced about a little at the heat.

They got a good look at the thick cloud of smoke from the floor below them, but that was about all they could see. Bon Clay explained that Level 3 was just like a great big frying pan, and that the fire below them was known as the Inferno Hell. The prisoners here were subjected to unbearable heat and at the constant risk of falling into a sea of boiling blood.

Some of the Straw Hats screamed at the thought of such a thing and they were all feeling sick to their stomachs at the seemingly never-ending cruelty of the World Government. Luffy was starting to sweat, and it was here they could see the fear in his eyes for the first time since entering this place. Up until now, you could say that Luffy had it easy, but here it wasn't just going to be hard, every step he took from this point on was going to be risking his life.

Luffy understood Bon's warning before asking him just who this person was that he wanted to meet so much. That was when Bon's eyes sparkled as he told him about the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom and his idol, Emporio Ivankov. Bon Clay admitted that he had long since wanted to meet the idol of all Okama's and if he could, he would like to save him, which memory Luffy fully approved of.

But just as they were getting ready to find a way to safely get down from here, they heard screams and looked up to see that Buggy and Mr. 3 were back, and they brought a friend…

Zoro was really starting to lose his patience with these two idiots. "Those idiots keep messing things up, aren't they?!" he demanded.

"Sure looks like it," Sanji agreed angrily.

Bon Clay screamed, his eyes popping out as Luffy looked back eagerly, as if he was actually happy to see them. "Hey wait! We were in such a nice mood here, and you go and bring THAT thing here? I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE TRYING TO ESCAPE!" Bon Clay shouted at the two of them angrily as all four of them started to run around the entrance to Level 4.

"So you wanted to come along after all?" Luffy asked, smiling as the Minotaurus raised up its club.

"AS IF ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO GO TO HELL!" Buggy shouted out at him. "WE WERE JUST HIDING WHEN THAT MONSTER CAME FLYING AT US! I DON'T KNOW HOW…?!"

"Oh, I sent him flying at you!" Luffy explained happily, causing screams of shock and outrage from them both. Mr. 3 looked like he was melting before their eyes, now actually talking about getting caught so that he could rest.

Buggy was looking at the enraged bull behind him before muttering that now was the time to reveal his trump card.

"When is this clown going to realize that nothing he does is strong?" Franky demanded.

"In about ten more seconds," Nami smirked suddenly and when Buggy looked to memory Luffy, he demanded if he could remember his Buggy Ball.

"Ah… what was that again?" Sanji asked as he tried to think back, "Is he talking about his nose or something?"

"Can't remember," Brook said cheerfully as he skipped along beside them. "Oh well, it probably doesn't matter! Yohohoho!"

Luffy clearly didn't remember the Buggy Ball either. He just looked back at Buggy with that familiar look confusion as he honestly said no. At long last, Buggy's confidence was broken as he slowed down and a dark cloud of depression hung over his head.

"Guess he's finally starting to realize that he's not all that impressive," Zoro said with a shrug. "It's about time."

But Buggy jerked his head up and ran faster, now sounding angry. "LIKE HELL! I'm talking about the Buggy-Ball, y'know, the Buggy-Ball! Don't you remember me blowing up a whole town with it? KA-BOOM! Don't you remember that powerful attack?"

"Nope," Luffy answered bluntly.

"He's crushing his spirit without even trying!" Franky laughed as you could almost see the dark cloud over Buggy's head.

"If you gave it your own name," Mr. 3 commented as they ran, "You must have a lot of confidence in this 'Buggy Ball' of yours."

"Oh, please don't encourage him, it's not good for anyone," Usopp sighed grimly. Too late, Buggy's confidence was back and began to brag about his new weapon, which was basically his old one, only in a tiny version. His Muggy Ball.

"Aren't they gonna remember that they're being chased right now?" Chopper asked in confusion as he looked back at the rampaging Minotaurus again.

"Shame," Robin sighed. "It was starting to get entertaining."

Buggy spun about, pointing his foot to the Minotaurus, and out of the soul of his shoe, a tiny marble-sized ball came firing out and hit the Minotaurus. There was a loud explosion, creating a fireball explosion as the Minotaurus shrieked… where one would think that it was of pain, but it seemed to be more of anger.

For one moment it seemed that they had won, the Minotaurus burst through the fire and boy was he pissed off. Soon the other three were forced to work together. Bon Clay jumped at the Minotaurus as Luffy turned back to Mr. 3, asking about his wax powers, which Mr. 3 reminded him that it'll just melt in three seconds in this heat. Luffy then shouted that he'll do it in three seconds as he went running at it.

Bon Clay, meanwhile, was in the air, doing several flips as he went spinning towards the Minotaurus.

"Flying! I'm flying! My Flying Ballet Kenpo!" he cried, "Memoir of a Winter's Sky!"

With a great crashing sound, he hit the Minotaurus hard in the face as Usopp cheered and Chopper clapped at the sight of it all. The force of the attack was great enough to cause the Minotaurus to sink a few inches into the stone floor, holding its head in terrible pain. Memory Luffy charging towards the Minotaurus while it was distracted, ready to finish the final blow. Mr. 3, did his job by causing a river of wax to flood out of his hand and around Luffy's arm to create coating.

"RIGHT!" Luffy cried as he then threw his arm back and twisted it around as he cried out, "GUUUUUM… GUUUUUUM…" The Minotaurus seized his club and held it high, about to attack. "HAMMER RIFLE!"

He spun his fist about and when he brought it up, with his fist coated with the wax, he nailed a punch right to the Minotaurus's jaw, and gave him the beating of a lifetime twice now. The wax flew off in every direction as it melted off—the other three stared at him in shock as they watched the monster fall as if in slow motion. It crashed right into the floor, sliding yards away and its head was slammed right into the opposite wall.

"Oww…" Chopper winced in sympathy, almost feeling sorry for the poor thing.

"That's one way to tenderize meat," Sanji offered. "Bet that the cow there would've tasted good if I got a chance to grill it up.

"Har, de har har…" Nami said with a roll of her eyes as Brook burst out laughing at that.

"WE DID IT!" the four cried out together, jumping up and down ecstatically. "WE BEAT A MONSTER FROM HELL!"

"Right!" memory Luffy cheered, "Now let's get going down to Level 4!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Buggy and Mr. 3 screamed out in horror as the Straw Hats laughed. Memory Luffy looked on at them in confusion as he asked what the problem now was since they were right here at Level 4 and they didn't have to worry about the Minotaurus anymore.

"Listen I want to make sure of it one more time!" Buggy said seriously.

"Sure," memory Luffy said agreeably, and you could almost believe that he was listening in this time.

Buggy pointed an accusing finger at him and asked, "You still plan on going to Level 4?"

"No… he came this far only to turn back now," Sanji said with a roll of his eyes. "What do you think, you idiot?"

"Yeah," memory Luffy said happily before he asked, "You wanna come along after all?"

"You couldn't pay me to come along!" Mr. 3 exclaimed, still sweating wax, looking like he was about to collapse in a melted mess right there. "If I keep melting like this there won't be anything left of me."

"Well, at least he has an excuse," Nami sighed as Bon Clay spun happily as he began singing to himself in a relaxed way as the rest argued.

"How many times do I have to explain it, you freaking dumbass?" Buggy demanded, "Can't you see that pillar of smoke? That's the Inferno Hell!"

"No… really?" Usopp asked in sarcasm, "And here I was thinking it was gonna be a nice place."

The two cowards then flat out refused to go any further, trying to explain it in a way that would make sense to Luffy that they wanted to break out. Which only infuriated them when they saw that Luffy wasn't listening.

"Just give it up, Straw Hat," said Bon Clay, who had finally stopped spinning and was looking politely annoyed by all this yelling. "We don't need those spineless wimps."

"WHO YOU CALLIN' A BIG-NOSED WIMP?" Buggy snapped at him.

"Man, he's got issues," Sanji muttered with a piteous air about him.

Franky scratched his head before he offered, "He must've heard being called a big nose so many times that he must just expects it."

"Then why not get a nose job or something?" Zoro asked in exasperation. Bon Clay yelled at him, wondering how he could've possibly mistaken that for what he said. He looked ready to fight him but seemed to decide against it. "Fine, then!" he decided as he stood on his toes. "I'll just twirl!"

"Yeah, if you can't beat 'em, ignore them," Nami said in appreciation. "It's how I survived on this crew."

"This an't a joke!" Buggy screamed at the still twirling Bon Clay.

"No, but it's funny as hell to watch," Franky smirked and even started laughing at how angry Buggy was getting. That was when they started to hear the cracking sound, and the grinding of stone as if something was crumbling apart. Memory Luffy was looking up to the giant fan above them and interestedly pointed out that the celling was getting higher and higher.

"Maybe they should consider looking down," Robin offered reasonably before patting their sleeping Luffy on the head and said with a smile, "You all really tore Impel Down apart, didn't you?"

"There's a tragedy," Nami muttered darkly. This place deserved to be destroyed if you ask her. Right now, Mr. 3 was looking up at the ceiling as well and had just asked what they thought the trick was that they used for that cracking sound. But they all blinked and it all hit everyone at once what was going on.

"WE'RE THE ONES FALLING DOWN!" Mr. 3 screamed out. It turned out all the blasting and violence going on from their fight with the Minotaurus that the platform they were standing on to break apart. The slab of rock that they were all standing on had broken off and fell through the smoke. The four were trying to stay on the platform as they screamed and fell to the floor below them. But as they fell they actually began arguing with each other over whose fault it was, but also who really beat the Minotaurus in the process, even sounding proud of despite the fact that they were in real danger now.

"There is nothing to be proud over the fact that you guys are falling straight to a sea of boiling blood!" Chopper yelled out. The Straw Hats were all completely blinded by the smoke but they heard the four of them screaming just before the memory faded completely, "WE'RE ALL GONNA FALL INTO THE FIRE!"

They continued to plummet down to Level 4, things looking bad for them until the four realized that the slab of rock they were standing on was their one good saving grace. Even as they fell through the thick smoke, they could make out a platform quickly rising up to meet them. With a wild jump, Luffy grabbed hold of the other three and made a wild jump, making it just in time as the debris continued falling and with a sickening sound, hit something below them. Some kind of liquid… but much thicker sounding than water.

"Guess it was a good thing that they fell the way they did," Robin offered. "Otherwise, they never would've had the chance to make that jump."

But Zoro was not feeling optimistic as he growled out, "But now we reached this place, which means that the warden is gonna be waiting,"

"I don't suppose we can find another way out, can we?" Usopp whimpered as Chopper began to cry as more memories of what happened in this living hell came back. "Magellan… he's gonna…?"

"We already decided that we would go through this place until we found out the one responsible for all this," Sanji said firmly as he bit down on his cigarette in anger. "We saw this once, we can do it again."

They knew that it was their only option; not that it was any easier to see. They instead watched the three in the memory hopping about in pain as the floor burned through their shoes. Bon Clay had done a good job of blocking out the pain, but it was only a matter of time before even he was hollering in pain. But Luffy suddenly turned his nose to one direction and his mouth began to water as he went running straight across the bridge.

The other three looked on in confusion, at least until Bon Clay happily went skipping along after him as he proclaimed that the kitchen was in that direction.

"He's better than any bloodhound!" Usopp couldn't help but feel a small smirk on is mouth.

"His sense of direction is almost as bad as Zoro yet he always finds his way if there's food," Nami said, wondering if they should just carry meat with them at all times so that they could get Luffy to follow them if they get lost.

Meanwhile, more guards appeared, trying to stop them, but memory Luffy easily bowled them over, nothing stopping him from getting to that food, but he never had a chance to get that far. Just as he was almost across the bridge… something fell from the ceiling and he stopped dead in his tacks.

"It's him…" Zoro said darkly as he recognized the giant puddle of poison.

"M-Magellan…" Nami gulped, feeling sweat falling down her face at the sight of the Warden himself as he came falling from the ceiling, already coated in poison as he glared down at memory Luffy.

"This guy really is the devil isn't he?" Chopper asked in terror as he jumped up into Robin's arms and held on tight as she hugged him back.

"To be in charge of this place? You have to be," Sanji stated as he grinded his teeth together. This was gonna be torture to see this again.

"Straw Hat Luffy, your luck has finally run out," Magellan declared angrily. "After capturing you, I'll take my time with you and learn just how you managed to break in here."

And his words seemed to be proven true as Luffy's eyes narrowed and he declared, "I'll die before telling you that!"

"If he ever did sell out my beloved Hancock, I'd have killed him!" Sanji couldn't help but yell out suddenly.

"Get your priorities straight, Sanji!" Usopp yelled back.

"I wouldn't worry," Robin said in a surprisingly calm tone. "Even if Magellan followed through with that threat, when Luffy protects a friend, he'd rather die than ever sell them out."

There were a few sad smiles going around at that reminder, knowing that she was right. But they were distracted when Magellan smirked down at Luffy, explaining that before they torture them, all the prisoners said that.

"But then again, Straw Hat," Magellan added, "what you're about to experience is nothing as pleasant as torturing!"

"Yeah, I guess they feel that their pride and reputation are ruined now that there was someone insane enough to break into this place," Franky said darkly. "He's bound to be pissed off."

"Please, they should be thanking him for showing how weak their defenses are," Zoro said. "And I have to say they leave much to be desired."

"Luffy, this guy is dangerous, why didn't you just run?" Usopp yelled at their Luffy, wondering just how much longer that drug that Chopper gave him was gonna keep him asleep with all the noise and yelling go on around him.

"Where to? I doubt that Magellan would've let him go running off," Sanji pointed out.

"Straw Hat!" Bon Clay shouted in panic. "Magellan's whole body is poisonous! You'll be in huge trouble if you so much as touch him! Do you really think you stand a chance against a man like that?!"

"Not really good for someone who only fights with his fists," Robin said even as memory Luffy declared that he was going to win. "Even with Haki, this wouldn't have been an easy fight."

Memory Luffy may have been confident, but they all knew better. As did Bon Clay, who was shouting at him to come with him back the way they came. They should just give up on the food and make a run for Level 5. Magellan then informed them that wouldn't work for the stairway was being guarded by the Head Jailer and the other three Demon Guards. The Straw Hats all knew that Luffy had enough problems with just one of those guards, and so he couldn't hope to fight off three and the Head Jailer in his current tired state. Magellan stated that they already have sealed off all the other escape routes from this floor and that he wouldn't be able to escape.

"Here it comes…" Sanji hissed, bracing himself for something bad when Magellan's entire body was covered in the purple poison, now looking as if he had been dumped into a vat of jelly.

"The Hydra?!" Brook shrieked out in terror as poison leaked from his body in heavy clumps, and to their dread they saw that a dragon head, dripping death as they went, rose up and surrounded Luffy. It hovered there, slithering like a snake as Luffy stared at it.

The dripping head struck at Luffy and Bon Clay, forcing them to jump away as the heads tried to bit down on them both. Memory Luffy dodge it easily, but they watched in terror as he held up his fist, ready to strike back until Bon Clay intercepted it, being knocked to the ground and close to blacking out. But he jumped back to his feet and tackled Luffy to the ground, rolling away from Magellan.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING, BON CLAY?!" memory Luffy screamed at him furiously.

"Like I said, that won't work!" Bon Clay shouted back as he shook him hard and even poked him in the head as if hoping that would help get the message across. "If you get soaked in it, or even touch it, you're gone!"

"You can say that, but HOW am I supposed to fight him if I can't even touch him?!" memory Luffy demanded.

"You can't fight someone like that, Luffy, you have to just run!" Usopp yelled as he grabbed their present-day Luffy and shook him hard, trying to get the point across even if Luffy was drooling in his sleep. Bon Clay was yelling the same thing, begging for Luffy not to fight him for he would die as soon as he touched him. While the two argued, Magellan struck with the Hydra once more, leaving Bon Clay to kick memory Luffy out of the way in the nick of time. The Hydra's head crashed into the floor and there was dust kicked up all over.

Bon Clay was doing his best to help in this situation, now by transforming himself into a copy of Luffy, hoping to confuse Magellan. He tried to whisper to memory Luffy to make an escape now, but they all knew that even if this plan did work, Luffy would never just walk out on Bon Clay.

Unsurprisingly, Magellan wasn't fooled since their clothes clearly gave them away. More poison began to seep out of his body as two more Hydra heads appeared, claiming that it was useless whatever they tried.

"Robin-san?" Brook asked her hurriedly, "Do you know of any way that Luffy-san could fight him?"

"I'm not sure," she answered back honestly. "I know that Magellan can coat his body with poison and just one touch is enough to kill. If Luffy knew Haki, he might've stood a chance. But right now, fire would be the best option to combat the poison."

"Mr. 3's wax powers helped before!" Chopper reminded them all quickly.

"But he's not here," Franky pointed out. "Not only that, while we're on this floor nothing he makes can last for long. It would just melt in a matter of seconds."

"But Luffy has no choice but to fight!" Usopp yelled out urgently. "So was there really no way from the start that he could win?!"

"We all know that he tried," Zoro said firmly, gripping his swords even as he felt himself shaking slightly, "We all know what happened."

"But there had to be another way!" Nami tried to reason before Sanji interrupted by saying, "Even if there was, there's nothing that can be done about it now, Nami-swan."

"Still, I'm gonna be researching ways to combat poison like that!" Chopper said firmly, tears burning his eyes and blurring his vision. He reached into his small bag and pulled out a notepad and began making notes as he finished, "Just in case we ever meet this guy again."

"And if we do, then I'll be the one to take him down!" Zoro promised, looking truly demonic for that second. He was gonna make this guy pay dearly for every hour of agony that Luffy had to go through. No! Every second that he was in pain!

The three Hydra heads swirled around gracefully before they struck. Luffy and Bon Clay had no choice but to start running and they followed closely behind, wondering just what they were gonna do to get out of this mess. The Hydra gave chase, one of the heads ending up swallowing two of the prison guards so that when they hit the ground they were covered the purple gunk and screaming in agony. Luffy was baffled at what Magellan was doing to his own men when Bon Clay explained as they ran was that the Hydra was made of a paralyzing nerve-potion. The victim would experience excruciating pain before dying.

"Do they think that they're just gonna replace those lives?" Brook demanded furiously.

"That's how they think," Sanji snarled. Damn, do all people who work for the government believe in collateral damage? He suddenly was reminded of Enies Lobby and how those bastards open fired on their own ship and killed a thousand of their own soldiers on board. All for the chance to kill one pirate…?

"What of the friends and family of those people?" Brook yelled out, his body shaking so much his bones rattled together. "How are they going to explain it to them why their family members aren't coming home?"

"They'll just do what they always do," Robin answered darkly, "blame it on pirates."

But as the men begged for help, the guards who were lucky enough to avoid the poisoning were backing away from them, terrified of being touched. But the worse was Magellan as he walked by. He looked down at them with no guilt or remorse on his face and merely snapped at them not to get in the way of his attacks.

"Damn, if I could fight him right now, I'd…?!" Zoro threatened menacingly. It was sickening watching the two guard apologize for getting in the way, where they couldn't understand why they would do so. But they had bigger problems, mainly that the Hydra was going after Luffy again, who was still forced to run even as he complained how hungry he was.

"You've still got your appetite even now?" Bon Clay demanded in shock. "You're definitely not normal, Straw Hat!"

"No, you're not, take this fight seriously," Nami said firmly as she tugged at their Luffy's face so that it stretched out again as he continued snoring. "Maybe we should wake him up just so that we can finish telling him off."

Memory Luffy hopped up onto the railing and stretched his arms out to grab onto a rafter over the cauldron. He hollered in pain and they could see that just holding on was burning his hands. But he stubbornly ignored that as he swung himself downwards and to the fire… the Hydra's heads followed him, with one being melted and destroyed from the heat of the fire before Luffy swung upwards again, having gotten so close to the fire that his shirt was smoking.

"Yes!" memory Luffy said as he put out the fire on his clothes. "I destroyed one of the heads!"

Magellan was looking up at him with new interest. "I'd expect no less from Ace's brother," he confessed. "You've got talent, I'll give you that. But this is as far as you'll be able to go."

"I can't watch!" Chopper and Usopp both shouted as they covered their eyes. "JUST RUN, LUFFY!"

Magellan was chewing something like bubble gum before he blew a poison bubble at Luffy… it exploded into a large fireball when it came in contact with the heat. The gas went everywhere and Luffy was soon crying out in pain before he was sneezing and rubbing his eyes which couldn't see anymore.

"Luffy! Behind you!" Nami shrieked. The Hydra had reappeared, feet away from Luffy, stopping only right in front of him.

"Huh?" Luffy cried out, still sneezing violently, "What happened? The dragon stopped."

They looked to Magellan, and they saw that he had completely coated himself in poison. "Venom ROAD!" Magellan cried out, and just like that, he seemed to swim through the Hydra's body like it was one of the water roads from Fishman Island, before he reached one of the Hydra's mouths and leapt out so that he was back in front of Luffy.

Magellan then pulled off the horns off his head… reveal pigtails that his fake horns had been hiding before putting them on his hands like a pair of gloves. And with vicious swipes, he went after Luffy—who was still trying to recover from the gas. Their captain was forced to keep backing away, forced to duck and dodge to avoid getting skewered.

"No fair!" Chopper hollered out, "Luffy can't see!"

That was certainly true for the memory was already blurred and hazy through the poison covering his eyes.

"If you think you can touch me, go ahead and try!" Magellan taunted as Luffy was forced to duck missing death by less than an inch. But there was a slight explosion and a horrible fizzling sound from where Magellan struck the wall. When the dust cleared up, they saw that Magellan had actually melted the stone wall. Memory Luffy slid down to the foot of the melted wall, and stared up through bloodshot and watery eyes. Though it was impossible to tell if that was from the poison or if he was actually close to crying. He started to cough and sneeze again, trying to get the poison out of his system, as Magellan looked down darkly.

"You will not escape again!" he promised.

"As much as I hate to say it, he's got a point," Robin said, "All the ways off this floor are completely blocked off and Magellan isn't going to stop coming after him after all this."

"You don't need to tell us that!" Nami snapped back.

"In the end," Magellan said, pulling his arm out of the melted wall, "You and your brother Ace." He pulled back and jumped down so that he had Luffy cornered. "Will suffer the same fate!"

"Who are you to decide that?!" Sanji yelled out in fury. Robin sighed before she looked down to where she noticed Bon Clay hiding behind one of the columns. She could see the turmoil in his face before he turned and ran down the pathway, tears falling from his eyes.

But he would come back. She knew that he would.

She looked back as Magellan was delivering deadly blow after deadly blow, and it was all Luffy could do just to avoid getting caught by those horns. At one point, Luffy caught the side of the glove—careful that only his sandal was what touched him—just as the sharp point was mere inches from his face. He then kicked at Magellan's hand to the ground to avoid it… but this caused the stone beneath their feet to crack and break apart. With a loud crashing and banging, the entire structure was falling apart and the bricks were tumbling downwards towards the fire, along with Luffy.

"Bad move bro!" Franky shouted out in panic.

Thankfully, Luffy stretched out his leg and stamped against the wall and managed to rebound and land on one of the lower walkways. He landed safely, but he stumbled and fell to his knees, where they knew that his exhaustion was finally starting to settle in. He had been risking his life and fighting the whole way down here, as well as breathing in the poison that Magellan was creating… it was becoming too much for him to handle.

"You still have no intention of giving up?" Magellan asked as he came closer.

"Don't you dare touch him again!" Brook warned as memory Luffy forced himself to his feet, but his hands were still on the ground to keep him from falling over.

"I'll break Ace free and then get out of here!" he snarled out in warning before he moved into a familiar pose that they were dreading to see.

"Second Gear!" Luffy declared as his legs began to pump blood.

"No… not this…" Chopper said, terror gripping his heart as he remembered how hard that Second Gear had always been on Luffy's body.

"He's tried everything else, now it's time to resort to the worst case scenario," Zoro stated.

"Reckless…" Sanji sighed out.

"There's no way I'm gonna die before I get to him!" Luffy declared as steam began to billow out of his already tired body. "I won't let Ace be executed!"

"What's with this steam?" Magellan demanded, and for the first time, he looked rather taken aback by what he was seeing.

Memory Luffy stood tall as he said, "If I'm doomed to lose because you're poisonous and I can't touch you…" he stared down at his hands for a moment, as if he'd never seen them before, before he glared up at Magellan and declared, "Then I'd rather touch you and GIVE UP MY ARMS TO BEAT YOU!"

"Luffy…?" Nami whispered, her eyes wide, as Magellan held up his fist, still dripping with poison.

"That's stupid," Zoro stated.

"You once threatened to chop off your own hand back at Enies Lobby!" Usopp yelled at him, "You were the one said it was better to lose a hand than lose a fight!"

"Because I knew that I was gonna win," Zoro retorted coldly. "Here, there is literally nothing else Luffy can do. He's willing to take this gamble because he's got no choice."

"But that poison will do a lot more than just take his arms!" Chopper shouted. "And it almost did kill him!"

"If you don't want your arms," Magellan stated, "then I'll grant your wish and take them!"

Chopper and Usopp both covered their eyes they heard Luffy screaming out, "Gum… GUUUUUUUUM… JET… BAZOOKA!"

They didn't need to look to know just what happened. Luffy landed a double punch right to Magellan's stomach, actually forcing Magellan to his knees as he coughed up blood. But when he finally forced himself to look, he could see that Luffy's hands were coated in poison like a pair of boxing gloves. His face was screwed up in pain before he also fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

Nami's eyes filled with tears as she glared down at their own Luffy, who stopped snoring like he knew that he was in trouble. "You idiot… just what did you think was gonna happen?" she demanded.

Memory Luffy's hands were starting to smoke slightly, showing that the poison was burning his hands and tears of pain were burning in his eyes.

The same couldn't be said as Magellan got back up, breathing hard as he glared at Luffy, snarling out, "To think you could bring me to my knees? A wild animal is a frightening thing when cornered. No matter… the poison covering your arms will be more than enough to kill you."

Luffy glared at the warden, still not willing to give up as he forced himself to his feet and rammed his fists into Magellan's stomach for a second time, yet he was just making things worse. The attack caused Magellan to inflate with anger before he blew out poisonous bubbles, forcing Luffy to jump out of the way, but now he was having a hard time for his moves were now clumsily slow.

The floor was soon covered with puddles of poison, releasing fumes into the air that memory Luffy was forced to breathe in. But because he was now moving so slowly, when he began another attack, Magellan spotted him and sent a Hydra head right at him.

"No, Luffy! All this leaping around is making your blood pump faster and speeding up the poison!" Chopper cried out, "You're gonna be paralyzed if you don't…?"

But memory Luffy already struck with a Jet Pistol, destroying the Hydra's head and poison was splattered all over his body in the process. The memory was beginning to grow dark all around them, he was coughing as they suddenly heard a strange hissing sound around them and where looking around to try and find it. That was when they noticed the thickening haze that was building up around them.

"Poisonous cloud," Chopper said when he looked to see that this purple haze was coming from Magellan's breath, the cloud forming around them in the form of a spider. Suddenly everything around them was going blurry—everything around them started spinning, stretching, changing around… as a terrible ringing was going off in all directions.

"Is your eyesight turning blurry yet?" Magellan's voice called through the sound. "Are your ears ringing?"

Magellan's face was becoming twisted and warped, showing just how bad a shape Luffy was in. Everything was mixing together to such a point that it was getting to be almost impossible to try and make out what was happening. But they could make out enough to see Luffy had jumped into the air and had inflated himself, he was about to blow the poison all away.

But it was already too late… they were watching a dead man fighting a battle he was doomed to lose. Even memory Luffy's best attacks were useless… the best that he could do was knock Magellan down for a moment… and they knew that even if he had managed to beat Magellan, he couldn't even see straight anymore and would have easily been caught. Though they all knew how he managed to survive and escape from this hell on earth, they couldn't stand to watch someone they care about being poisoned to death like this.

Even after Luffy got rid of the poisonous gas, he was unable to get back to his feet, barely able to draw in breath. Magellan only brought more poisonous gas back into the room, with the memory unable to form anymore. The ringing that Luffy was hearing was so loud that it was like standing underneath a giant bell and things were so dark that it was difficult to make out even shapes and colors. But they still hear Magellan's voice, who warned, "No matter how hard you struggle, there's no escape for you! Both hands must be totally useless by now. The poison will take everything from you before long."

Through the quickly fading memory they could see Magellan's face slipping in and out of focus as he gave him a look of disgust. Seeing that was enough to get Luffy back to his feet, seeing this, Magellan asked, "You don't know when to quit. Do you really want to save your brother that badly?"

"If these government people ever had someone love them growing up they'd understand," Nami yelled out angrily.

"They can't see how a pirate could be capable of caring about someone that much," Robin answered back. "Pirates are all mindless savages who are incapable of love in their eyes. That's all there is to it."

Luffy's eyes were savage as he let out a roar like a wild animal, aiming another punch at him. But his arm was shaking so badly that Magellan didn't even have to dodge as he grabbed Luffy arm and sent him swinging over his head like a lasso before he slammed him right into the stone floor.

But even then Luffy found a way to get up as Magellan demanded, "Stupid fool. Why would you go this far? Portgas D. Ace is a felon sentenced to death. And you're the intruder who's trying to rescue him! I will not forgive any sin!"

"Sin?!" Brook shrieked out. "If what you said is true and Ace's existence is a sin, then why was he born at all?! Don't you dare say that he had no right to live! That's not your place to say who lives and who deserves to die!"

"SHUT UP!" memory Luffy screamed at the warden in full agreement even if he couldn't hear Brook before he aimed another punch but they knew that he was no longer able to even see straight as his punches were miles off. Memory Luffy had miraculously made it back to his feet once more and had shifted into his Second Gear a second time… ready for one last desperate attempt. But it would do nothing for him for Magellan had brought all three Hydra heads once again.

Memory Luffy no longer seemed to be thinking as he leapt straight at Magellan as he gave one last scream, "GIVE ACE… BAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCK!"

They all looked away when he was swallowed by the Hydra. This was the end of the battle… Magellan the clear winner, and memory Luffy was now lying in a pool of poison, covered head to foot in the purple gunk… eyes were wide and unseeing as his mouth was open as if he was trying to scream but couldn't remember how.

"This is your punishment," Magellan stated, ice in his voice. "After exposure to this much poison, no antidote will save you… You will agonize for 24 hours…and then descend to the REAL hell."

"Luffy…" Usopp cried as tears flooded down his face, soaking his clothes.

They could only watch miserably as memory Luffy was put onto a sled and dragged downwards to Level 5 for him to spend his last few hours. The floor was covered in ice while the prisoners were all covered with frost bite and icicles as they watched Luffy through their cages before he was later dumped into one of the cells. The prisoners inside saw that he had already been given the poison treatment and backed away from him as the guards left.

Memory Luffy was left writhing around in agony on the icy ground.

Remorse was the only thing that the straw Hats felt when they saw how much pain he was in. Chopper couldn't take it and went over to their Luffy and hugged onto their captain's arm like a security blanket before began to examine him, as if he could somehow stop the pain he felt two years ago by treating him now.

He wasn't the only one, the others were all feeling the same way as Robin tenderly ran her finger through Luffy's messy black hair, like she hoped to offer some comfort. Brook was humming a song, as they tried to both block out the pain and give comfort though this was all history. Perhaps their Luffy could sense this for he seemed to be breathing much easier and there may have been the tiniest trace of a grateful smile on his lips.

Memory Luffy was dying as he continued crying out in agony, coughing up blood and struggling just for the tiniest breath. On top of these endless waves of pain, he was shivering from the cold, trying to keep himself warm in this torturous frozen wasteland. From time to time he would force himself to his feet and banged his head against the bars in a desperate attempt to get out. Eventually, he finally collapsed in exhaustion, yet was still clinging to the bars.

It was only a little while later when someone appeared to help. Bon Clay, wearing nothing but boots and pants while covered in frostbite and blood, staggered towards their cell. Knowing what was on this floor though, they knew exactly what attacked him when they saw the bite marks. His nose drippings were frozen solid, but in his hand… was a ring of keys.

"Bon Clay!" Chopper, Franky, Brook, and Usopp all cried out in gratitude and joy at the sight of him there.

"S… Straw Hat…!" Bon Clay said, shivering and teeth chattering from the cold. "I'm here to save you! In… the name of our friendship!"

"I love ya, man!" Franky sobbed out as he pulled out a tissue and blew his nose, pressing down on his nose long enough for his hairstyle to change to pigtails. The inmates, however, just stared at him as Bon Clay came right up to the bars, his tears were already freezing on his face at the sight of seeing Luffy in such bad shape.

"Earlier I was… I'm sorry that I ran!" he said, but they could tell that even through his pain and wraps of breath as he continued coughing up blood, memory Luffy could hear every word he was saying. Bon Clay then declared that now was the time to go, he promised that he was not going to let Luffy die here.

They watched as Bon Clay found the sled that the guards used to drag Luffy down here and used it to pull Luffy throughout Level 5. He went around asking every inmate who was still alive in this place if they knew someone named Ivankov.

Robin sighed as she continued to pat Luffy's hair in a motherly way as the others all seemed to be bracing themselves for what was coming.

After a few dead ends they finally got lucky when one prisoner told them that he had seen Iva head into the woods one time. Bon Clay then dragged Luffy along behind him as they headed to the trees. It was miserable having to see Bon quickly freezing to death in this horrible weather but it warmed their hearts when they saw how determined he was. He soldiered on despite the fact that he was now on the brink of frostbite, but all he cared about was not letting Luffy die here.

"Thank you, Bon Clay!" Usopp sobbed out, who hadn't stopped crying since Luffy's defeat. "I… I don't know… how we could ever thank you enough!"

Zoro frowned, feeling the same way, but in all likeliness… Bon Clay was already…?

But memory Luffy's focus was slipping in and out and it looked like he was starting to hallucinate. Memories of when he and Ace were young and running through the mountains together as children began to drift in and out. How they would fight over food and hunt down animals in the forests of Goa, or even just sitting at the cliff side as they watched the waves or passing ships. Sometimes Sabo's face would also appear in these visions and they were brought back to happier days.

"Funny that he doesn't think of us?" Nami asked, though she hoped that these childhood memories were enough to bring Luffy comfort.

"He can't afford to," Sanji sighed. "He can't be worrying about all of us on top of worrying about Ace and his execution."

"What are you saying? That… he forgot all about us?" Chopper asked, his eyes wide.

"There was no other options," Zoro stated simply. "We weren't of any help to him right now and if he wanted to hold onto his sanity, however little he's got, he had to forget about all of us, at least for a little while. Right now his entire focus is on saving his brother. He just had to trust that we were all alright on our own and hope for the best."

The others all frowned at that, not liking how he put it, but they knew he was right. If Luffy was constantly worrying about them while in this place then it would've be a distraction and he didn't need that now. They knew that he still cared, and understood why that was the case even if they didn't like it.

They finally reached the point where the wolves who guarded this floor had surrounded them, forcing Bon Clay to fight them off as best as he could. Memory Luffy had heard the sounds and opened his eyes to see his friend being bitten all over. He forced himself up and actually bites one of the wolves himself, which yelped in pain before he got everyone's attention. He was panting for breath as they all stared at him before memory Luffy screamed out, his eyes wide and wild, for them to leave Bon Clay alone.

Without realizing what he was doing, he accidently unleased a massive burst of Conqueror's Haki, knocking them all out. The memory then faded with both Luffy and Bon Clay following suit and darkness clouded their vision.

The memory quickly came back, though it was so blurred that it was almost impossible to make anything out. It took several minutes for the memory to clear enough for them to see what was going on. Luffy was still thrashing on the floor in pain, but instead of the frozen forest, they were in a dark tunnel. And they weren't alone…

"Please… just this once… let us skip what happens next?" Nami begged as she covered her face with her hands. "I can't… I can't see him suffer like that again!"

"Whoever's doing this is gonna pay for making us watch this again," Sanji vowed furiously, his eyes dark and shadowed over as he watched Inazuma and Ivankov standing there. Memory Luffy was coughing violently, now hardly able to draw breath.

"Vi been watching vyou two on the monitors," the drag queen said as he watched Luffy twitching painfully. "Straw-Hat-boy, Vi'm impressed vyou made it this far. Vi can hardly believe how lucky vyou've been."

"I'd hardly call this lucky!" Nami snapped furiously.

"We're begging here!" Usopp cried out, "As one man to anoth—I mean, as one heart-beating creature to another, our friend is dying, just do something to help!"

But Luffy wasn't thinking of himself. His eyes were quickly drawn to where Bon Clay was still lying unconscious next to him before they managed to find Iva. "B… B…" Luffy tried to say, every word so painful for him. "Bon Clay… tried to save me… Beaten by wolves…! Please… help him!"

Ivankov's eyes went wide as they looked at Luffy's simple plea.

"Please… he's my friend!" he gasped out, now twitching and jerking around like he was about to have a seizure.

"Luffy…" Nami whispered, trying to give him some comfort as he lay there. Instead, she went back to their own Luffy. "You big-hearted idiot. Can't you think of yourself for once? You're always so selfish, but sometimes…?"

"Reminds me why I joined up with him," Chopper said as he wiped the tears away. "I can't think of anyone I'd call my captain."

"I think we all feel the same way, but we're gonna have to step it up if we don't want anything like this to happen again," Zoro said angrily before glancing at their Luffy and adding, "Just like how your recklessness has also got to stop, Captain."

Iva was looking down at Luffy with new interest before he promised that they would help them both. After getting a good look at the full extent of memory Luffy's injuries, the memory started going dark once more, but they heard Iva's promise that there was a treatment he could give him. Yet it would be so painful that it may end up killing him anyway.

Iva turned to Inazuma, telling him to take Bon Clay and get him patched up before he would deal with Luffy. The memory was now so dark that they could only hear what was going on around them. But they didn't like what they heard. They knew that Iva was taking Luffy downstairs to where he would be give his 'treatment'.

The memories were all confusing and the ringing in their ears was back—the sound kept fading and getting louder before fading again while the memories were so mixed up that it was impossible to tell up from down anymore. But at last they heard Ivankov's voice telling Luffy that he needed to wake up now because he needed to ask him a life or death question.

The memory returned, but it was still very hazy. They were wishing that it stayed dark for they were in the dark cave with walls caked with ice. Memory Luffy was chained down to the table, now covered with frostbite and the purple spots of the poison sinking into his skin.

Ivankov was still standing there, looking down at him as Luffy shook and writhed, though with all the chains holding him down, all he could do was twitch. Iva then told him very seriously about his powers, that he could create and control hormones that can affect the body. He could give Luffy some special hormones that would save his life by release his body's immune system to its full potential. If he was willing to go through it, he could rebuild Luffy's immune system until he was strong enough to fight the poison.

"Does this mean that Luffy isn't affect by poison anymore?" Franky couldn't help but ask.

"Normal poisons, no," Chopper said miserably. "I think that it would just take critical amounts to kill him off. He was able to fight off the poison from that octopus fishman without even realizing he had been stung."

But Iva went on to warn memory Luffy that the chance of survival is mostly based off one's own will to live and that he needed to compensate his life-span to heal the damage. Iva wasn't sugarcoating it when he bluntly told Luffy just how painful it would be. How it would be excruciating and that they had to keep him down here and chained down because he would be screaming the whole time. He offered Luffy a choice: to go through this healing process with only a slim chance of living, or to be given something that would make him unable to feel any pain during his last few hours on earth.

"N-no…" memory Luffy hissed out, breathing harder than ever. "I… I can't die yet… not until… I see A-Ace."

Iva then pressed him once more, reminding him that this wasn't something that he should take lightly. Even if he did chose to go through this, he couldn't promise that he would live. But Luffy stubbornly refused to die here and Iva realized that he wasn't going to change his mind.

"As for the price of the treatment? Ten years of vyour life! Vi will be cutting off ten vyears of your lifespan, Straw-Hat-Boy!" he declared.

"Why ten years?!" Chopper demanded, "Couldn't he have just taken a year or two? Why ten?!"

"Luffy needs to give up years off his own lifespan in order for this treatment to work, but if he lives or dies depends of his determination to live through it," Robin translated for him. "See, those years of his life are what's going to be used to rebuild Luffy's immune system."

"Damnit! I hate all of this!" Usopp hollered out, feeling like his heart was being torn out, even more so when memory Luffy agreed to giving up the ten years.

"Okay? OKAY? THAT'S ALL HE'S GONNA SAY?!" Nami cried out furiously. "HE'S GIVNG UP TEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE JUST LIKE THAT AND ACT LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL?!"

"We all hate it!" Franky yelled back, "But I rather that he give up ten years than die here without us around."

"To think that it was this bad…?" Chopper cried out as he rubbed his eyes furiously before glaring at Luffy, determined to give him another check-up as soon as they got back to the Sunny. He didn't care how many times that Luffy complained, he was going to get a full medical examination even if it killed him!

"We're just gonna have to make sure that he doesn't lose any more years," Brook said determinedly. Iva then went on to confess to memory Luffy that even using those ten years, he couldn't guarantee he would survive. It would all depend on his will to live. If he died then the poison wins. But if he escaped with his life, then he would live.

"Does he have to say all that while smiling?!" Nami demanded angrily, wanting to knock that make-up right off this guy's face.

Ivankov then stabbed his syringe-like fingers into memory Luffy's sides, making him scream out. Ivankov pulled his hands away and for a few moments nothing else seemed to happen. But then…

Memory Luffy gasped as if something was seriously wrong as he began to cough up more blood. He was grinding his teeth together before he let out a loud, blood curdling scream of agony as he struggled against his bonds. His body arched upwards, looking like he could've broken his spine in half if he wasn't made of rubber. But this scream wasn't like any other that they had ever heard of before and just the mere sound of it felt like their world was shattering around them. They were forced, once again, to watch someone they loved in so much agony. Iva soon left the room, leaving memory Luffy alone as he continued screaming.

Blood poured out of his body, starting with his open wounds before simply bursting through his skin. It soon began to pour out of his mouth, his nose, even his eyes until it began to drip onto the floor. The Straw Hats were all left in a terrible state, they couldn't bear to look but were unable to turn away.

They gathered around the present-day Luffy, most of them holding on to him as they reminded themselves that he was now safe with them. During those moments where memory Luffy stopped screaming, he kept repeating his brother's name over and over. Many of their reactions were just like how they were when they first saw this.

Brook didn't say anything as he watched, but tears flooded down his face. Even dying was less painful than this. If there was some way that he could've taken all the suffering away he would. In fact, he was wishing that it was him that was there, taking in all that pain. If he could've done that much for Luffy, he'd do it happily and without regret.

He glanced at Zoro… who was just watching with a strange look on his face, like he was torn between going into a rampage and crying. Brook had no idea what was going on inside his head right now, and a part of him was terrified to know.

Thankfully watching this wasn't as long as the memories before. It was like the one in charge of forcing them to watch all this felt that it was too long and it kept blacking in and out even though they all knew that the process had been about twenty hours. But though this wasn't as bad, it seemed that the memories always came back right at the moment where it was at the most painful for Luffy. It was horrific to see, all the blood splattered over the floor and even the walls. Luffy's body being torn apart as he screamed loud enough that it made it feel like their eardrums would burst, seeing the tears mixed in with his blood as he could only cry out as he suffered in this dark place.

After a long time, Luffy's screams slowly began quiet—whether it was from the pain leaving him or was no longer able to have the strength to even do that much—while his bleeding was reduced until it stopped. He was hardly more than a skeleton by the time that it was over and he was able to just fall out from under the chains, curled up in a tiny ball in a pool his own blood as he struggled to even breathe. He continued twitching on the ground for a short time before the pain seemed to stop and he was gasping for air.

Sanji shook a little at the sight of it, remembering how he had been reduced to nothing more than a skeleton after being stranded at sea without food for so long. But even he and Chef Zeff looked heathier than how Luffy looked here. He suddenly had a nearly overwhelming desire to start cooking right now so that he could get some food into that starved version of Luffy.

The rest of the Straw Hats looked to their own sleeping Luffy before looking back to how he looked here. It was hard to believe that they were the same person.

"Luffy, you can't move yet…" Chopper gasped out as memory Luffy tried to get up, but was so weak he couldn't even get to his feet as he crawled to the door where his blood was already seeping from underneath it. But even in such a state, he was able to hit the door so hard that it buckled. They heard the sounds of chains being rattled as Luffy kept hitting it with whatever strength was left in him.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

He yelled so loud it was like a whirlwind and suddenly they heard cheering going on from the outside. A few minutes later the doors were flung open and there were Okamas there, each one carrying large plates of food with them. At the sight of it all, memory Luffy began stretching his arms out to grab the plates and began to swallow it all, not even bothering to chew half the time.

"How long has he been eating?" Nami asked, her eyes wide.

"Lost count after twenty minutes," Usopp said in awe. "What else can I say but… he loves food."

"After all that he went through," Brook began, "I say let him have all he wants."

"Food…?" present-day Luffy asked sleepily, his mouth drooling now.

The people outside were watching in astonishment as the food was now being swallowed at an even more rapid rate. And they watched as Luffy's stomach did get larger and larger until he became a very strange being. His stomach was giant while his limbs were all bone thin and deflated and the Okama's were gasping at the sight of him.

"What is that creature?"

"That thing's not human!"

"I sometimes wonder about that," Nami nodded to some of the Okama's cries.

But as memory Luffy finally stopped eating—and it was like plants that were dying for water. His limbs began sucking up everything that had been in his stomach, turning it back to muscle and spreading throughout his body. He fully stepped out of the cave and he was looking as strong and as healthy as when he first arrived. Taking a deep breath he punched the air and screamed.

"I'M… BAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!"

"Yes, you are… and we will kill you when this is over!" Usopp shouted out as he shook their Luffy. "DON'T EVER SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

The people of Newkama land began to celebrate their awe over Luffy's miraculous recovery before memory Luffy saw Bon Clay—who was covered in bandages—collapse. When Luffy ran over to see what was happening to him, Iva explained that Bon Clay was just exhausted. He had been cheering Luffy on during his entire ordeal despite his own injuries.

"That idiot, I know I said it before, but… I love this guy!" Franky sobbed out.

"We really owe Bon Clay so much," Brook cried, his heart going out to the man, though he didn't have one anymore. "Do you think… he survived this?"

They looked to Robin, knowing that she probably knew him the best out of all of them since they worked together for Baroque Works for several years.

"It is… possible," she said slowly. "He is resourceful. We don't know just what the situation was back at the prison. During the memory we saw before when he was… saying his goodbyes to them. He could have been alone, or he could have been surrounded by guards or even Magellan. If he thought fast, then there is a slim chance he could have escaped."

"You think that he's out here on the seas then?" Chopper gasped out with wide eyes.

"Oh, I doubt that," she reasoned grimly. "Even if he did escape, then he would most likely have hidden himself somewhere in Impel Down. Probably heading back down to 5.5."

She glanced down at Luffy and asked, "Wouldn't that be a nice thought, Luffy?"

"Yeah! Not all the Okamas left with them!" Usopp gasped in realization. "And he could have been gathering more during the last two years! Now that Iva's not there, Newkama Land would need a new queen!"

"I can picture him dancing in front of them all with that stupid tutu and those swan heads," Sanji agreed.

"If we are destined to meet up with him again on these seas by some miracle, then we will," Brook nodded firmly. "And I'm gonna thank him for all he did! We owe him such a big debt!"

Memory Luffy felt the same, for when he learned of all that Bon Clay did for him, he bowed his head to Bon, thanking him for all he did and also claiming he owed him a big debt. Inazuma soon appeared with new clothes and his straw hat, but was the one who informed him that he was still not fully recovered; he needed another few days of rest.

But Luffy refused this as he pulled his new shirt on, claiming that he already spent so much time here and that there wasn't time before Ace would be taken to Marineford. He asks the others to watch Bon for him while he went on ahead, but he was so exhausted that he collapsed. The others tried to reason with him before Luffy pulled out his Vivre Card and sees that it was still pointing downwards. Iva was shrugging, stating that what he did next was his decision. But Iva did seem flattered when Luffy asked if he planned on escaping, revealing that the reason that Bon Clay wanted to meet him at first was because he wanted to set him free. Iva merely mentioned that now wasn't the time, claiming that he planned to leave once his comrade Dragon asked. If he tried to escape any sooner, then he could just be hunted and recaptured.

"And here he gets the shock of a lifetime," Franky said as he remembered how stunned they were when Garp came right out and told them who Luffy's father was.

"It's only expected," Robin said. "So many of Dragon's followers had come to believe that Dragon wasn't even human. But once they found out that he had a son, and that he, himself, was Garp's own son, it revealed that he was as human as everyone else."

"Huh, bet that was a surprise to them all," Zoro offered.

"I think a lot of them were feeling relieved to know that their leader was human after all," Robin chuckled. At the mention of Dragon's name, memory Luffy accidently pointed him out to be his father. Iva didn't notice what he said at first, but once it all set in…?

"D-D-D-DAD?!" he shrieked out.

"DID HE SAY DAD?!" the New Kama's screamed out in shock.

Ivankov was so shocked by what he just found out that he jumped back so suddenly that he ended up crashing right into the wall behind him. "DRAGON IS?" he questioned, sliding from the crater in the wall he made, "vyour dad?"

He then fell forward onto his giant face on the floor.

"Drama Drag Queens," Sanji sighed, rolling his eyes. Yes, they sure did have a flare for the dramatics… they seemed to make a big deal outta everything.

Everyone in the memory froze where they stood, staring at Luffy as if he suddenly grew an extra head or something. Luffy, however, was just looking around curiously at them—as if wondering what the big deal was.

"V-V-VYOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Ivankov exclaimed, eyes budging out. "VYOU'RE DRAGON'S SON? HE HAS A SON?"

Ivankov was in disbelief, but after getting a good look at him, he seemed to think that maybe he was telling him the truth. When he learned that Luffy was from the East Blue, it seemed to be what convinced him.

"I don't get why that means anything?" Nami said with a frown.

"Dragon is from the East Blue as well," Robin reminded her. "I think that Iva may have been one of those few who were high up enough to know that. I don't know what other connection it could be. But Iva is very observant from what I have seen of him."

Iva then tells Inazuma to find out Ace's departure time. Since the Vivre Card was still pointing downwards, then it means that he was still in his cell. Iva then declared that he would help him for he has a responsibility to Luffy to protect him, being one of his father's comrades. Iva then rallied all the others around him that now was the time to break out.

Memory Luffy was all pumped up to go… but then he collapsed, his injuries and exhaustion taking hold once more. Chopper watched with fury when Iva injected Luffy with adrenaline, memory Luffy would now be able to ignore his fatigue for one day, but there would be side effects later.

"What kind of side effects?" Usopp gulped at the thought.

"Hard to say with all the damage he did to his body during all of this," Zoro sighed bitterly.

But memory Luffy was able to get back to his feet, now unable to be held back as Iva and Inazuma accompanied him outside to the frozen wasteland again. They were charging all over the floor, now that they didn't have to worry about being seen since Transponder Snails couldn't be used in the cold.

They soon reached the entrance to Level 6, where Luffy just went bursting through, managing to avoid all the traps and guards that tried to stop them. Iva then grabs one of the guards, dragging him with them before he gives him female hormones and the man changes from man to a woman in front of them.

"That is freaky," Nami gasped out, still unable to believe that someone could do something like that.

"Remind me never to let that guy near me," Franky gulped down hard. He almost became a woman once when Robin tried to tear his balls off, and he didn't want that to ever happen again!

But surprisingly, the guard seemed to like this change. And now he, or rather she now, happily told them the way to get to Ace. They ran throughout Level 6, this darkness so great that it felt like it was pressing in on all sides. But when they finally reached the right cell, all they found was blood on the walls and empty chains.

"This stinks. Luffy went through all of that, and they just missed him?" Usopp demanded.

"If they were just a few minutes sooner, it could have made all the difference," Robin nodded miserably. She glanced at their Luffy and wondered if he blamed himself for that as well.

Though Ace was gone, there was someone else there. Jimbei, who was bound in chains, looked up in shock when he saw Luffy there. When he realizes who he is, he quickly warns him that Ace was already being taken to the lift—yelling at them that if they hurry they might still be able to catch up to them.

So the three of them then made a run for the lift that could take them out of there, but when Iva tried to use the controls to bring the lift back down, they found that they were locked. In desperation, memory Luffy decided to just climb out of there, but when he made a run for it, a spiked trap was set off from the top of the lift, and if Luffy hadn't move back in time, then he would've been impaled.

"These guys really are planned for everything, aren't they?" Brook gasped out after he let out a surprised shriek when the trap fell down.

"Well almost," Sanji offered. "They didn't expect someone to be crazy enough to break in here, did they?"

It was obvious that memory Luffy and the others were all being monitored from the Transponder Snails watching them, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise that their way was barred. They tried to make it back up the way they came to Level 5, but that was when a gate came crashing down and blocked them off before a sleeping gas began to flood into the room.

In sheer madness, memory Luffy still ran through the gas to get to the stairs… only for the memory to black out when he fell asleep. Thankfully, it didn't take long for it to return, where they saw that Inazuma had just blocked off the gas by using his Snip Snip powers to fold up the stone floor.

"Devil Fruits can be so weird," Nami sighed. She knew that all Devil Fruit users claimed to be human, but there were times that she had to wonder about that.

"But useful," Robin smiled back, as if she knew just what Nami had been thinking.

When memory Luffy finally slapped himself awake to see that their only other way out was blocked off, he turned to yell at Inazuma that now they couldn't catch up to Ace.

"Sealing the stairs was the only way to stop the gas," Inazuma replied, swirling his glass of wine around. "It'd be impossible to rescue him if you're unconscious."

"Be grateful it wasn't poisonous," Robin offered. Giving his already weakened state, she doubted that Luffy could handle much more poison right now.

"I'm gonna save him even if I'm unconscious!" memory Luffy declared furiously. "Do you realize that Ace is going to be executed?!"

"Think about yourself here," Usopp begged. He knew that Luffy had every reason to worry about Ace, but he wasn't any use to him if he ended up locked up in one of these cells and chained up.

Inazuma was telling him not to be so rash, for even though the enemy's plan was simple, they fell for it. They were stuck on Level 6, with no way to escape right now. Yet Iva sent up a wink at a nearby Transponder Snail, knocking it out and caught it when it fell, signaling that he cut off their connection with the guards watching them. They weren't being spied on anymore, but that still left the problem of how to get out of this place. Iva was clearly thinking of another way out before he began telling Luffy, "If vyou think logically, vwe just can't make it in time. Ace-boy will have already been escorted to the meeting place. We, on the other hand, have to deal with all the enemies standing in our way!"

"Yeah, practically every marine in the world was heading over to Marineford at this moment!" Brook gasped out.

"And then fighting all the way out of Impel Down before heading over there," Robin put in. "It's a miracle that Luffy wasn't killed long before that."

"Don't say that so calmly!" Usopp snapped at her. Meanwhile, Zoro frowned as he looked above them, remembering the memories they saw before of how Ace reacted when he learned that Luffy was here. He was probably being handed over to the ship that would take him to Marineford at that very moment. Leaving Luffy with no choice but to follow after him.

"The military convoy is quite fast," Ivankov went on grimly. "Observe the Vivre Card. It's not pointing directly up, isn't it?"

Memory Luffy blinked at that before he quickly pulled out the card to see that it was now standing up, pointing directly to the ceiling but slightly off as well and they knew that he was right.

Iva explained that Ace was probably being handed over at that moment. Right now they needed to focus on getting out of here. Iva promised Luffy that would do everything in his power to help him escape, but that he had to give up on saving his brother. All they could do was leave the rest to Whitebeard for he wasn't the type of man who would abandon his own crew.

But they all knew better than that.

Luffy and Ace were a one-of-a-kind pair. There was no way that Luffy was going to stop now. Nothing short of death was going to keep him from going after him. This was going to be his last chance to save Ace… or die trying. Luffy curled his hand around the piece of paper, and the Straw Hats knew that there was no stopping him now that he's made up his mind. "I'm going too," he stated.

"What?" Ivankov questioned, as if sure that he heard wrong.

"I'm going to Marine Headquarters!" memory Luffy declared firmly as he looked over at him.

Ivankov stared at him before bellowing out, losing what little cool he had left, "ARE VYOU STUPID?!"

"He is, but this was his decision, so he's probably the only one who gets to call it dumb," Zoro shrugged.

"Even though he is an idiot," Nami muttered tearfully.

"This is a battle between the world's greatest powers!" Ivankov went on shouting. "What can vyou do if you go there? Do you even realized Whitebeard true strength? Do you realize the true strength of the Navy's Admirals or the Vice Admirals, and Warlords? Did vyou forget that vyou fought Magellan one on one and almost died? How many lives do you think you have to spare?!"

He knew what was waiting for him. Luffy barely survived Warlords and Admirals before. He knew that he was almost certain to die here, he just didn't care. They knew this from the seriousness in memory Luffy's face that didn't look right on him. Iva slowly calmed down as he also stared at that expression.

"What is it?" he asked, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"If I give up, now," memory Luffy said seriously, true force behind his words, "Then I'll regret it forever!"

That was their Luffy. If someone says it's impossible, they just take it as a challenge. Luffy would not live his live with regrets. If he didn't go there and be there for Ace, then he would never be able to forgive himself. He was going to go to his big brother's side no matter what it took. Nami went over to Franky to pull the present-day Luffy off his shoulders and gave him a tight hug, with Chopper and Usopp following suit.

Iva just stared down at him, actually looking a little bit shaky by what he said. Inazuma suddenly stepped forward as he reminded them that they were unable to even escape from this floor. They all knew what was coming next when they heard that dark laugh from a cell behind them.

"If you wanna escape from here then set me free! I can make a hole in the ceiling! What do you say, Straw Hat?"

They all turned around to see Crocodile was sitting there comfortably in his cell, like he wasn't doing anything but killing time down here. When Luffy finally spotted him, Crocodile stood and walked close to the bars so that they couldn't hope to see his face.

Sanji's eyes narrowed angrily as he snarled, "Just seeing that bastard's face again makes me want to hit something."

"Damnit, why did they have to run into him?" Nami demanded, hating this guy for what he did to Vivi and how he tried to kill Luffy before.

Memory Luffy quickly recognized him, his shock quickly turning to anger as he demanded, "YOU?! You're a prisoner here? Crocodile?!"

Crocodile merely laughed again. "Long time no see… Straw Hat! Did you miss me?"

"Not in the least!" the Straw Hats all yelled out together at the same time.

Crocodile seemed to be enjoying Luffy's stunned expression as he informed him that the reason he was down here was because he couldn't think of a good excuse to break out. But now that he knew that the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy were going to start a war, he was interested. He wished for a chance to take Whitebeard's head.

"Fat chance," Sanji said, thinking back to how powerful that Whitebeard was. This guy wouldn't have stood a chance. Even with all of Marineford couldn't kill this guy and they only did the damage to him due to Whitebeard getting old. Crocodile here would've been skinned alive and made into a pair of boots.

Crocodile then went on to say that with his powers they could easily escape from here and get a front row seat to the carnage. It wasn't a bad deal.

"He's a complicated person," Robin said simply. "Though I admit that he's far more complicated than even I ever thought possible."

"I don't care, he deserves to rot," Sanji snapped and he felt better when memory Luffy clearly felt the same way as he yelled that Crocodile could screw that, he was the one who messed up Vivi's country and that he could rot down here for all he cared.

Crocodile merely told him that he was no longer interested in Alabasta and that it was all in the past. They were all outraged by how disinterested he was after all the suffering he caused before. They all knew that despite the fact he helped Luffy out in the war, he couldn't be trusted. But Robin suddenly looked over at Iva in interest, wanting to see this little show again.

"Let's release him, Straw-Hat-boy," said Ivankov as he walked forward to stand next to him and looked at Crocodile in great interest. "He would certainly make a powerful ally."

"Oh, here we go," Franky grinned as he rubbed his hands together like a little kid about to get a big treat.

"What?" memory Luffy questioned him in outrage, pointing at Crocodile, "But, Iva, he-"

"Vyou're not stopping here," Ivankov interrupted, "If vyou're going to Marine HQ, vyou'll need him more."

Crocodile's smug look suddenly disappeared as he glared at Ivankov before he growled out Iva's name.

"Long time, no see, Croc Boy?" Ivankov said, and he sounded pleased to hear that Crocodile remembered him.

"Wow, just how do they know each other?" Chopper asked in amazement.

Memory Luffy was looking back and forth between the two and asked Ivankov if they actually knew each other.

"Vwe've met," Ivankov answered causally, "Back when he was just a rookie. But it's okay. Even if he were to try and betray vus, Vi can hold him back. Vwe can't completely trust him but…" He then chuckled mysteriously and finished, "Vi got a firm grasp on his weakness!"

"Hey!" Crocodile barked at him, losing his previous cocky attitude. His eyes were twitching and he was growling furiously, "If you say anything uncalled for…"

"Oh, vmy!" Ivankov said smiling evilly. "Do vyou really think it's a good idea to give me that tone? Vi don't mind telling everyone right now… about vyour past that is!"

"Please, Iva… tell us," Robin said with a shine to her eyes.

"I'd give anything to hear what kind of dirt he's got on him," Nami nodded with a rather evil grin on her face.

"Whatever it is, it must be good," Usopp said. It must be bad if Crocodile was willing to behave himself.

"As long as vyou are a good boy, and help us, then Vi won't say a word!" Ivankov smiled smugly and even laughed as Crocodile looked ready to kill.

"You bastard," Crocodile snarled, but it seemed that he surrendered.

Robin sighed, wishing that she had known about this while she was with the revolutionaries. To think she could have found out some good information on her old boss?

"Hey, wait… do you think that Crocodile was an Okama?" Chopper asked curiously.

They all looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

"Now that is scarier than any marine or hell!" Usopp roared out as they pictured the idea of Crocodile wearing a dress and hells. Oh, that would explain a lot. Sanji, who had been brain-washed by the Okama's before, understood that if that were true, why he would rather die than ever let anyone else know. While he was training for those two years, he made sure to find any picture that he could find that hid him in a dress and personally made sure that they were not only burnt to ash, but scattered in the ocean to be on the safe side.

While the others continued laughing, the other inmates were making noise, crying out to be let out and fight against Whitebeard. Iva quickly grew annoyed and barked at them to shut up before he used a Death Wink to knock them about. No sooner did he do that when another familiar voice shouted out, "I beg of you!"

They had almost forgotten about Jimbei and they looked back at him, staring from his cell, and continued pleading, "Please, take me with you! I'll definitely be of help to you! I've known Ace ever since he joined the Whitebeard Pirates! He's told me everything about you, his little brother! I'm here because I opposed this war! Please, I want to save Ace! Please let me chose my place of death!"

"Good thing that he did come," Brook said, his voice full of nothing but respect, "we'd have lost Luffy-san otherwise."

"I miss Jimbei!" Chopper cried out. "Hurry up and join us soon, Jimbei!"

"We'll be waiting for you!" Nami also cheered out excitedly.

Memory Luffy turned his full attention to Jimbei and was looking long and hard at him, not saying a word. It was impossible to know just what was going through either's mind as they looked at the other. He wasn't critical or judging… merely looking and it was as if he was seeing passed everything else to the very core of the matter.

It was at that moment that there was some kind of silent understanding that passed between Luffy and Jimbei… as if they ended up getting their answers without making a sound.

"Sure," memory Luffy finally said.

"So sweet, they're friends already," Robin cooed with a smile.

Inazuma opposed at first, questioning if this was really the right thing to do since they knew nothing about him. But Luffy didn't even look away from Jimbei as he said that it was fine and that they could let him out. Jimbei nodded his head as he thanked him from the bottom of his heart. Inazuma still looked hesitant and looked to Ivankov, as if seeking reassurance that it was a good idea; and Ivankov nodded.

The prisoners around them tried to say the same things that Jimbei had said to get them to let them out. But Iva grew annoyed with them once again before he barked out another Death Wink.

Hard not to like this guy when they saw the prisoners go flying backwards again. Inazuma went to work on opening both Jimbei's and Crocodile's cell doors before clipping off the chains.

"It's still so strange that he just automatically trusted Jimbei," Chopper said softly. "He didn't know anything about him or even his name?"

"His words were spoken from his heart," Brook said knowingly. "How can you not believe someone who speaks in earnest?"

Inazuma soon had both former Warlords out of their cages, and he muttered that he never would have imagined bringing the two Warlords with them. Memory Luffy looked surprised at the word 'two' before Jimbei thanked them again for this. He was now hopeful that he could be of some use to both Ace and Whitebeard. Crocodile taunted him about how even if he could prevent this war, it wouldn't matter for he was going to take the old man's head.

"I won't let you lay a hand on Whitebeard, Crocodile!" Jimbei snapped back, sounding ready to fight him here and now.

"In that case," Crocodile said, holding up his hook threateningly, "Maybe I should kill you now?"

"They should have just left him in there," Nami hissed as she glared at Crocodile.

Iva seemed to sense that this could break into a fight at any moment and warned, "Croco-boy! Vyour past remember?"

Another very ugly look appeared on Crocodile's face and they sniggered at that. They were all dying to know just what secret he had that would get him to behave.

Crocodile raised his right hand up to the ceiling and the sand he created was drying right through, creating a hole for them to escape, causing Inazuma to cut the floor around them until he was able to lift it up and create a spiral walkway that would take them straight up. They watched on until they were back at Level 5.5, with Iva already giving out orders on what they needed to do next. Weapons were being brought in, and to their amazement, many Okamas were putting their make-up on.

While there, memory Luffy grabbed hold of some more food as Crocodile ordered for new clothes be brought to him.

"Maybe he really was an Okama, he certainly seems to care how he looks," Usopp couldn't help but speak up as he looked to Crocodile.

"Now is not the time," Sanji said though there were more than a few smirks going around at the thought.

Jimbei didn't trust Crocodile at all either, and though he didn't say so much as a word to him the whole time that they were getting ready, he stood next to memory Luffy like how a bodyguard would do. It seemed that he was expecting Crocodile to try something.

Once Crocodile took his sweet time changing, he began smoking on a large cigar that some of the Okama's brought him. If nothing else, he was at least behaving himself as the other two glared at him.

Crocodile joked about how he couldn't understand why they wouldn't let him smoke down here for some reason. As the others were all pulling on coats for Level 5, Jimbei snapped at him that if he was done, then they should get going.

"What's the rush here?" Crocodile asked as if he already forgot what was happening.

"Ace is gonna be executed!" memory Luffy snapped angrily. "We can't waste any more time down here!"

"He is right," Jimbei said seriously. "We are in a race against time. As we speak, Ace-san is being carried across the sea to Marineford. The battle will doubtless break out very soon."

Crocodile smirked before saying, "Well, then we should get going. It would be rude of us to miss your brother's execution."

"You know… I really do hate this guy," Usopp whimpered.

 **(A long chapter, and really just a repeat of Impel Down, but we have to go through all of these memories before getting to anything new. In the next chapter we'll be finishing up what's left of Impel down as well as finally having Luffy waking up from his nap. Sabaody will also be covered and even heading back into Thriller Bark if I get that part done with.)**


	14. Floor 13: Hell and Nightmares

**Floor 13: Hell and Nightmares**

"I can't tell which is worse, not knowing what's gonna happen or when I _do_ ," Franky said as they jogged along Level 5.

"Knowing is," Usopp panted out as he ran. "I rather not know what's gonna happen then being forced to play it over and over in my head while watching it happen!"

They were all travelling across the floor of ice and snow, eventually finding their way to the stairs that would take them up to Level 4. Luffy was running alongside Crocodile and Jimbei up the stairs, already leaving the cold behind and the temperature was quickly rising. As they ran, Jimbei spoke up, mentioning that right now they have only a few hours to get to Marineford and save Ace. If Whitebeard was going to stop them, he would undoubtedly attack several hours before so the battle could be breaking out right now.

Which they knew wasn't going to happen for those marines were going to kill him ahead of schedule. Yet, Luffy held onto the faint hope though that they could make it there in time when Crocodile went flying upwards and already reduced the door to sand, causing as urge of hot air to hit them when they reached the next floor, and they saw that there was already a large group of guards and jailers waiting for them.

"Wow, how did they all assemble here so quickly?!" Chopper asked as he looked around at Level 4 with misery, silently glad that he wasn't here in real life.

"It was only going to be a matter of time before they discovered that they weren't on Level 6 anymore," Nami sighed, "They must have guessed that they be planning a breakout and the only way up is through the stairs now."

"Not that it matters," Zoro said knowingly The fight started off as a stand-off, they heard one of the jailers contacting their back up, informing them of all three of them were there and that they better be ready for anything. "They weren't a challenge at all. If only there weren't so many of them here…?"

"I'm just surprised that they didn't bring Magellan here with them," Brook said. "Not that I'm upset about it, of course, but…?"

"He's probably handing Ace over to the escort ship. He's probably already on his way down here. I guess as soon as he hears, he'll head down to the lowest levels to try and prevent some of the bad names from getting out," Sanji said knowingly. "But this is his prison, so no one knows it better than he does. Catching up won't be a problem for him."

"Right," Robin nodded, "They couldn't waste even a second down here."

The jailers and guards went straight for the three of them, but they were easily overpowered. Their shots went right through Crocodile before he was able to dry them out, Luffy rained down with his fists and blew a good few dozen away at once while Jimbei took out any who were left standing.

"I hate that I'm saying this about Crocodile, but he's a badass fighter," Franky whistled out. "They are kicking some serious butt here!"

"GO LUFFY AND JIMBEI!" Nami and Chopper shouted, preferring to forget that Crocodile was with them.

"Damn, I wish I was there," Zoro moaned out, his entire body aching for a chance to be part of a mob like this.

"Hell ya," Franky agreed as he punched the air. "Not every day you get a chance to break out of prison."

The jailers quickly realized that they were no match, but they were determined to hold them here for as long as they could until reinforcements arrived.

"No one in their right mind would wait around with the thought of that poison freak coming," Usopp muttered darkly as memory Luffy warned them to move. All three of them charged, with the guards opening fire once again. But they might as well have just been punching bags from how effective they were. Crocodile went flying off with some keys as he began to release other prisoners, who quickly joined in the fighting and things were speeding up.

At long last the sounds of excited roars behind them came and they saw that Iva, Inazuma, Bon Clay, and everyone else from Newkama Land were running up with them.

"OW! NOW IT'S GETTING EXCITING!" Franky cheered and just for the heck of it, he jumped in and began running with them, pretending that he was part of the mob.

"GO FOR IT!" Nami cheered, knowing that they were all wanting to get some payback for the treatment that they received while being here.

Memory Luffy was happy to see Bon Clay again as he tossed aside another guard that he just finished beating up before asking if he got one of those boosts as well. Chopper frowned at that, feeling a large knot of anxiety inside him at the thought of what this all meant. Bon Clay however was twirling around so fast that he was making them dizzy. As he approached, Crocodile reappeared with another man that they knew to be Mr. 1, who didn't look the least bit bothered by this place. Things only got more intense when they saw Iva grow his own head until it towered over the mob, grinning down at them all, getting more than a couple Straw Hats scream in fright at the sight of it. The small army was raging out of control at this point. Ivankov took the first wave of guards and jailers out by using a Hell Wink and then blowing them back as if by a powerful wind.

"It's no use!" they heard one of the jailers cry. "WE CAN'T STOP THEM!"

"Just run! Save yourselves!" Brook laughed out happily. "They cannot be stopped, Yohohoho!"

"All the prisoners who were ferocious before they disappeared… are all wearing some kind of weird, fanatical getups!" the guards cried over their Transponder Snail. Crocodile stormed ahead, drying up everything in his path as Inazuma and Mr. 1 stood back to back—slicing up anything that came to close, Jimbei was taking more out with Fishman Karate right behind them—smashing them back with powerful shockwaves, Bon Clay was spinning like a ballerina kicking everyone near him in graceful arcs…

With memory Luffy out in front, leading the charge—the others swarming behind him… and there was no way they can be kept under control… and memory Luffy shouted out, "Let's go! To Marine Headquarters!"

The rioting continued to rampage, defeating the guards and freeing more prisoners which caused their numbers to keep on growing. Saldeath and his Blugori came charging in to try and stop it, at least until Iva used his Hell Wink to take them out. He just shouted at Luffy to keep going on ahead. But then the Head Jailer named Sadi appeared with her Demon guards… where Luffy, Jimbei, and Crocodile took out the three guards with one hits each.

"Amazing, Luffy's power keeps on growing!" Chopper cried out with his eyes sparkling.

"The worse the situation he's stuck in, the more that he seems to gain power by it," Sanji said with a knowing smirk. "Well, in that case, he should really be getting some more power ups here in the New World."

Outraged, Head Torturer Sadi confronted them herself and showed how strong she was by taking out several prisoners with her whip, even breaking off parts of the bridge in the process. Memory Luffy looked ready to fight her himself until Iva threw him over Sadi and into a wall before he declared that he would fight her now. He injected himself with his female hormones, and turned himself into a woman.

"Damn, why does he have to look so hot like that?" Franky couldn't help but mutter as Sanji shivered at the sight of it all.

"He's still a dude underneath all that hotness," he growled, "Never forget that! He's a freak!"

"Wow, you seem to be taking the fact that he can change his gender… almost personally," Zoro smirked. "Big baby…"

"Hey! There is nothing scarier in this world than the thought of a man losing his manhood!" Sanji snapped at him. "That… is a nightmare I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy!"

While Iva dealt with Sadi, Inazuma was the one who started to lead memory Luffy to the exit, at least until he was stopped by Hannyabal. He brought several thousand jailers with him, all of them blocking the entrance to Level 3 before Hannyabal declared Luffy's death sentence and that he would be the one to finish him here.

Well, they had to hand it to Hannyabal, he wasn't giving up even though no matter how hard the beating he got from Luffy was. Even his own men were begging the Vice-warden not to push himself or he could die and to just let the rest of them fight too. But Hannyabal went into a tirade about how evil pirates were and that it was their job to keep pirates locked away from the citizens were they couldn't hurt anyone. But Luffy declared that Ace was someone precious to him and that he will force him to move one way or another.

Hannyabal just snarled out that pirates like him just refused to listen to reason.

"He listened, he just doesn't care," Zoro shrugged, "Luffy is just trying to get out of here and save Ace, it's not about the prison or what it means."

"While I agree that there are plenty of criminals here that deserve to be locked away," Nami said slowly, "I cannot agree with them being tortured like this."

"There are as many views of right and wrong as there are stars in the night sky," Robin stated suddenly. "We just have to live with the choices we make and hope they turn out to be the right ones… regardless of what others think."

Yet that was when Hannyabal's men were sucked into darkness and that was when they heard another familiar voice speak of how there was really now answer to what was justice and what was evil.

"It's him…" Zoro muttered, his eye narrowing in loathing.

"Blackbeard…" present-day Luffy hissed so quietly under his breath that they didn't even hear him. But they weren't paying attention anyway as Blackbeard finally dealt a serious enough blow to Hannyabal to knock him out. That was where he greeted the mob, and Jimbei glared as he spoke his name of Blackbeard, getting memory Luffy's eyes to widen in shock at the sound of all that.

"Blackbeard?!" memory Luffy suddenly barked as he marched forward. "So you're… Blackbeard?!" There was so much rage in his face as he glared up at him, that it was a wonder why Blackbeard was still smiling.

"Huh?" Blackbeard asked. "Right. I never did introduce myself to you? Been a long time Straw Hat. I was sure surprised when I heard that you were Commander Ace's little brother. Shouldn't you be there? You know they're going to start it soon, right? Your brother's execution that is!"

"This bastard's gonna pay," Sanji said firmly. "By the time I'm done with him, he won't have a single tooth left. Not that he's got much left anyway."

Blackbeard only laughed as informed memory Luffy that he was surprised to learn that he was the one who took down the former Warlord Crocodile. He then pointed up to Crocodile as he confessed that he had been trying to become a Warlord himself, and he found out the best way would have to be showing the World Government what he could do in by bringing in a strong pirate.

"But fate protected you, Straw Hat!" Blackbeard declared as memory Luffy narrowed his eyes even harder. "Ace had been chasing me down like a dog ever since I broke the law on Old Man Whitebeard's ship! And he just happened to be your big brother!" he laughed again as he added, "Once he found out that we were planning on killing his little brother, he just had to fight us himself!"

Robin covered their own snoring Luffy's ears, as if afraid that he would be hearing all of this again. The Luffy in the memory knew just what he was saying and his eyes were slowly starting to widen with horror.

"You see, now, Straw Hat?" Blackbeard taunted as he continued to laugh as if he had just pulled off the greatest prank in history. "If Ace were to let us go, not only would he be bringing shame to the Whitebeard Pirates' name, but his brother would've been killed too!"

"Shut up! Don't you say another word!" Usopp yelled at him, willing to have given anything to get this guy to shut his damn mouth. After seeing all the hell that Luffy had gone through for this chance to save Ace, the idea of seeing his reaction to why Ace was trapped in this pace to begin with was worse than being tortured.

The other of the Blackbeard pirates all began to speak up, slowly starting to spell it out for him before Blackbeard finished slowly, "You should be thankful for Ace's interference. If he hadn't interfered, the one dying today would be you, Straw Hat!"

"Luffy…" Nami croaked out as tears fell from her eyes. She knew they didn't talk about it, but seeing that expression on his face was worse than anything she could imagine.

"The only reason that Ace was locked up here was because he wanted to protect Luffy," Zoro said. "And then at Marineford…?"

"I hate this, I hate him so much," Chopper sniffled miserably as he rubbed at the tears threatening to from in his eyes. "There are hundreds of pirates all over the New World! Why didn't Blackbeard go for one of them?!"

Memory Luffy had finally snapped. He slammed his fist into the floor as he went back into his Second Gear, his rage burning so hot that the fires around them seemed cold in comparison.

"In that case…" he snarled with venom in his voice before he looked up and screamed so loudly that they thought that their eardrums would burst, "WHY DON'T YOU TRY KILLING ME NOW?!"

They had to admit though, it was with no small amount of savage pleasure to see that cocky bastard getting hit hard like that. Memory Luffy stood tall, rage in his eyes that he seemed to become almost demonic, "I'm not letting Ace die!" he declared.

"Sometimes… we don't have a choice," Sanji said tiredly as he let his used up cigarette fall to the ground and he put it out as he did his best not to think of that horrific wound that would be waiting for Ace in just a few hours time.

"He just doesn't know when to give up," Franky sobbed. "Oh, why? I love those two brothers! This is heart-breaking!"

Blackbeard summoned up some kind of whirlpool of darkness that sucked memory Luffy right up to him before he was slammed into the ground. Memory Luffy began bleeding from the attack and he cried out in pain, surprising everyone watching. Blackbeard began to taunt him as he showed off his new powers, stating that when he beat Ace, he had that exact expression… causing all of them to feel even more rage as he taunted Luffy.

Memory Luffy looked ready to finish this guy off, but Jimbei stopped him, having stepped in, yelling at him that now is not the time and asks what his greatest priority right now. Blackbeard was even able to bring down Ace, they didn't have time to fight him here and that they should be saving their energy in getting out here and stopping the execution.

It didn't look like anything but that would have been able to calm memory Luffy down. He took several deep breaths as he left his Second Gear form. They all knew that he was right, but it was hard to accept when the jerk who caused all of this was right in front of them and still grinning stupidly. Blackbeard actually commented that Luffy's strength and Haki had increased greatly since they last met, before Crocodile asked if Blackbeard was supposed to be at Marineford right now. The title that he worked so hard to gain was now being thrown away.

Blackbeard only laughed as he said that this was all part of his plan, which caused Crocodile to just shrug, not really caring what was happening before other prisoners announced that Magellan had just reached Level 4. Iva, who was still in his female form quickly warned Luffy that his body hadn't recovered yet and if he was poisoned again, he would not survive.

Thankfully, memory Luffy seemed to listen as they all began walking passed Blackbeard, but it was clear that this was far from over. Luffy only declared that he would save Ace—which was like a punch to the guts for them all as they knew that he would save Ace in the end… only for Ace to sacrifice his life in protecting someone that he treasured more than his own life. Blackbeard only laughed as he said that he wouldn't doubt him since there was nothing 'impossible' in the world, and even stated that Sky Island was real, just as the One Piece was bound to be out there as well.

"I don't get this guy," Usopp said. "One minutes he's taunting him, and then the next…?"

"He is complicated, but that doesn't stop him from being a jerk," Zoro spat out as the present-day Luffy's face hardened at his next sentence, "He is dead when we next see him."

Blackbeard only finished speaking that in a few hours they were going to give a show that would shake the entire world. Memory Luffy didn't even glance back as the rest of the escaped prisoners all began heading up to Level 3. But as they reached the stairs, they encountered the Minotaurous again… seemingly having survived his previous beatings.

"I've heard of that," Nami said as Crocodile explained that the Demon Guards here were 'awakened' zoan types. "But I never really understood what that means?"

"It means being able to reach the full potential of a Devil Fruit's power," Robin answered. "Remember when Magellan went after them with that venom creature? Perhaps that is his awakened power?"

"Oh, crap!" Usopp screamed out as he remembered that nightmarish creature. "That's gonna be coming any moment now?!"

"I think that is just an example," Robin went on. "For Zoan types, it's an increase of strength and to be able to recover at an unnatural rate. I have heard that for Paramecia types then it's an increase of power and even able to affect their surroundings. For Logia, I'm guessing that they're able to manipulate and affect the surroundings according to their type of Devil Fruit."

It made her wonder what her own 'awakening' would be like with her unique Devil Fruit Ability. "Having the strongest Devil Fruit doesn't automatically make you the strongest," she went on, "Even if you have a weak ability, you can still be made into a threat. Even seemingly innocent abilities are deadly in the right hands. It all depends on the one who uses it. The extent of what 'awakening' depends on the person as well. Luffy relies on his powers in battle, but it's all about strength and determination as well."

"Awesome!" Chopper said as his eyes shone. "I wonder what my awakening will be like?!"

"Apparently you have to be pushed to your absolute breaking point and push your powers to their limits," Robin answered. "Maybe there is another form that you have yet to figure out?"

"Really?!" Chopper asked, wondering just what could be stronger than his Monster Point! Wait, was it possible that his own Monster Point was his 'awakening'?

"We can talk about that later," Robin promised, returning to watching memory Luffy sending the last Demon Guard flying, hitting him so hard that they actually felt sorry for the poor thing when he went crashing into the wall. Memory Luffy's anger did not vanish as they all began heading up the stairs, with all of them still hearing Blackbeard's laughter in the distance.

The way was now cleared for them, and they all began to race upwards. But as they were heading to Level 3, they heard something else.

"STRAW HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!" roared a voice directly below them and they all felt the color drain from their faces as they looked back behind them, that voice full of rage and hatred. "I WILL NEVER LET YOU GET AWAY!"

"Magellan… and he is sure sounding pissed off," Franky called as Chopper and Usopp both cried at the thought. The inmates all started gasping in fear at that voice, knowing that Magellan is at the bottom of the stairs and if they let him catch up, they were all dead. Yet it was clear that there was only one person that Magellan wanted dead at that moment.

Even memory Luffy's anger faded when he realized that Magellan was now determined to finish him off.

"Luffy's body hasn't recovered from his so called treatment to save him," Chopper said tearfully before he glared at their own Luffy and yelled out, "WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING STUPID STUNTS LIKE THIS?!"

At the sound of Magellan's threat, everyone began running even faster, even people like Crocodile, Mr. 1, and Jimbei were moving as fast as they could go to get away from Magellan.

"Damn, couldn't Blackbeard make himself useful and fight him?" Usopp yelled as the escapees had made it to Level 3 at last, and it seemed almost tropical compared to the inferno below them.

"I doubt it," Nami gasped out, "Not that it matters, look!"

Behind them they saw that one of the Hydra's heads was bursting through the doorway when they finally reached Level 3, and it was looking around for them. It was coating everything it touched with poison as it began to head after the group.

Those who had fallen behind had already fallen prey to the Hydra, forcing them to just keep running since they knew that there was nothing else that could be done for them. Memory Luffy looked behind them at the twin heads continuing to catch more and more prisoners.

"Straw Hat!" Bon Clay cried out as he pranced as fast as he could go, "Don't look back! Just keep running!"

"There's nothing that can be done for them anyway," Brook whispered sadly, knowing better than anyone how brutal it was to die by poison. "Even if they could be cured, they can't risk stopping or they'll suffer the same fate."

"This was the risk they took when they chose to leave their cells," Zoro sighed out as Magellan continued coming.

The poison was taking out large numbers of the escapees and their numbers were being reduced even faster than they could let others out to strengthen their chances. Thankfully, they weren't stuck running around and getting lost like before. Inazuma and Iva both knew the right way they needed to go and they soon found the next flight of stairs up to Level 2. When they arrived at the Accursed Beast Hell, the creatures who lurked about all went for them until memory Luffy plowed them down. But that was when he noticed that it looked like Magellan had stopped following them… which caused Bon Clay to inform him that it was because Iva and Inazuma who were now trying to stall him. At hearing that, memory Luffy turn to run back to help before forcing Bon Clay to yell at him that they just had to keep going and believe in their powers.

"Yeah, but this guy is deadly, he managed to take them both out on his own, didn't he?" Usopp gulped at the thought.

"He's strong enough to make even Crocodile and Jimbei run outta there!" Franky pointed out.

Memory Luffy wasn't happy, but Bon Clay managed to convince him to keep moving forward and up to Level 1. While they ran they noticed that there didn't seem to be any prisoners left on this Level, and so they were just able to run straight on ahead to the stairs that would take them to the final level. Thank god it was almost over.

They got their first surprise when they saw that Buggy and Mr. 3 were there with a large mob of their own… not that it was doing much good for the Demon Guards were all there chasing them.

Sanji shook his head as he lit up another cigarette and asked, "Damn, how did they get up here?"

"Maybe they're… tougher than we thought?" Chopper asked slowly but they all looked highly doubtful. The stupid duo went running straight into Crocodile, causing them to both scream and cry in shock when they saw him. While Crocodile did earn one point from the Straw Hats for insulting Mr. 3, Luffy and Jimbei had already taken out the other Demon guards. It was hard to tell what shocked them more, seeing the guards all taken out so easily, or seeing that Luffy was still alive.

Though it was nice to see the guilt wracked in their faces when memory Luffy said he was glad to see that they made it out alive. The rest of their army arrived, with Bon Clay charging up and kicking the crap out of the two of them for leaving them behind like that.

"I won't be broken up about it," Zoro muttered.

Not that their good luck lasted much longer though, for Magellan finally arrived, and he looked madder than they had ever seen him.

"He is pissed!" Usopp sobbed out. "Luffy… just run already."

Memory Luffy realized that it must mean that both Iva and Inazuma were defeated and was about to run in and fight before being held back by Bon Clay, shouting at him that he barely survived the poison before, and that miracles are called that because they don't happen twice.

But when Jimbei spotted one of the nearby guards on a walkway speaking into a Transponder Snail, he actually panicked before he warned them that they have to get out of here as soon as possible because they'll soon have bigger problems. If they didn't leave soon, then they would be trapped here with Magellan, for the ship were now being ordered to leave. But Magellan attacked them with his Hydra, only to be stopped at the last second by Mr. 3, who seemed to start growing a spine by blocking the Hydra with a wall of wax… or his fear caused him to react on instinct.

"Huh… I guess even cowards can change," Sanji said lightly. "Who would have thought that he could fight against Magellan?"

"Holding him off is one thing," Franky said anxiously. "Fighting is another. Even Luffy wasn't able to fully beat this guy. The best he could do was hold him off."

"Thankfully, it gave them enough time," Robin pointed out.

Mr. 3 then shot out that the moment that he started to let down his guard he started to see memory Luffy as a friend. But he insisted that he was only doing this so not to be placed in his debt and that they could get out of here. Even Crocodile seemed impressed at this and memory Luffy turned back to Jimbei and told him to go on ahead and get them a ship while he stayed behind with Mr. 3 to hold off Magellan.

"Which is smart because it took a little time in getting a warship for them to escape on anyway," Nami nodded.

"Smart thinking there captain," Usopp cheered out.

"Yes! Indeed!" Brook added happily.

Jimbei did not seem happy about this plan, but memory Luffy reassured him that he now had a way to fight Magellan, and Jimbei was left with not much choice but to agree before he headed off with most of the other prisoners. Of course, Mr. 3 didn't actually want to fight, only wanting to give them time to escape, even while the other prisoners all said that they would back him up. Memory Luffy then told him his plan, and it calmed Mr. 3 down when he realized that he would be leaving the fighting to someone else.

Mr. 3 covered memory Luffy's hands and feet with wax boxing gloves and some kind of mechanical legs, even moving Luffy to tears by how cool they looked.

"You know, I should make something like that," Franky said as he looked over it. "Though it would be SUPER better because it'll be out of metal! Not wax!"

"Go for it Franky!" Usopp and Chopper cheered at the thought, their eyes sparkling as they thought it all over.

Mr. 3 just shouted at him to hurry up and focus on Magellan while he focused on creating more Candle Walls to protect the rest of them. Memory Luffy was finally able to do some serious damage to Magellan, who was growing angrier by the second. Now that Luffy was able to fight without worry of being poisoned, or losing his arms, it really did look like they had a chance of beating him. The other prisoners manage to find cannons which they stick through the candle wall and fire upon Magellan, hitting him further.

But at last, they pushed Magellan too far and then his entire body was now coated in poison, but it was different from before, this poison was of a crimson red color. Memory Luffy tried to fight, only for one of his feet to get hit with some of the stuff. As he backed away, he didn't noticed that the poison was spread across the wax coating and was creeping up his leg.

Mr. 3 noticed though and used his powers to get the wax off him and memory Luffy jumped free before he was touched.

They then saw that the poison hadn't stopped spreading for it was now quickly spreading across the rest of the wax, turning it a dark crimson color before it began to smoke. The deadly poison began to rise up, filling the floor with liquid death. Magellan raised his arms up as the poison piled up around him, and he called forth his 'Venom Demon'.

"He's death himself!" Chopper screamed in terror as he jumped up into Usopp's shaking arms. Nami and Brook both shrieked at how terrifying that Magellan looked.

"I know that there are a lot of scary Devil Fruits out there, but this guy is by far the scariest I've seen!" Franky gulped down.

"Is he really a demon?!" Brook shrieked in terror.

"Wouldn't surprise me if he was," Robin said, one of the few who were able to remain calm. Just one drop of the poison would kill a person for sure, and so the group was forced to run for their lives. Memory Luffy managed to save Mr. 3 at the last moment, but even he was forced to admit that they didn't stand a chance to win and they turned to run for the exit.

Zoro glared about as the poison seeped around them, causing the stone to smoke and burn.

"Damnit!" he cursed, "Is he trying to melt the whole prison?!"

"He rather kill everyone here then see them escape!" Sanji shouted as they ran after the others.

"I hope he does destroy this place!" Nami couldn't help but add darkly. "A hellish void like this is better off destroyed!"

The escape team managed to make to the front entrance, recognizing the door when they first entered the prison. They could see the open sky beyond the doors and at the sight of it was enough to make some of the Straw Hats cry in joy. Freedom was in their sights, but with the escape ship still so far away, they were still in trouble.

"I never realized how much I miss that open sky!" Franky sighed in relief. Even a dark and cloudy sky was enough to make him want to start crying. Magellan was trying to force himself through the walls as he attempted to continue the chase… yet the group was still trapped between the sea of Sea Kings in front of them and a sea of death right behind them.

That was when Iva made an unexpected entrance by crashing through the floor beneath them, carrying an unconscious Inazuma who was suffering from poison.

"That idiot is too stubborn to die that easily, even if he is lame," Sanji sighed.

"I like him, he's funny, Yohohoho!" Brook laughed out until he looked back up and remembered that Magellan was there and screamed in fear.

Just as Magellan was slowly making the turn to face them, the group's Transponder Snail went off, and it was Jimbei on the other end, informing them that they have a ship. But with the distance and Magellan closing in on them, he told them that they had to jump into the ocean and leave the rest to him. The others didn't want to trust him since some of them were Devil Fruit users and that there were sea kings here since they were in the Calm Belt. But memory Luffy insisted that they trust him. He was a friend of Ace, and any friend of Ace's was a good guy in his book.

Magellan was ready to finish them with his Hell's Judgment, but memory Luffy yelled for Mr. 3 to hurry up with another wall. Mr. 3 makes the biggest, thickest wall he could as Luffy blew air into his arm and moved it down to his leg. With a battle cry, memory Luffy kicked straight into it and pushes Magellan back. It bought them a few precious minutes, leaving the shrunk down version of memory Luffy to start yelling at Iva to wake up and do his Death Wink. As the wax wall crumbled and the poison seeps from underneath it, memory Luffy yelled at the others to grab onto Iva's face, which they did.

"This is too weird," Nami said as Robin patted their own Luffy's head fondly. She didn't think that leaving this place could be any stranger than how Luffy first entered this hell.

Just as Magellan's poisonous hand reached for them, the blast from Iva's wink was enough that it propelled them outside and over the sea. To see them escaping that hellhole a second time caused cheers from all over the crew, as well as laughter when they saw that stupefied expression on Magellan's face as all he could do was watch. As the band of pirates fell towards the water, a school of whale sharks burst out to catch them, having been called there by Jimbei. Usopp and Chopper all cheered again as they began bouncing around on the sea creatures as they were being carried to the captured Navy ship.

No one seemed to be able to stop the celebrating from the joy they all felt at gaining their freedom. But Jimbei reminded them that it was too early to celebrate for they still had to get out of here before being sunk by cannon fire. During the chase, the Gates of Justice miraculously opened to the shock of the Marines and to the joyful surprise of memory Luffy and the others. But the Straw Hats all felt pain gripping their hearts when they realized what this meant and their smiles faded.

"Luffy…?" Jimbei suddenly said when memory Luffy hadn't realized that something was wrong.

"Yeah?" memory Luffy asked, looking back at him with a big smile on his face. "What's up?!"

Crocodile reminded him that he made a promise to someone not to say anything until after they left. But Jimbei replied that he would regret it more if he didn't give them a chance to say goodbye. Memory Luffy was looking puzzled by all this before Jimbei explained that the only way to open up the Gates of Justice is to work the controls from inside Impel Down. The only way that they could have made it was if someone stayed behind to get the gate open.

Memory Luffy eyes suddenly widen in shock as he began to stare around him, having already figured out who it was.

"He chose to stay of his own free will," Jimbei confessed sadly. "I just couldn't let us go off without at least telling you."

"Is that really true? Bon Clay?" memory Luffy asked in disbelief, "He was just with us at the exit! Are you saying that Bon Clay stayed behind in Impel Down on his own!?"

But when Jimbei didn't answer, memory Luffy began to scream out in fury at the thought, shaking his sleeve as he begged for them to turn around and go back for him. That the only reason that they met with Iva and the others and escaped was because of him.

Tears were filling up with Brook, Nami, Chopper, Usopp, and Franky as those words sunk in. If it wasn't for Bon Clay, then memory Luffy would've died inside that stupid cell and they never would've seen him again. They would've eventually gone back to the Sunny and waited there for him to return to them… but he would've been long gone to them, and they never would've known.

"B-B-Bon CLAY!" they all cried out together.

Memory Luffy was furious and screamed as he demanded how he was just going to abandon him like that. Jimbei spun about and picked him up by the scruff of his neck and threw him onto the ground as he yelled at him that they had already abandoned countless allies along the way and if he honestly returned to fight Magellan again they would lose even more people and waste time. Bon Clay chose to remain behind of his own free will and there was nothing that they could do about it.

Memory Luffy's face spoke of how much pain he was in over this. This was their only choice now, and if he wanted to go on for a chance to save Ace, then they had to leave now or they never would get away. Impel Down was already a speck in the distance as they were heading towards the barely open Gates of Justice.

Tears were being shed all around even as Jimbei reached into his kimono and pulled out a Baby Transponder Snail, informing him that the snail had a short range. As soon as the gates close behind them then that would be the end.

Memory Luffy looked at it before he rubbed his eyes hard and took it, speaking loudly into it, "Bon Clay! Hey, can you hear me, Bon Clay!? Why are you doing this again… just like that last time!? Weren't we supposed to escape together!? You just keep saving me over and over again!"

Every single person was now listening in as word reached them all what Bon Clay had done for them to escape. Memory Luffy kept pleading for Bon Clay to answer, and soon a lot of the others were all crying out for him. Even people like Mr. 3 and Buggy were crying at this revelation and Iva was actually shaking. Their stolen ship had now made it to the other side of the gate and they were already closing behind them. Memory Luffy continued calling out Bon Clay's name, but still he wouldn't answer back.

"Come on, give them some kind of clue that you're still alive, bro!" Franky cried out, tears flooding into a pool at his feet.

"Bon Clay… the gates are closing… we're… going…" memory Luffy stammered out, sounding close to breaking down completely. He looked up at the sky and then he screamed out, as if hoping that Bon Clay could hear his words if he shouted them loud enough, "THANK YOU!"

At that, all the prisoners and New Kamas around them also began to sob and scream out words of thank you, crying out his name. But at last, Bon Clay's words suddenly got through and took them all by surprise when they heard, "STRAW HAT!"

Memory Luffy stared at the snail, as tears flooded its own eyes. "Bon Clay!" he shouted.

"Straw Hat… you… you have to save your brother no matter what!" he shouted out, and they could tell that he was also crying as this goodbye. At his words, tears finally fell from memory Luffy's eyes as well. "I'm sure… you can… save your brother!" Bon Clay screamed out.

"Bon Clay!" memory Luffy cried out one last time as the gates closed behind them and the Baby Snail fell asleep, their final connection with Bon Clay now gone. Their escape ship was badly damaged and a trail of smoke floating up towards the heavens. But it was far from destroyed and it would be able to take them the rest of the way to Marineford.

"If… if weren't for Bon… we'd all be chum, right now!" one of the New Kamas shouted as most of them ran to the side of the ship, staring at the doors and cried mournfully… shouting out Bon Clay's name. And that was how the memory faded, with all of them feeling like their spirits had been crushed as darkness returned around them.

And the present-day Luffy was crying in his sleep once again.

"Man, seeing that the first time was bad enough, but to see it all over again?" Franky asked miserably as tears fell. "Oh… Bon bro… I miss ya!"

"BON CLAY!" Usopp and Chopper both cried out mournfully, knowing they had no choice but to continue going upwards. The entire way, there tears coming from almost every member of the crew as they thought about how brave that Bon Clay had been, crying out that they wouldn't never forget the sacrifice that he made for so many people. Little did they know that something far scarier than Hell could be waiting for them in the next memory?

When they arrived at the next floor, with Luffy stirring more and more in his sleep, Chopper reassured them all that he should be waking up soon. But as soon as they stepped through the door, the memory returned… but they had no idea where they were next.

The entire area around them was accosted by… pink! Everything, from the clouds overhead to the leaves on the trees was dipped in an alarming shade of bright pink. At the sight of this, Sanji froze at the sight of it all, his entire body was trembling.

No… it couldn't be…?

"What's in this memory? It all looks so… cute…?" Nami said as she looked about.

"I sure don't remember going to a place like this," Chopper said in confusion as the heart-shaped flower petals fell from the nearest tree.

"Sanji?! What's wrong?!" Nami asked as Sanji was now curled up and shaking with fear. "Do you know this place?!"

"No! No… NO! NOT THIS PLACE?! PLEASE! SHOW ME HELL AGAIN! ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" he screamed out, breaking down completely.

"What's with him?" Zoro asked, actually feeling a hint of concern for how the cook was freaking out. What was so bad that it would reduce him to this? Sure it was so girly that it was making him feel queasy… but…? That was when he looked up and he froze at the sight… there was a large group of very strange looking… people.

"Wow, those are some ugly ladies," Chopper said innocently. And he had a point. All of 'girls' were in dresses, but they had hairy legs, big shoulders and heads… some of them even having thick muscles as they giggles and laughed with each other while they ran in high heels.

"Are you blind?" Usopp asked, "Those are Okamas! They're men dressed like ladies!"

"WHAT?!" Chopper gasped out as the group ran by them.

"Whatever place this is, it certainly looks like one that Bon Clay would be comfortable in," Nami said reasonably as she was still trying to figure what was going on with Sanji, who was now crying pitifully.

"Wait… doesn't that one look familiar?" Franky asked as he pointed to a blond.

"If you all want to save yourselves! Shut your eyes!" Sanji whimpered, still in a state of frozen fear. He was never going to forgive the one who put him through this!

"What are you…?" Franky asked before the 'Okama' drew closer and his voice died in his throat. The Okama was in a pink dress that was the definition of 'cute'. Including frills and a low cut that showed off the guy's hairless chest… as well as wearing thick lipstick and even eye liner… with nails that were painted a bright pink…

"Is… is that…?" Usopp asked his eyes wide.

"I think it is!" Robin gasped, her jaw falling open as one of the Okamas drew closer and they recognized that swirly eyebrow.

There was a moment of stunned silence…

But then…?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The people all the way in the East Blue could probably hear the screams of horror from this distant island.

"I'M SCARED!" Chopper screamed out in terror.

"MY EYES!" Brook shouted out as Usopp covered his own and hollered in pain. "NOT THAT I HAVE EYES! BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Zoro's hand was even making its way to his sword… halfway to considering to cutting out his other eye. But even if he did… this image would never leave him. Oh, this is gonna be good blackmail though…

"WHAT KIND OF NIGHTMARE IS THIS?!" Nami screamed as the others watched on with jaws wide open and horror in their eyes. What they were seeing here… could not be unseen. No combinations of monsters or villains the Straw Hats have faced before would ever scare them as badly as seeing Sanji running with a bunch of Okamas.

*Luffy*

Luffy had been so excited to see more memories that when the door shut that he never once thought that he would be forced to see that moment again. For two years those images had haunted his nightmares. Rayleigh had long since stopped keeping track of how many times that he would wake up screaming in the middle of the night even though he was awake to give him something to drink and calm him down.

When he was able to speak to Ace again, even if it was just a dream, the terrible weight that he had been carrying around inside him all that time finally felt like it was being put down. He felt freer, and knowing that Ace didn't blame or hate him, for what happened meant more to him than all the treasure in the world.

He still thought about him a lot, still wondered how things could have turned out, but he felt that he could start to move past his death.

But to see that moment again after seeing Ace's ghost so soon? He just broke down and started to panic at the sight.

He could remember seeing his crewmates there all around him, trying to reassure him that he was safe, and he felt stupid for losing his head like how he did. But he soon fell into a comfortable darkness. The whole time he kept thinking of his big brother and reliving Ace's final words in his mind. He couldn't believe that Ace had ever felt that way before. He didn't know anyone who was stronger than his big brother. And not a day went by that he didn't miss him. Him and Sabo.

He curled up into a tight ball in this darkness before his dream began to change again. There was some kind of creature here with him, circling around him like how the big tiger at Gao used to stalk its prey. But from the darkness he could hear faint whispers hissing in his ear, telling him to just fully embrace the memories.

But Luffy knew that Ace wanted him to keep going forward, so he would keep doing so. He would push himself back to his feet and start walking through the dark as other memories echoed around him. The battle of Marineford, which caused him to start trembling at the thought… both out of fear and anger at the memories of the people there. But also memories of the couple days that he spent running through Impel Down.

He didn't care if someone was a dangerous pirate or not. That place showed no mercy and he knew that he rather drown than ever go back there.

The thought of his big brother forced to go through some of those tortures were enough to make him want to scream in rage.

Ace…

It hurt, it hurt so badly. He wanted to see him again and for Ace to tell him that everything would be alright. He reached up and touched his straw hat and reached inside the band; knowing that it was just a normal scrap of paper that he carried round since Ace's Vivre Card had long since been burnt up. But this was like some way for him to feel that Ace was still here in some way.

He pulled out the ordinary scrap of paper to where he had sloppily written Ace's name there and smiled a little at it.

Ace may have been gone, but he wasn't going to let that sacrifice be in vain. He would become the Pirate King without a doubt. That way when he was able to meet him in heaven or hell, then he could tell Ace all about his adventures!

Ace believed that he could become the King of the Pirates someday. That had been Ace's one regret… that he couldn't live long enough to see that. But he _would_ become the Pirate King. He would get stronger and stronger until his name could be heard even to the afterlife where Ace could hear it.

He grinned at the thought as he put the paper away and continued walking. Even as the clawed creature was following after him, telling him to return to the darker memories.

"Go away!" Luffy yelled back at whatever was hiding out of sight as he went off to try and find the others.

He could somehow sense other memories happening as he thought more of his adventure in Impel Down and he cried a little when he thought of Bon Clay. There were times that he could swear that he could hear his crew talking and he went running straight towards them.

The voices were the only thing that he was sure of that he could make out wherever he was and he knew that if he just followed them, then he would get out sooner or later. He was getting closer and closer, finding himself being pulled out of this place and the next thing that he was aware of was that he opened his eyes and found that he was lying on his back and staring up at a dark stone celling.

Luffy blinked a few times as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Luffy?!" called an excited voice and Luffy blinked a few times to make out that Chopper had just appeared. His eyes were full of tears, but he was also smiling when he saw him there.

"Luffy?" other voices cried out and Luffy blinked about as he looked around at them and realized that he was back at the tower and was looking up into the concerned expressions of his friends.

Luffy's head still feeling very foggy and he blinked sleepily at them all, trying to remember what happened.

"W-W-W-What happened?" he yawned out again as he stretched his arms out.

"You ah… we had to put you out," Nami said carefully. "Are you… feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked sleepily. That was when he blinked and looked about, his memory of what happened only coming back in bits and pieces. The others glanced at each other nervously, wondering just what they should say. They want to talk more about what happened, but were afraid that he may start panicking again if the remembered.

At last, Zoro gave him a poke and asked, "Did you learn a lesson about charging on ahead of us, like that?"

The others looked at him warningly as Luffy thought it over sleepily. "Huh?" he asked before it all finally came back to him. "Oh…" was all he could say as his eyes became shadowed over by the brim of his hat.

"Are you ok?" Usopp asked anxiously. "Chopper gave you a shot to make you go to sleep for awhile?"

"Huh? Did you? Oh, right… that is what happened, isn't it? It's just… I didn't want to have see that over again," Luffy said darkly, not looking at them.

Nami gave him a sad look before hugging him tightly, taking him by surprise. "Don't worry," she reassured him. "No one here is angry. We just want to know if you're gonna be ok?"

"Y-Yeah," Luffy said carefully.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Zoro asked, pretending not to be interested, but Luffy understood.

"Not… not right now," he said, "I'm… I'm better now. I just. Wasn't ready to see all that again?"

They all understood even if it was hard to just have someone they cared about sitting there with no idea how to help him. Zoro glanced down at him, an uncharacteristically gentle look in that one eye of his as he sighed. There would be time to talk… but they would have to wait until later.

"We'll talk when we find the ship," he said firmly and Luffy nodded. They already knew everything, and he doubted that there would be a way to get out of this.

"But…?" Usopp began but Sanji was shaking his head at him silently.

"Trauma doesn't heal overnight," he whispered into the sniper's ear. "We have to help him face this one day at a time. Right now, we're stuck here, and I don't think that this is the best place to talk about bad memories no matter how many of them we see here."

"Well, if that's out of the way for now. What happened while I was sleeping?" Luffy asked, finding himself smiling again.

"After you—ah… went to sleep. We saw the memories of Marineford… as well as Impel Down. And we continued climbing the stairs the whole time. We saw scenes of some of the things that we all dead after we were separated… and just now… we… we just finished watching the scenes from Sabaody," Brook sniffled. "That was hard! Watching us all disappear one by one! But… the important thing is that we're all together again! That was a painful moment for all of us, but we're all here now, isn't that right? Yohohoho!"

"Yeah, things were… pretty strange… after that," Franky whistled out. "We found out some wild stuff about us that we didn't know anything about?"

"Yeah, like the cook was sent to the Kamabakka Kingdom where he was turned into an Okama!" Zoro roared with laughter as Sanji's face burned hotter than the devil.

"I was brainwashed! How many times do I have to tell you?!" Sanji demanded—his face red with humiliation and fire licking his body. "Like you were any better! You were dressed up as a zombie teddy bear and doing whatever Perona said!"

That wiped the laughter from Zoro's face as he glared back.

"Shut up, damn you!" he yelled back, his swords already out. "I swear, today's the day that I finish you off once and for all!"

"What?" Luffy asked in confusion as the two of them were starting to go at it.

"Sanji was training in the Kamabakka Kingdom with Ivankov the last two years," Robin explained with a laugh. "After watching some memories of your… time in Impel Down and before we watched the Sabaody memories, we were seeing just a few things here and there about what we were all doing while we were… away."

"Really?! Wow! Sanji! I didn't know that you were training with Iva! No wonder you got so strong!" Luffy asked brightly.

"SHUT UP! IF I HAD THE CHANCE, I'D BURN THAT BASTARD'S FACE OFF!" Sanji hollered at him.

"That was scary," Usopp whispered, with a kind of awe-like horror. "Sanji was in make-up and a dress! No wonder he freaks out whenever he sees an Okama now."

"I wanted to wash my eyes in acid after that," Franky added as Brook shivered.

"Just the thought of what you had to go through, Sanji-san…" Brook whispered out, "My skin is just covered in goosebumps! Though, I don't have any skin anymore, Yohohoho!"

"They brainwashed me! But my will was strong enough to snap myself out of it!" Sanji said firmly.

"At least some of us made use of the time that we spent apart," Nami sighed.

"Yeah! Like how you were on a sky island!" Chopper added happily to Nami as he thought back to seeing all the cool weather things they saw.

"What?! Nami, did you really spend two years on a sky island?!" Luffy asked brightly.

"Weatheria," she answered proudly. "I wanted to wake you up so that you could see it, but you wouldn't have understood a lot of what was being said anyway."

"So what else did you all see before I woke up?!" he asked as he jumped up to his feet, now wanting to hear everything.

"Well, we saw Franky being chased by wild cyborg animals before ended up having tea added to his system and was acting like the perfect gentleman," Robin reminded with a laugh. "That was a side of you I haven't seen before, Franky."

"Hey! Tea doesn't work with my system!" Franky said darkly. "I run on cola only!"

"And Usopp was sent to a forest full of food and he got really fat and almost eaten," Chopper added before glaring at Usopp and added, "How you could get so fat so quickly, I'll never know, Usopp! But you sure didn't do your health any favors!"

"A forest full of food?!" Luffy gasped out, his mouth already watering at the thought. "Sanji…?"

"NO! We don't have any food right now anyway, so don't ask!" Sanji retorted darkly.

"What about you, Robin?" Luffy asked excitedly even though his mouth was still drooling at the thought of a forest full of food. He would do anything for something yummy right now.

"Nothing special," Robin answered lightly. "It was an island called Tequila Wolf and I was trying to escape it. You didn't miss much."

"And Chopper was almost made into a stew before the natives were attacked by gigantic birds," Usopp added. "Before that, we saw Brook being worshiped as the devil on some crazy cult-island who were showing him panties."

"Oh, such a wild experience, Yohohoho!" Brook laughed.

"And Moss Head was turned into a teddy bear by Perona and was lost running around some freaky castle for two days trying to find his swords," Sanji added as he continued trying to kick Zoro. "You know, you really do become a sad little man when your swords are taken away, don't you?"

"At least I wasn't the one wearing a pink dress and lipstick!" Zoro yelled back and the two were now trying very hard to kill each other.

Luffy was already laughing, feeling better as he thought about all that, and some of them were even laughing all the way up the stairs to the next floor.

The next set of memories came up as soon as they entered the room and they were back on the Sunny, with the sun shining and the memory versions of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were all on the deck, playing on the swing, taking turns swinging as high as they could before they jumped off.

"Hey! It's our favorite game!" present-day Luffy said happily.

"I will beat you one day!" present-day Usopp promised him with a cocky grin.

"I want to try!" Brook laughed. "I bet that I can fly farther than either of you, Yohohoho!"

But as he spoke, that was when some of the crew noticed that the memory Brook was mysteriously absent from the rest of the crew here. Now either he was just below deck or…?

"Is this…?" Nami asked slowly as she watched and a suspicion coming to mind.

"I think it is!" Robin said in surprise, "Unless I'm mistaken, we're about to see Thriller Bark again!"

"NO! NOT THAT HORRIBLE ISLAND AGAIN!" present-day Usopp cried out in terror at the thought. But the fact that they were about to venture back to Thriller Bark seemed to be correct, for memory Sanji came out of the kitchen to the three of them still playing on the swing and asked if they would be willing to go off and collect some octopus from the tank so that he could make dinner for them. At the sound of that, the present-day Straw Hats felt hungry.

"Octopus snacks…" present-day Luffy drooled at the thought and his stomach rumbled. "Sanji, why didn't you pack us some lunches before we got here?"

"I would have if I had known that we would be tossed onto this hellish island!" present-day Sanji retorted coldly.

Memory Sanji, blissfully unaware of his future, promised to make whatever they wanted so long as they brought him enough octopi. The three then went happily skipping up to the hatch and began fishing around for them. Of course, it wasn't easy since the memory versions of Luffy and Chopper were careful not to go too far in. Not that it stop memory Usopp of course.

The present-day one watched sourly as he came back in a pair of flippers, goggles, and a diving cap—while he carried two large spatulas and a large jug with the picture of an octopus on his back.

"I still don't know what you did with my spatulas," present-day Sanji said suddenly. "They went missing after this! What did you do to them?!"

"Ah… ok, I'll look for them the moment I get back!" present-day Usopp said nervously. "And if I can't find them… I'll get you a new pair!"

Memory Usopp jumped into the tank and soon the deck was full of octopi… at least until the ones still left in the tank all began fighting back and the water had turned inky black. Memory Nami was yelling from inside that the octopi had grabbed hold of him and memory Luffy panicked, trying to stretch a hand in and pull him around. But with all the ink in the water, he couldn't see anything… and then decided that he would find Usopp with brute force.

"Were you trying to kill me?!" present-day Usopp demanded as memory Luffy began punching all over.

"But we got you out," he reasoned as memory Luffy was able to pull a bruised and swollen Usopp.

"Thank goodness!" memory Chopper sighed in relief.

"DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU?!" current Usopp yelled out, wanting to hit them both.

"At least you didn't drown," present-day Franky offered helpfully.

Memory Usopp clearly didn't seem to think along those lines as he began yelling at him, and then at memory Sanji who came out to see what the noise was all about. Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of memory Zoro, calling that he spotted a barrel in the water.

They all looked to see what he was talking about and they saw that he was right in that a barrel with a message strapped to the top was bobbing along.

"The flash barrel!" Nami gasped as she remembered how this 'adventure in zombieland' started. "So this _is_ right before we journeyed to Thriller Bark!"

Memory Luffy was the one who fished the barrel out and at first everyone was really excited at the thought of it being treasure. At least until memory Nami pointed out that it was more likely to be full of drink. Either way, they wanted to open it and try some. Memory Nami couldn't see the harm in it so long as they pray before they drink it, which caused memory Zoro to roll his eyes at such a thing.

"Hey, God!" memory Luffy yelled to the sky, like he was just letting whoever was listening what he was doing. "I hope you don't mind, but we're gonna be opening this barrel! That okay?"

"What God are you talking about, Luffy?" memory Zoro asked, the smile fading slightly. "If memory serves me, didn't you already deal with that dumbass 'god' back on Sky Island? Who do you think you're praying to?"

"It doesn't hurt to be cautious does it?!" present-day Usopp demanded. "What if there is a god and he smites you down for being so disrespectful?!"

"I don't believe in him anyway," present-day Zoro shrugged. "What do I care about pissing him off?"

Usopp just shook his head, convinced that they were all going to be killed one day because of that.

Meanwhile, memory Luffy happily undid the ropes and opened the lid. However there was a loud BOOM and it exploded as the explosive went soaring up into the air and exploded in a flash of red. Their memory selves were understandably startled by this, but when memory Robin suggested that it was possible that it could have been a trap, they were all on high alert, thinking that it were bounty hunters or marines. But they couldn't see any enemy ships around for miles, not even with memory Usopp's sharp eyes.

But that was no longer the problem, for memory Nami was able to detect a storm coming and they all hopped to her orders as she barked for them to get ready.

"That really is amazing how you can sense that kind of stuff, Nami-san," Brook offered. "How do you do that?"

"If the temperature, humility, or even when the wind suddenly changes, that can only mean that there's something wrong," present-day Nami shrugged. "You just have to be able to detect even tiny traces of change in the air."

"You're so beautiful even when we're in danger, Nami!" present-day Sanji sighed lovingly.

Sure enough, the beautiful clear skies had turned dark and a nasty storm came in, starting with a heavy downpour. Thunder echoed across the sky and there were flashes of lightning that reminded them all of Eneru's lightning attacks that lit up around them.

They watched as they battled the storm until memory Franky was able to bring out the two side paddle-wheels so that they could hurry and get out of this storm. They rode their way through the storm for only a short time before things seemed to have slowed to a stop—but they noticed that something was still wrong. Though the rain, thunder, and lightning had all faded around them until they were in an unusually calm waters… it was still pitch dark around them for a heavy fog hanging thick in the air and Brook shivered.

"I did not miss this terrible place. I have seen enough of this fog to last me a lifetime! Ah, though I guess in my case, it's two lifetimes… Yohoho…ho…" Brook sighed, his usual happiness no longer in his laughter.

"It's ok, Brook!" present-day Usopp said at once, "I know that this place can't be any fun for you, but you don't need to worry about feeling that way!"

"Yeah," present-day Chopper added, "We're not really here!"

"I know," Brook sighed. "But after spending fifty years trapped in one place, it can bring back a lot of sadness for me."

The others in the memory were all beginning to relax, at least until they began to notice the dark fog and realized that they were in 'that' part of the sea. Memory Usopp was the only one who didn't know just what type of sea they were in and the others wasted no time to freak him out, telling him that this sea of haunted and full of ghost ships… the Florian Triangle.

"Why?!" the present-day Usopp whimpered at them.

"It was too much fun to pass up?" present-day Sanji offered as the others laughed.

Memory Luffy was just telling him about living skeletons before memory Sanji said in a dark voice as he held up a match to make his face look ghoulish, "Listen, Usopp… the truth here is that every year over a hundred ships and their sailors disappear from these waters. What's more… they say that the spirits of those people are cursed to sail here for all eternity…!"

"DAAAAAAAAH!" memory Usopp screeched. "WHY ARE YOU GUYS ONLY TELLING ME THIS NOW?!"

"What difference would that have made?" memory Sanji asked, just as morbidly as Usopp wailed out in terror.

They were all laughing, and even the present-day Usopp was chuckling at himself as he ran about looking for some kind of amulet or charm to protect himself from evil spirit. That was when they heard it…

" _Yohohoho…_

 _Yohohoho."_

"Oh, happy day!" present-day Brook called out, happy once again. "We are about to witness the joyous day that I join the crew again! Yohohoho! Something good will always come to those who wait!"

Everyone from the past was looking around for the singer of that melody, but there wasn't anything that they could see through this thick fog. That was when Brook's old ship came in from the gloom of the darkness, looking like it could sink at any moment with how run down it was.

"It wasn't easy taking care of such a massive ship on my own," Brook said, feeling guilty that he let the ship that was once home to his old crew waste away like this. "And I'm not shipwright."

"You did pretty well for all those years though," present-day Franky reassured him. "I mean, it couldn't have been easy, especially with a broken rudder and limited resources. Your survival skills are something else, bro."

"Oh, Franky-san! Thank you so much!" Brook said, tearing up in gratitude at the kind words.

Memory Usopp was the first of the past Straw Hats to see the ship and he let out an ear-piercing scream at the sight of it, getting everyone's attention. And when they looked up, everyone but memory Robin screamed out, "A GHOST SHIP?!"

" _Yohohoho…_

 _Yohohoho!"_

"It sounds so sad…" present-day Chopper couldn't help but pointed out.

"I was very sad," Brook confessed but he picked up Chopper and hugged him like a teddy bear and added brightly, "At least until you all came in!"

"Awwww, don't say sweet things like that to me, you idiot!" present-day Chopper blushed and laughed at that as he returned the hug.

They watched as the memory Straw Hats looked up as the ship began passing by and the sadness hanging around was so thick that you could feel it in the air and they suddenly felt dwarfed by the sheer size of Brook's old ship towering over their heads. The Weakling Trio all had frightened tears falling from their eyes at what they were seeing.

Memory Usopp was freaking out as he was yelling to cover their ears because if they don't and listened to the sounds of spirits of the dead then they could be trapped in this sea forever.

"Where do you pick up this stuff?" present-day Robin couldn't help but ask in amusement.

"I read all about in in a book, but I'm starting to think that the one who wrote it didn't have a clue what he was talking about," present-day Usopp sighed out as present-day Luffy laughed.

"You sure it wasn't a story book that you were reading?" present-day Nami asked as she rolled her eyes. Memory Chopper screamed and covered his ears desperately as memory Usopp went on to yell that if you hear an evil spirit talk, it'll drag you out to sea. Memory Chopper screamed even wider and rammed his hat so far down over his head that the rim seemed touch his shoulders.

No one said another word as they watched the ship slowly pass them buy, and finally… looking down at them from the side of the railing was a figure covered in shadows… watching them.

"S…Ske…" memory Usopp stammered, tears forming in his eyes, "SKELETON!"

"Oh, it's me!" present-day Brook said as he waved at the sight of himself. "My, don't I look frightening here?!"

His past self sailed on by as he looked down at them with a cup of tea in his hands, singing to himself like nothing was going on:

" _Gather up all of the crew…_

 _Time to ship out Binks's Brew…"_

"I really do look frightening here," the present-day Brook said again with a shake of his head. "I'm so terribly sorry! I didn't mean to scare anyone!"

Present-day Luffy laughed as he clapped a hand on their Brook's shoulder as he reassured him, "You weren't that scary! Don't worry about it! It's no big deal anymore!"

"Yeah! We aren't scared of you!" present-day Usopp declared.

"I'm not afraid of skeletons anymore, Brook!" present-day Chopper added just as firmly.

"You all are too kind!" present-day Brook cried out as he hugged all three of them, tears flooding down from his empty eye sockets.

"Weren't you the ones who thought that he was an evil spirit?" present-day Robin asked, but Chopper and Usopp chose to ignore her.

Once the shock of seeing a singing skeleton started to wear off, memory Luffy snapped out of it, his eyes already sparkling at the thought of seeing a living skeleton up close.

Already he was dying for the chance to go aboard the ship and check it out, which caused present-day Brook no small amount of happiness to know that Luffy wasn't afraid of him anymore. But it was now being argued over who would go before memory Zoro held up a handful of straws for them to draw to go and chaperon Luffy. Now the Weakling Trio were against this at first, yelling that they should just let the ones who want to go in their stead… at least until they realized that everyone else was up for a trip.

They had no choice but to go along with it, and they hung onto memory Zoro who was starting to walk to the side of the ship, begging that they would draw straws because they didn't want to be left alone. In the end, the memory versions of Sanji and Nami were the ones who drew the short straws, causing memory Nami to burst out crying.

Now with no choice, she boarded a small boat that took them over to Brook's ship. But she remained where she was even as memory Luffy and Sanji were already halfway up the side of the ship.

"Why me? Why did I have to go? I wanna go back! I shouldn't be here! I'm so screwed!" the memory Nami whimpered.

"We need to start some kind of trading system here," present-day Nami sighed. "Just for me, Usopp, and Chopper at least!"

"I'm all for that one!" present-day Usopp yelled as he raised his hand.

"Me too!" present-day Chopper agreed as he raised his own little hoof. "Count me too!"

"Big babies," present-day Zoro said with a roll of his eye.

Memory Luffy called back down to Nami to hurry up, leaving her to scream up in anger at him. Soon though, memory Brook appeared at the top, looking down creepily at them, causing Nami to start screaming in terror, and memory Usopp back on the ship to start chanting for them all to rest in peace.

But they climbed up to the ship and there they first met memory Brook, in his tattered formal clothes and his puffy afro, greeting them joyfully like this was a planned meeting. He graciously welcomed them all aboard his ship and telling them to make themselves at home while they had a talk over some tea.

Memory Luffy was fascinated by him and Brook was fascinated by Nami, asking her to show him her panties… which caused her to give him a hard kick to the head, and causing him to laugh despite the pain.

"Luffy-san? What is your secret?" the present-day Brook whispered to their captain who was enjoying himself again.

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked in confusion. "What secret?"

"With the ladies?" present-day Brook asked curiously. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Luffy asked as Sanji heard him and anger began raging inside him, half of him torn right now between restraining himself and wanting to kill Luffy.

Good thing for Luffy, Robin heard this and gave a warning glare over at Brook, who froze at the sight and nervously laughed as he turned around and pretended not to have said anything. Present-day Luffy just looked confused as he asked him what was wrong all of a sudden until Brook pointed out to the conversation where memory Luffy was asking his past self if he could poop and causing memory Sanji to yell at him for asking such a disgusting question.

Memory Brook took his time in answering as he went to get his weapon and teacup before walking back to them, saying, "Yes, I do poop."

"DON'T ANSWER HIM ABOUT THAT!" memory Sanji shouted before he began firing off all sorts of questions, like wanting to know who and what Brook was.

At least until memory Luffy told Sanji to wait and walked right up to memory Brook and asked, "More importantly, how about you join my pirate crew?" he asked as the memory versions of Sanji and Nami looked as if they had been stuck in the faces.

The current Brook was watching the whole thing, as if rest of the world seemed to have faded around him and time had frozen. Right now, all that mattered was this one moment. He remembered this moment so well as well. It had been so long since he had spoken with other people, and to hear another's voice in his non-existing ears seemed to hurt. But he didn't care… he had a new place to call home!

Though he knew that he couldn't truly go with them at this point in time, he just had to accept so that he could interact with them all and fill the empty void that he had been forced to live for all those years. Even if it was just for a short while.

"Well…" memory Brook said, "Why not?"

"Thank you, Luffy-san!" present-day Brook cried out as he hugged their Luffy again.

"Was there a point in letting you go?" present-day Zoro asked their versions of Sanji and Nami, who were sighing in the process. "It worked out this time. But I don't want to see you letting Luffy drag whatever he wants back to the ship!"

"We promise," the two nodded firmly.

Memory Luffy took Brook with them back to the ship, who went and introduced them all to him. The rest of the crew were freaking out at the sight of him there. Only memory Robin remained calm, just observing him with interest as Brook commented on how beautiful she was and asked to see her panties; which caused Nami to throw her shoe at him to get him to leave Robin alone.

Memory Usopp then pulled out all of these spirit repelling charms and talismans as he tried to force Brook away from him, chanting for evil spirits to be gone… which Brook didn't even realize that they were talking about him.

It was just funny to see how they were all freaking out they were with Brook at first. They were laughing even as memory Chopper shut his eyes, convinced that it was a dream… and scream in terror when he saw Brook's face right above him. It ended with memory Zoro demanding memory Luffy to tell him just why he brought this guy on board with them, where Luffy laughed as he said how funny he was and that he was gonna join them.

"LIKE HELL HE IS!" memory Zoro shouted back. "YOU CAN'T JUST BRING ANYTHING YOU WANT INTO JOINING US!" He then turned to Sanji and Nami and demanded, "And you two! We sent you with him to keep him from doing something like this! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?"

"We don't know," the two muttered in shame.

"We screwed up," present-day Sanji sighed at the thought. "Thankfully, it all worked out, but we have got to have a talk with you, Luffy! Though our crew can't get any stranger now, can it?"

"Don't say that!" present-day Usopp hissed to him hurriedly. "He might take that as a challenge!"

"What? You say something?!" present-day Luffy asked brightly, having been laughing at the sight of seeing memory Brook freaking out the thought of an 'evil' spirit. Not even realizing that they were talking about him.

"Oh, nothing, forget it!" Sanji and Usopp both said with nervous laughs.

Memory Brook happily said that they shouldn't argue and that maybe they should head into the galley for some dinner, causing the memory versions of Zoro, Sanji, and Nami to yell that it wasn't his decision. But regardless of that, they ended up heading to the kitchen where memory Sanji began frying up all the octopus that the Goofy Trio caught earlier.

Memory Brook was fascinated by all of his new surroundings. As memory Usopp and Chopper were sitting as far away from Brook as possible, holding up the crosses like they thought that they would protect them, the others watched on warily. Only memory versions of Luffy and Robin sat near him as they continued to watch him in interest.

Memory Brook was commenting on everything, and how wondrous everything was. Both Franky's were grinning proudly at how much he liked it and the memory one said that he had good taste before being warned by Sanji not to get too friendly with him. Memory Brook then told them that he was truly looking forward to the food, and he began making skull jokes which caused memory Luffy to start laughing. Soon the two of them were crying out for their dinner as they waved their utensils about.

"You can wait for once!" present-day Sanji snapped at them.

"But your food is so good Sanji that we can't wait!" present-day Luffy answered back.

"Why do you care? The cook is gonna kill us with his bad cooking one day," present-day Zoro reminded them.

"And I really will kill you one day," present-day Sanji hissed back at him.

As they waited, both memory Luffy and Brook began talking and introducing themselves, with Luffy suddenly asking him what he was.

"YOU MEAN YOU TWO DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER?" memory Zoro shouted out.

"Right, that's normally the first thing you do when you meet someone," present-day Nami sighed.

At last, memory Sanji finished preparing the food and brought it over for them, causing cries of jealousy from the present-day ones. Memory Sanji said that they could throw the skeleton out later, but for now, dinner was served… which moved memory Brook to tears at the sight of the meal… and even Sanji was looking oddly taken aback by how much that he appreciated it. At least until he saw memory Brook bug Robin to switch plates since hers looked larger than his. Memory Sanji just yelled at him that he could have seconds and to just leave her alone.

While they all began eating, with present-day Luffy trying—once again—to grab hold of the food, only for his hands to go right through it, the two memory versions of Luffy and Brook were having a grand time. Memory Luffy's mouth so full of octopus that they couldn't make out anything he was saying. Memory Brook however seemed to understand and they were starting to have a long talk about how the octopus they were eating had actually been in the fish tank, which Brook seemed to marvel at such an idea. It was almost like Brook was already a member of the crew and it was fun to watch.

Dinner was over very quickly after that, and once memory Brook had finished eating, filthy from the way he shoveled food into his mouth, he finally said, "Well now… now that I've had such a delicious dinner, I believe that I should tell you more about myself. I'm sure that you all are wondering by now."

And that was when he told them that the reason he was a skeleton was because he had eaten the Revive Revive Fruit, and that he did die once before yet was brought back to life. He also told them that he had also been a pirate once and sailed the Grand Line with his crew before they were attacked by a powerful foe, killing them all, including himself. But that was when his Devil Fruit power finally activated. His soul was called back from the afterlife, and he suspected that if he had found his body right away, he may have fully recovered. But because of the fog, he had gotten lost in the fog for an entire year… and by the time that he found his body, there was nothing left but bones.

Memory Luffy was laughing when he teased him about having a bad sense of direction.

"Yours is hardly better!" both Zoro's yelled out at the two Luffy's.

"So now you're just cursed," past Sanji summed up for Brook. "You were able to come back from the dead, but you still are unable to swim, right?"

"What I don't get is how a skeleton has an afro though," past Zoro added as he looked at Brook's hair, which led to Brook patting it fondly and informing them all that his hair had strong roots.

"That's the only explanation I could think of," present-day Brook answered back reasonably as he patted his own afro.

Memory Usopp slowly began lowering his cross as he asked if he was actually a human. Well, if he was at least not some kind of ghost who was going to haunt them. Memory Brook confirmed this, cringing at the thought and crying out that the truth was he was deathly afraid of ghosts. Memory Nami snorted at that as she held up a small mirror and asked if he had ever seen himself. But at the sight of his reflection, or lack there was, he began to shriek and beg that she take it away… which caused them all to realize that he didn't show up in the mirror. At the thought that he may have been a vampire, they all began to prepare themselves for a fight, at least until memory Brook sat back down and sipped his tea.

Memory Brook then calmly began telling them that everything he told them up till now was the truth. But the fact that he was a skeleton and that he no longer had a shadow were two unrelated matters.

There had been a long pause, as everyone waited anxiously to hear what memory Brook had to say. Finally, he spoke… "To be continued."

"You are really starting to drive everyone crazy, pal," present-day Franky snorted with laughter.

"Sorry, Yohohoho," present-day Brook apologized.

"NO! TELL US NOW!" memory Sanji yelled at him and Brook told him another part of his story. How his shadow was stolen from him about five years ago, and how he could no longer live in the light. Memory Luffy pointed out that he was alive however, and he grimly told them that he meant sunlight. And if he were to ever set foot into the light of the sun, his body would disintegrate on the spot, causing them all to gasp at the thought.

Memory Brook sighed as he explained that he had seen a man who was also missing a shadow went running out into the sunlight… only to be reduced to nothing but ash. Because of his stolen shadow he no longer be reflected in mirrors or photos either. He could no longer live in the world of light without a shadow.

"Your life's been pretty miserable," memory Sanji said bluntly.

"But I lived through it all! _'Dead Bones'_ Brook! That's me!" past Brook cried out joyfully, starting to dance around happily and was sent into a laughing fit that none of them could understand why he was suddenly so cheerful after everything that he told them. Memory Brook began to cry out how happy he was, to have meet people once again. His voice then grew sad as he began remembering all the lonely years he spent trapped in this sea, his crewmates were dead and he was trapped on a giant ship with a broken rudder for so many years. He then confessed that he had been so lonely that more than once he thought about ending it all.

"Brook?" present-day Chopper asked their musician, really sounding worried about him.

"Do not worry about me, Chopper-san," present-day Brook reassured him as he patted his head fondly.

They all smiled at him as memory Brook sighed. "But I lived on," he said before he cried out, his arms spread wide, "People are my happiness! All of you are my joy! I'm so happy that I would cry if I were able to!"

He then turned back to memory Luffy and confessed, "When you asked me to join your crew, that made me so happy!" He bowed his head to him and said, "Thank you so much for that!" Luffy smiled back happily before memory Brook added, "But I'm afraid I must turn you down."

Memory Luffy was horrified, demanding to know just why as Brook sadly said that as much as he would like to leave with them, his shadow was stolen and that he couldn't risk stepping out into the sunlight. Right now he was being protected by the thick fog, but if he went with them then it would only be a matter of time before his body was destroyed. He had to stay here until he could be reunited with his shadow.

But memory Luffy was now shouting at him that if all he needed was his shadow then he would go get it back for him. He then started asking him who it was who took his shadow from him. Memory Brook was staring down at him before he whispered in surprise how kind that Luffy was, but he just didn't feel right asking him to go out and risk his life for him since they only just met.

The memory Straw Hats didn't know what to think of that, and asked for a name at the least, which Brook declined, telling them that they might meet up with them if he did. He confessed that he didn't know when his second life would end, but he made up his mind that if he ever did find him, he would face him. At long last, memory Brook turned to the case that he had brought with him onto the ship, and pulled out a violin that he had brought with him to the ship.

"How about we sing a song?" he stated as he put his skeletal fingers on the bow and the strings as he looked up at them. "Music is very important to me! I was the musician on my crew!"

They all laughed, knowing that now there was no chance that Luffy was going to let him go now. And it was true for memory Luffy was now beaming wider than ever as he cried out that he had to join them now.

Brook laughed at that, about to play a song… at least until something caught his attention over their heads and screamed in shock at the sight of seeing a ghost. Sticking its head through the wall was a white specter with beady black eyes, large lips, and its tongue was rolling out of its head as it observed them. Several of them screamed in fear, with the memory versions of Chopper and Usopp especially backing away from it as if terrified that it would curse them if it touched them.

At that moment, the ship around them began to shake around, making the plates and anything else that wasn't nailed down rattle. They were all forced to grab hold of something to keep them from falling over, with memory Zoro demanding to know what was going on. Memory Brook went running to the door and they looked out to see the mouth-like gate having just closed behind them. He then asked them if they had picked up a barrel at sea, which he then told them that it had been a trap and that the ship had been targeted since then.

Memory Brook then went running to the back end of the ship, to where they got their look at Thriller Bark. There was some sort of giant pulley attached to the wall of the mansion—that looked more like a castle than anything else—and was draped with heavy chains as well though it was hard to tell with the thick fog.

"This is the wandering ghost island," memory Brook answered. "Thriller Bark!" They stood there for a long time, and stared long and hard at the island before memory Luffy finally repeated, more to himself than to anyone else, "Thriller… Bark…!"

Present-day Nami shook her head as she muttered, "Bad night for everyone this place."

Memory Nami had just realized that the log pose wasn't reacting at all before memory Brook explained to tell them that it had no magnetic pull for this land was originally from the West Blue. That was when he went inside to grab his hat and his cane sword, muttering about what a joyous day this was. The rest of them followed as he went leaping out over the deck and landed on one of Sunny's petal-like mane after he took a graceful leap into the air.

The others were amazed to see this, with memory Brook happily proclaiming that he had many advantages to being made out of bones. That was when he gave them all a warning to escape from this place as soon as they could. That it was for the best that they don't drop anchor here and find a way out through the gate before he thanked them all for the meal and their kindness before adding that he hoped that if they were able to, he would like to meet them again on the sea someday. With one last wave and farewell, he jumped down to the water below, causing them all to gasp… at least until they saw him laughing as he went running across the water as he bolted straight for the island.

"Wow! I wish that I could do that!" present-day Luffy said.

"It must be hard for a pirate who can't swim," present-day Sanji stated suddenly with a shrug. "Makes you wonder why anyone would want to eat a Devil Fruit."

"Oh, I don't know," present-day Robin offered with a smile that made him melt in bliss right there, "They can be useful."

But memory Luffy was all up to go exploring and that cause the usual round of yelling from the Weakling Trio on where to go. He even went back inside to get his butterfly net and a bug tackle box to catch the ghost while memory Usopp was trying to scream some sense into the others.

"YOU HAVE 'ALL-READY-FOR-ADVENTURE DISEASE'?" memory Usopp cried out in fear as he tried, once again, to explain their situation. "Luffy, open your eyes! Look! That island is clearly haunted! HAUNTED! This ground is cursed! Evil spirits and monsters… You are underestimating…" and then a rather ghoulish look came over his face as he finished saying, "Evil Spirits…"

Memory Luffy held up the bug tackle and smiled. "I'll be ok! I'm gonna hunt down that ghost from earlier and keep it for a pet!"

"Did you really think you could catch it?" present-day Nami asked him.

"Sure! Why not?!" present-day Luffy said as if it was the most natural question in the world. "Why?"

Nami opened her mouth to explain, thought it over, and then shook her head, merely telling him that it wasn't important.

"Seriously underestimating!" memory Usopp screamed in terror at Luffy's simple answer.

Memory Luffy however just brushed him off as he proclaimed that he had to go after their new crew member anyway and asked Sanji to make him a lunchbox. At the sound, present-day Brook gasped and cried out gratefully, even ignoring how memory Usopp was objecting to the idea of having Brook join them, saying that if he seriously let that skeleton join them then he'd be too scared to sleep at night.

But he wasn't the only one who wanted to go. Both memory versions of Franky and Robin were getting ready to accompany him, already carrying lunchboxes with them as memory Sanji was now telling the boys to take care of Robin.

"Wait a minute," memory Nami cried out in shock at seeing her friend looking just as eager as any of the boys. "Robin, you're going too?"

"I love thrills," memory Robin answered with a wink, before memory Franky offering for them to use a smaller ship to dock here while the rest of them stayed on the ship. He then said that he had a little something special to show them in the Soldier Dock System.

He then took Nami, Usopp, and Chopper below deck and they soon found out what it was that he wanted to show then was, in fact, the Mini Merry. Soon the tree came riding out the little shopping boat and there were excited cries coming from all over the crew at the sight of it, even moving both past and present versions of Usopp and Chopper to tears as memory Luffy was now crying out that he wanted to ride in it.

Both Franky's watched on proudly as the three in the Mini Merry were laughing and having a grand time as she sailed through the waves like a dream, and even brought tears to more than a few of their eyes.

"You really did surprise us with that one," present-day Nami smiled as she watched her past self at the wheel. "It almost makes me guilty for smacking you for what you did to my waver without permission."

"I was just trying to do something nice, you didn't have to hit me!" present-day Franky retorted darkly.

"Next time ask before you start messing around with our stuff," she said firmly, "But that's not the point, you did a wonderful job with the Mini Merry."

"Yeah, it's almost like we were able to ride around on Merry again!" present-day Chopper cheered happily. "She's small, but I'm so happy to see Merry!"

"And the Sunny inherited Merry's will!" present-day Usopp beamed proudly as he looked up at their mark still flying overhead. "Just like old times!"

"Hold your horses pal," memory Franky reassured Luffy as he jumped about. "We'll have our chance to take her for a ride soon enough. For now, how about we let those three have a little fun?"

At the thought, memory Luffy turned to him and asked, "So is that all the dock stuff, or what?"

"Yup," answered memory Franky with a grin. "Including Channels 1 and 3 that I showed you before, now you've seen it all! Channels 0: Support Paddles! Channel 1: A single-seat Waver, the White Rocking Horse I! Channel 3: Three-Person Submarine, Shark Submerge III! Channel 2: Four-Person Shopping Boat: Mini Merry II! For now, that's all the features of the Soldier Dock System! If you think of the Sunny as our 'Mother Ship' then these guys are all the little soldiers that help her out!"

"I like the way you think, Franky!" present-day Luffy laughed.

"And now the Solider Dock System is more SUPER than ever before!" present-day Franky said proudly as he thought of his General Franky. They weren't the only ones, for both memory Luffy and Franky were having a very similar conversation as they talked about how awesome that it all was. But before they could continue talking about they heard Nami's scream from somewhere through the darkness, which got their attention at once.

"What happened anyway?" present-day Robin asked curiously.

"It was Nami's fault!" both present-day Usopp and Chopper said at once.

"I said I was sorry!" Nami retorted with her cheeks turning red. "I was… playing around on the Mini Merry and… the next thing that I know… we were in the moat."

"That's it?" present-day Franky asked. "And here we were worried sick about you."

"Nami!" memory Sanji called out as he looked over the starboard-side rail. "Nami! What's wrong? You're not in any trouble, are you?!"

"Can't see a damn thing out there," memory Zoro said. "It's just fog and more fog."

He was right. All they could see was the dark fog blanketing the entire island, and it was like trying to get a look at something through a steamed-up window at night.

"It sounded like… it came from the island," memory Robin said slowly as memory Luffy then ran to the side of the ship as he began yelling at the three of them to come back so that he could ride the Mini Merry too.

"That's the only thing you're worried about?!" memory Sanji demanded. "What about Nami?"

"Chopper and Usopp are out there too, you know," memory Franky reminded them. "Just saying…?"

"Yeah, we're sorry that we haven't died honorable deaths yet, but you could show a little bit of concern for us!" Usopp snapped at them.

"Yeah, why don't you guys worry?" Chopper asked in an upset voice.

"Because you guys can take care of yourselves," present-day Luffy said as if it was obvious and at the answer, the two of them suddenly turned red and began laughing.

"You're right! We're men! No need to worry about us! We thrive on danger!" Usopp said.

"Even saying that I'm strong enough to take care of myself won't make me happy, you big dummy!" Chopper grinned as he danced.

"I wonder," memory Robin said thoughtfully. "Perhaps they fell victim to a curse by that ghost?"

"Do you have to say such creepy things, Robin?" Nami sighed grimly as their Robin smiled brightly back at her. "I'm starting to think that you really want something to happen to us!"

"Come on, that's not funny," memory Zoro said to Robin when the familiar noise of the Sunny's paw-like anchors suddenly dropped into the water.

"Huh? What's going on?" Chopper asked at the same time that memory Sanji called.

"Crazy! The anchor just dropped on its own!" memory Luffy said in surprise.

"I just built it so there's no way the gears could have gotten loose," memory Franky reasoned as he thought it over.

"What's happening?" Nami asked in confusion.

"Let's just say that we had an unwelcomed guest," present-day Sanji muttered darkly.

"Well, either way pull it up!" memory Zoro retorted. "We can't have the ship lose its balance now!"

But before anyone could even move, the hatch door that led below suddenly opened, forcing everyone to turn to it.

"AHHHHH! IT'S A GHOST!" Chopper cried out in fear.

"No, just an invisible man," present-day Sanji muttered. "Nothing to be concerned with."

"So you say," Nami muttered darkly, shivering at the idea of that jerk peeking on her while she was taking a bath.

"That's weird, did somebody touch the hatch?" memory Franky asked.

"No," memory Sanji warned. "We were all right here the whole time!"

A long pause came before, out of nowhere, memory Luffy's cheeks began to stretch out, and that got Chopper to blink and he asked Luffy how he was doing that without touching his face.

"I wasn't doing it!" present-day Luffy said crossly. "I could feel someone touching my face but I couldn't see them. It was so weird!"

"Hey! Now is not the time for crap!" memory Sanji snapped, "Could you take things seriously for once?!"

"Wait! It's not me! I… I swear I'm not doing this!" memory Luffy tried to explain as he held up his hands in defense, though it was hard for him to talk with his cheeks stretched out like that. But a second later they snapped back into place and knocked him to the floor, taking Sanji by surprise. Just then, with memory Zoro looking about with his hand on his white blade, one of the other swords began to rattle about in its sheath and before anyone could react, it was pulled out of his sheath and was flung up into the air. It spun about before heading straight at memory Luffy, causing the three who didn't see this to shriek slightly until memory Franky dashed in and gave him a hard kick to knock him out of the way.

The blade became embedded in the deck as memory Luffy was rolled over and smacked into the wall.

"You nuts?!" memory Franky yelled at Zoro, who was looking as stunned as the rest of them, "What're you try to pull here?!"

"No!" memory Zoro gasped out. "It just… it just moved on its own!"

"It's so sad that we couldn't tell where this guy was," present-day Sanji said as his past self took another puff on his cigarette. If we knew Observation Haki then, he'd be able to find the bastard at once.

As memory Luffy rubbed his head and tried to get back up… they heard something… almost like a whisper on the wind… like the growling purr of some kind of beast.

"Then there's an enemy on this ship!" memory Zoro warned out as he put his sword out of the deck. The whole crew was on high alert as they looked around for anything even remotely suspicious.

"So you think it's a ghost doing this stuff?" memory Franky asked, "Or you think it's someone with a Devil Fruit power?"

"Who or whatever it is, at least we know they're close," memory Luffy said as he got back up.

"Just now," memory Robin added, "I heard what sounded like some kind of beast growling."

"I don't know just what he was, but he was able to growl like some kind of animal," the present-day Robin added as she watched.

"Yeah, the freak asked that Hogback guy to stitch animal body parts onto him to give him some kind of freaky body," present-day Sanji hissed. "I don't know what he was, but he looked like he was all stitched together."

Meanwhile his past self had climbed up onto the railing and bent his knees, ready to jump as he called, "Right now, I'm more concerned about Nami! You guys take care of the boat!"

He jumped into the air as memory Zoro called, "What are you gonna do?!"

"I'm gonna swim over to the island and rescue her, of course!" memory Sanji called back, but as he jumped, they saw the imprints of something grabbing hold of his ankle and stopped him dead in midair and he fell forward with a yell and crash alongside the side of the ship.

"WOAH! THAT WAS LAME!" cried the memory versions of Zoro, Luffy, and Franky… as well as the present-day versions of all the men in the crew.

"SHUT UP! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" present-day Sanji yelled at them as his past self was suddenly hoisted up until he was upside down and suspended in midair.

"Sanji!" memory Luffy gasped in amazement, "I didn't know you could fly!"

"He can't, can he?" memory Franky asked.

"Not yet!" present-day Sanji said. "But I can now. Without any tricks or special powers either! That shows just how awesome I am."

"Please, I could take you out with my eyes shut," present-day Zoro said. "And I'm already missing an eye so how about that?"

"I should roast you alive," Sanji snarled as his memory self was spun about in the air and tossed to the ship. He would have crashed into memory Zoro, until he took a single step to the side and he hit the deck hard.

"Hey… you ah… having problems?" memory Zoro asked lightly.

"SHUT UP, DAMMIT! YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!" memory Sanji yelled back, his face red with humiliation once again.

"Whatever it is, it wants to keep us on the ship," memory Franky said as they were all glaring about but still not seeing anything.

"Can't see this bastard at all!" memory Zoro hissed. "He could take us all out one by one and we couldn't do a damn thing about it!"

Just then memory Robin gasped and they all looked to her at once and saw that she was being held there, but four arms sprouted out of her body and were now trying to push back some kind of unseen enemy as her main arms were being held behind her. It left a long trail of what looked like saliva up her chest and face.

"THAT JERK!" Nami shouted out, wishing that she gave that pervert an extra bolt of lightning for doing something so disgusting. Present-day Robin shivered at that, only wishing she had a chance to give this 'invisible man' a good thousand or so slaps.

"You bastard! Get your invisible hands off her!" memory Sanji yelled as he ran towards her. But then they saw the form of fingers grabbing hold of his leg a second time and it caused him to trip.

That was when they heard the growl once more and they were all looking around as memory Luffy said, "It really does sound like some kind of animal!"

But as quickly as it came, it faded away, and they somehow knew that he was gone. But by then the ship tossed about violently, and memory Franky pointed to the walls, calling out that they were somehow caused these waves. Memory Robin stumbled into Sanji, who got back to his feet and was quickly asking if she was alright.

"I think so," she reassured him. "It seems to be gone."

"Quick! Raise the anchor!" memory Zoro called before adding to Sanji, "If you think you can do it without falling on your face again!"

"At least I'm not throwing swords!" memory Sanji back as they were all trying to remain upright.

"You weren't looking too cool when you couldn't control your stupid swords anymore, Moss-Head," present-day Sanji hissed.

"At least I didn't taste the deck, crappy cook!" present-day Zoro snarled.

"Usopp! Chopper!" memory Sanji called out over the side of the ship, but no one answered. "Crap! We're gonna get separated from them!"

"Hey, Franky! You got to have some kind of secret weapon for a time like this?!" memory Luffy asked Franky quickly.

"Aright! I'll bust out the surprise hot tub!" he offered.

"Seriously, what made you think that was going to help anything?" Nami demanded of their Franky who shrugged.

"It would've helped relax everyone?" he offered as the memory faded around them until they were back in some kind of deep, dark pit. They were surrounded by high walls and they were standing on a massive pile of bones and skeletons beneath their feet. Nami was there with the boys, who were both moaning on the ground as she looked up at the massive wall.

"What's this place?" Brook asked lightly. "It looks familiar…? Ah! Now I remember! This is the moat, isn't it?!"

"Which means…?" Robin said as she looked around and she spotted the three memory versions of Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all there—with Nami the only one on her feet as she looked up at the high wall.

"This was right after we fell overboard," the present-day Nami said as her memory self commented, "That was quite the fall. That wall must be six or seven meters high! We're lucky we're still ok."

As memory Chopper moaned, back in his Heavy Point, he asked, "Wh-What is this place?"

"It's that ghost island, of course," memory Nami answered, sounding unusually calm.

"You're taking this all well, Nami," Robin offered as the memory Usopp and Chopper both began to tremble in fear as memory Nami yelled at them not to act so surprised.

"I guess I was just afraid that they were going to blame me for getting stuck here?" the present-day Nami muttered in embarrassment.

"How could that have been your fault, Nami-sweet?" Sanji sighed lovingly at her.

"Well…?" she began slowly as memory Usopp choked out, "But… if we were up there… how did we get down here?"

"We got excited over the Mini Merry and before we knew it, we hit the shore," memory Nami sighed, "We didn't notice it but the wall up there is the edge of the island. So when we ran into it, we were all thrown off the boat. Then we landed in this moat here."

"That it? Oh, man… talk about a letdown," Luffy pouted in disappointment. "Here I was thinking that the rest of you saw something really cool and decided to go on an adventure."

"QUIT COMPARING US TO YOU!" present-day Nami snapped at him.

"Now, I admit that was one hundred percent my fault…" memory Nami asked as she blushed and said cutely, "But I'm cute so you'll forgive me, right?"

"OF COURSE I DO, NAMI!" Sanji cried out, swooning at how cute that Nami looked here.

"Yohohoho! How can you stay angry with a look like that?" Brook sighed. "If it's not too much trouble, Nami-san. Could you show me your…?"

BANG! Present-day Nami gave him a hard kick to the head as she continued with her 'innocent' expression that made Sanji drool.

"Yeah, right! Right after I smack you!" memory Usopp yelled as she got on her knees and held up a sign saying 'I'm sorry'.

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN, NAMI, YOU SWINE!" Sanji barked angrily at him.

"SHE JUST ADMITTED THAT IT'S HER FAULT WE FELL DOWN HERE!" present-day Usopp yelled back as Luffy laughed.

"Anyway, what I don't get is why they would have a moat right on the other side of the wall at the entrance!" memory Usopp said. "What's the point?!"

"Just used as another trap," Brook explained simply. "They came up with all sort of snares to keep people who accidently land here from leaving until they were able to steal their shadows."

"Probably why they filled it in… so to speak," robin offered as she glanced down at her feet. "You should be happy that there aren't any spikes down here to impale you for falling down here."

"From the looks of things," memory Nami reasoned, "It's some kind of trap. If you look at it that way, we're lucky we didn't fall on any spears or giant spikes."

"I think that you're starting to become a bad influence on me," present-day Nami sighed.

"You're right," memory Chopper said as he looked down. "It's a good thing we have all these skeletons here to cushion our fall, right?"

Upon mentioning skeletons, both memory Chopper and Usopp froze in fear, again.

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT ALREADY?!" memory Nami barked.

"Hey," memory Usopp suddenly said. "But we're still near the entrance, right? If we stay put for awhile, Luffy will come and find us?"

"We did end up going down here so if you had stayed then we would've found you fairly quickly," Zoro offered.

"That's because we aren't superhuman powerhouses like you," present-day Usopp whispered under his breath.

"He might try but we're below sea level," memory Chopper pointed out. "Doesn't that put us in a bad spot?"

"Good point," memory Usopp agreed as he thought that over. "If we stay here, then they might not notice us."

"In that case, we should find a way out of this pit and wait for them at the shore," memory Nami reasoned just as a pair of golden eyes shone from the darkness behind them. As they began talking about which way to go, that was when memory Usopp finally noticed that there were five glowing eyes looking at them from the darkness.

Through the fog, the image came. It was a giant, three-headed dog alright, but it had two blue dog heads and a yellow fox head stitched on the far right. It also was covered in stitches, bandages, with the large tattoo of an 82 printed on its side, and they could see three yellow tails flicking around excitedly at the sight of them… its mouth starting to water as if hungry…

"No… it… it can't be!" memory Chopper gasped as the full sight came into view. "Cer-Cer-Cerberus?!"

"Sounds tasty!" Luffy said happily.

"IT'S THE NAME OF THE DOG FROM HELL! HOW IS THAT A GOOD THING?!" present-day Usopp yelled at him while he gave him a quick bonk on the head. With a scream of terror, the three turned and ran, with memory Chopper even changing to his Walk Point so that they could run faster.

"Why are we running?" Zoro asked.

"Look, how many times do we have to tell you? We aren't brave like you guys!" present-day Nami snapped. "We wanna live!"

"Wait!" memory Nami yelled as streams of tears came from their eyes. "What the heck is a Cerberus?!"

"Don't you know?!" memory Usopp yelled back, "It's the guardian of the underworld!"

"Come on! There's no way that's real!" Nami yelled back as Cerberus gave chase.

"Look at it!" memory Usopp yelled back. "You got a better explanation?!"

"So did we die and go to the underworld?!" memory Chopper cried in terror.

"Not a bad guess, you could say that we were literally on the road to hell," Sanji offered.

"It's not every day that you get to go to hell!" Luffy laughed as he went skipping along behind them.

The three memory selves were all screaming, running even faster, with the three of them crying as Cerberus bean yelping. That was when Chopper looked back in surprise. When Usopp and Nami noticed this, they asked what it was when memory Chopper shouted back at Cerberus, "Hey, I'm onto you! One of your heads is a fox head, isn't it?!"

At the sound of that, Cerberus stopped running as he let out a horrified cry and the fox head was hanging low.

Luffy laughed at that as he said, "He's just like Splithead!"

"Splithead?" Zoro repeated as he thought that name over. "Oh, you mean Foxy? Right… guess he's got issues to."

"Well, if you died and were brought back with two extra heads, with one of them is a fox, you'd be sensitive about it too," Franky offered reasonably. Cerberus let out a roar of anger and charged, forcing the three of them to start running again.

"SEE?! IT _IS_ SENSITIVE!" memory Nami cried.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" memory Chopper cried before they spotted some stairs that would take them above ground level again. Not that it was going to stop Cerberus though, the zombie followed them all the way up and forced the three of them into the forest and even further away from the shore. Memory Usopp then spun about and fired a Smoke Star, causing the tiny projectile to explode into a thick cloud of smoke and giving the three of them time to scramble up the nearest tree. They clung on and watched from above as Cerberus began searching about for them, eventually leaving them.

"For a dog, its sense of smell sure is bad," memory Usopp whispered.

"Well, I care to disagree! It stinks!" present-day Nami muttered.

"Not surprising since it was once dead…?" Brook offered. "Like me! Ah! Do you think I smell?!"

"No, you use a lot of scented soaps when you take a bath," present-day Nami stated, knowing that he, Luffy, and Chopper tended to use lots of bubbles when they bathed so she always knew whenever they took a bath.

Their memory selves waited until it lumbered out of their sights and he sighed in relief that it was gone. But now they were wondering just what they should do know. They were chased all the way into this forest and they were afraid if they climbed down now to look for the others, it could find them again.

"That would be a problem, now wouldn't it?" asked a fourth voice and they all turned to see that there was some kind of humanoid bat, hanging upside-down from the branches. He had a black cape as well as fangs in a smiling mouth and a long nose that had scars and the number 21 tattooed over his eye.

"AAAAAAAAAHH!" they screamed. "WHO ARE YOU?"

"Pardon my manners, the name's Hildon," Hildon introduced himself. "Oh, and speaking of bad manners, I was spying on all of you. That dog really seemed to scare you."

"I wasn't scared!" memory Usopp tried to deny as some of the fog faded for a bright full moon to peek its head through and bathed the area in an eerie glow, casting dark shadows and the sounds of Cerberus could be heard in the distance.

"The night has just begun," Hildon said, "But already the shadows in the forest are deep. Soon it will be transformed into a world of terror. Far beyond your worst nightmares." That was when they saw a faint light and the sounds of hooves as a small carriage rolled up beneath them. "Might I recommend you take a right with me in my carriage? We could go to the mansion together."

"Mansion?" memory Nami asked hesitantly as the other two gulped.

"I don't know why we ever thought to trust a guy who looks like that," present-day Usopp muttered.

"I think that a lot of it was my fault," present-day Chopper confessed, taking the others by surprise. But he didn't answer as he listened to Hildon mention that Dr. Hogback's abode was just up the way. Memory Chopper gasped at the name, and in the end, his pleas to go along with hearing Cerberus howl again was what caused the three of them to climb up into the carriage where there was at least a comforting light.

"Hey," memory Nami said after a few minutes of listening to nothing but the clip-clop of the horses. "I didn't get a good look at them, or maybe it's just my imagination, but don't those horses seem a bit… strange?"

"You didn't notice that they were a couple zombie centaurs?" Zoro couldn't help but ask.

"It was dark and foggy!" present-day Usopp retorted angrily.

"It's dark, your eyes are playing tricks on you," Hildon answered back with a dark chuckle.

"Well, if you say so," memory Nami said and the present-day Nami was shaking her head at how naïve she was sounding here, as Hildon began to pour them glasses of wine. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Anyway, thanks for saving us back there," memory Usopp said gratefully. "We were in bad shape before you showed up."

"Yeah, and then he took us to an even worse place!" present-day Usopp yelled out furiously. "It a good thing that he wasn't really alive here or I would've killed him myself!"

Hildon mentioned that it was no problem as he poured them more wine as he warned them that the forest was filled with all sorts of frightening creatures and that it was dangerous to pass through on foot.

"Dangerous? It was a really neat forest!" Luffy said happily.

"Indeed, we did have quite a pleasant stroll now that I think of it," Robin chuckled at the memory, unknowingly making the other three sigh at how pathetic they felt.

"It's a surprise," memory Chopper said as Hildon put the cork back onto the bottle. "I thought Cerberus was just a legend. But there it was, three heads gnashing and everything."

"That thing must have been some kind of mutant," memory Usopp decided. "It just wasn't natural. We were lucky we got up in that tree, but I was afraid that I'd never come down again with that thing around."

"Oh, we were sure to find you all sooner or later," Zoro offered with a shrug.

"I wish that we did wait," present-day Chopper said sadly. "Had we, I'm sure that we would've found you guys right away."

Hildon was telling them that if their friends were looking at them then the best place would be the mansion since no one could possibly miss it.

"Not only that, but we're gonna get to meet Dr. Hogback too, right?" memory Chopper asked excitedly.

"Is this Hog-guy really that famous?" memory Usopp asked and Chopper excitedly told him all that he knew. He was one of the greatest surgeons ever and that he was a genius who performed miracles that saved the lives of people as many as there were stars in the sky. The entire medical community looks up to him as a true hero. But then he frowned as he added that one day he just disappeared. Some say that he was kidnapped or had an accident. In the end, everyone gave up looking for him and he eventually became a legend.

The present-day Chopper watched on sadly, hating how much that he used to admire a man like Hogback. He refused to see him as a doctor anymore, and thought of how someone he had always respected as a hero turned out to be an even bigger monster than all the zombies on the island.

"I'm sorry, Chopper," Robin sighed as she patted him on the head. "I know how much that you admired him?"

"I was hard to accept that he was a terrible person because I took a lot of inspiration from some of the stories of the countless lives he saved," present-day Chopper said as his past self was asking Hildon if that same Dr. Hogback was here on this island, which he confirmed, "But I rather know the truth than continue to admire a lie!"

Hildon was informing him that Hogback was studying in seclusion and had come to this island to conduct a research beyond the scope of Mankind.

"Do you think I could get an autograph from him?" memory Chopper chirped.

I'm sure that he could be persuaded to spare a moment for one of his fans," Hildon said as memory Nami looked out past the curtain. She then gasped softly.

"No way," she whispered, "This island… has lions too?"

"Lions?!" Luffy asked brightly as he went to stick his head out to look as well. That was when he could see it. There was the shadowy form of a lion in the distance but as it moved out of the shadows and showed its face, he saw that it was covered in bandages, scars, rotting flesh… but its face was revealed to be a grotesque, human face.

"WOW! SOO COOL!" he cried as memory Nami screamed, accidentally spilling her wine on Chopper's face and causing Usopp to shriek as well.

"What's wrong with you?!" memory Usopp demanded, "Why'd you scare me like that?! Come on, what happened?!"

"There was a lion!" she gasped. "But he… his face was… it…" and suddenly she drew a quick sketch of what she saw and showed it to them. It looked almost as bad as Luffy's drawings.

"If I didn't see it myself, I'd have questioned you sanity," Franky said as he thought of some of the creatures he saw here.

"OH YEAH RIGHT!" memory Usopp shouted at her.

"Wanna see? Then take a look for yourself!" memory Nami said, pointing outside. Both memory versions of Usopp and Chopper looked outside to see that it wasn't just the lion. But the entire forest was filled with stitched up zombies dancing and little ghosts all laughing and having a party… at least until they noticed that they were being watched.

"You got to admit, no one knows how to have the time of your life than a zombie," Franky smirked at the joke. The memory versions Nami, Usopp, and Chopper rubbed their eyes and then opened them, again. The creatures they saw… had just disappeared, as if out of thin air. They sighed in relief before a brief pause…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THAT IS NOT RIGHT! THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT RIGHT!" they screamed.

"Are you going to be screaming all night?" Luffy asked them. "They weren't that bad."

"SHUT UP! WE HAD A RIGHT TO BE SCARED!" the three of them shouted together. Memory Nami was now begging Hildon to turn the carriage around, which took him by surprise and asked what could have upset them so much and wondered if they saw some kind of illusion.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ILLUSION?! THERE WAS DEFINTELY SOMETHING OUT THERE FOR SURE!" memory Usopp screamed. "THIS FOREST IS FREAKIN' STRANGE!"

"That much is true," Hildon agreed. "It is a bit odd here. The fog, for example, has strange qualities. It can even cause hallucinations for some."

"How does that make sense?" Sanji asked with a frown.

"Oh, I don't know," Brook offered. "I've seen some strange things while I was trapped in the fog from time to time."

Memory Chopper was ready to believe it while Usopp still looked skeptical. Nami however took charge as she said that they needed to go back to the coast right away. Even it if was dangerous, they could manage until they found their friends. Only Chopper looked upset about that as he cried and said, "But I wanted to meet Dr. Hogback! It's not fair! I have to!"

"No, you don't," present-day Chopper sighed as he sat down to watch.

"I know how you feel," memory Usopp said. "But my 'something-freaky-is-going-on-here sensor' is on high alert! You've got to trust my powers on this one!" He then gave Chopper a choice. "You can go see the doctor and die! Or we can turn back now and live! Which one will it be?!"

"Never doubt my powers," present-day Usopp said. "When something's wrong, I just know it!"

"I promise not to doubt your senses again," present-day Chopper agreed dully.

"Well, of course I don't wanna die!" memory Chopper said tearfully. "That's scary!"

"Oh, it's not too bad, Yohohoho!" Brook offered with a laugh. "It's pretty quick and painless!"

"Yeah, I don't wanna find out, at least not for a while," present-day Usopp said coldly as Luffy was looking out the window with a frown, wanting to see more zombies. At first, Hildon seemed reasonable as he said that he understood and called for the carriage to stop. Slowly the carriage came to a complete stop and Hildon got out, leaving the three of them alone. With the new room, memory Chopper fell over and began to cry harder than ever at how he wasn't going to be able to meet with the doctor after all.

"Listen Chopper, I'm sorry," memory Nami said, "I know what this means to you."

"No, I understand," he sniffled. "If I was strong and brave like Luffy, I can just walk through here by myself instead of sitting here and crying."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Robin informed them all kindly. "You just need a little more confidence."

"Yeah, you guys are all strong in your own ways, you just seemed to have forgotten about that."

"I guess the idea of seeing all these zombies made me forget that," present-day Chopper said as he thought that over. Their past selves managed to slowly calm him down as they waited… and waited… and waited. Finally, after ten minutes, they began to look about.

"He's not coming back, is he?" Zoro asked.

"Nope…" present-day Nami confirmed as her past self asked, "How long does he plan to make us wait here?"

Memory Usopp cautiously poked his head outside the curtain to try and see someone as he said, "He's just turning around. It should just take a sec." When he looked out, he realized that not only were they completely alone, but they were in a creepy-looking graveyard as well. Once he realized that, memory Usopp began to scream, "THERE'S NOBODY HERE! NOT EVEN THE HORSES! NOT ONLY THAT BUT HE LEFT US IN THE MIDDLE OF SOME SCARY GRAVEYARD!"

"Are you kidding me?!" memory Nami cried out in horror. "But why?!"

"No! That can't be right!" memory Chopper screamed. "Please somebody tell that he just left to go pee!"

"Crappy time for that," Franky said. "Or… maybe the best time? Depends on how you look at it."

"Yohohoho! Nicely put, Franky-san!" Brook laughed.

"HILDON! HEY! WHERE'D YA GO?!" memory Usopp screamed out until they were all screaming in terror. A strange figure was seen flying across the sky. It was Hildon…and his arms had formed into a pair of bat-like wings… and he flew off towards the manor.

"What?! He can fly?!" Luffy gasped out as he saw him go flapping away. "That's so cool!"

"Leaving us alone at night is one thing," memory Usopp said, "But come on… in a graveyard?!"

"Yeah, I get it!" memory Nami hissed as she broke out in a cold sweat. "Just… just stop ok? I'm trying to think here!"

"What should we do?" memory Chopper sniffled. "I'm scared."

"Oh, Chopper," memory Nami sighed as memory Usopp continued to poke his head outside the carriage where he saw something moving in the dirt by one of the graves. As Nami asked him what it was, a bandaged hand burst out of the ground and he started screaming louder than ever as more and more hands began pulling themselves out.

"Old guys with serious injuries?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head.

"THEY'RE ZOMBIES YOU IDIOT!" at least half the crew shouted at him as Brook and Robin both chuckled at the innocence in his voice.

Both memory Usopp and Chopper screamed in horror as they watched more hands sprout from the ground, soon followed by many grotesque, disheveled bodies.

"This…" memory Nami whispered, tearfully. "This is a dream, right…?!"

But soon they were all surrounded as they screamed when the zombies all began to head straight for them. The three backed against one side of the carriage as the zombies reached through and grabbed hold of Usopp, who was trying to get away as he screamed for help. He was then pulled right out as memory Nami tried to reach for him.

"Hey! Usopp! You ok?!" Luffy asked.

"I was being grabbed by rotting freaks! What do you think?!" present-day Usopp whimpered.

"USOPP NO!" memory Nami screamed as she ran for him until a zombie appeared and caused her to scream in terror. They rocked the carriage back and forth and they were close to tipping it over. The zombies groaned out as the two went toppling out of the window and hit the ground just as one of the zombies bit down on Usopp's shoulder. These things were strong, so the three of them didn't have a chance to pull free with so many around them.

Memory Usopp then screamed like a little girl, "IT BIT ME! AH DAMMIT! IT'S ALL OVER! I'M GONNA TURN INTO A ZOMBIE NOW!"

"REALLY?!" Luffy gasped as he looked over at their Usopp with wide eyes.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M A ZOMBIE TO YOU?!" present-day Usopp yelled.

"Where do you learn this kind of information?" Robin couldn't help but ask in interest.

"USOPP!" memory Nami screamed, being braver than usual as she pulled out her weapon and began to charge over at them. "HOLD ON, I'M COMING!"

But a hand burst out of the ground and grabbed her by the ankle and held on as she tripped. It then opened its jaw wide and was clearly about to bite down on her leg as she struggled to pull herself free. Sanji was enraged when he saw the zombies trying to bite down on her leg and he went charging at them until he remembered that there was no point for them.

Both Nami and Usopp were in trouble until memory Chopper came running in and shifted to his Heavy Point and screamed for them to let Usopp go before he punched one of the zombies so hard that his head went flying off. When he realized what he had done, memory Chopper screamed how sorry he was until a zombie tossed the head back to its owner like a beach ball. The zombie then put his head right back onto his body, causing Chopper to scream worse than ever. But memory Nami then began screaming for help as she continued to try and pull herself free from the zombie trying to bite. Thankfully, the two of them rushed to her aid when memory Usopp fired an Exploding Star at them, claiming that zombies hate fire so this should work.

"Wow… it really did," Franky said as he watched a huge ball of flame hit the ground next to memory Nami, and the zombies jumped away from it, screaming to get away from it.

"To be fair, fire can be scary," Brook offered as Luffy cheered along with the present-day versions of Usopp and Chopper.

Memory Usopp just stared with wide eyes as he croaked out, "I figured it would work, but I wasn't expecting this."

Neither was he expecting the zombies to start yelling at him for that.

"That's dangerous you idiot!"

"Didn't your parents raise you right?!"

"You little turd!"

"I don't need to hear things like that from the undead!" present-day Usopp yelled as their past selves helped Nami, with Chopper pulling her onto his back as they made a break for it.

"Good, that got the zombies out of our way!" memory Chopper said. "Come on, Nami!"

"At this point, we might as well make a run for the mansion since it's closer than the shore!" memory Usopp called to them.

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" memory Chopper said and Nami whimpered how scared she was.

"Damn! If I were there, I'd have protected you, Nami!" Sanji declared, wishing that he could have gone rushing in like a knight to save the princess.

"Then next time we go to a zombie-infested island, I'll make sure to drag you along with me," she told him with a roll of her eyes. Meanwhile, memory Usopp said that they should be safe so long as they could keep running like this because zombies get tired easily and they could only move at a slow shuffle. Well, the zombies did move slowly at first… but then they began sprinting right after them.

"WHAT?! WERE THEY JUST LAZY?!" memory Usopp screamed in horror. The zombies howled as they ran after the screaming trio, but about five seconds later, the zombie suddenly stopped to catch their breath.

"THEY'RE TIRED NOW?!" memory Usopp screamed out a second time.

"At least you know that you're half right," Robin pointed out with a chuckle.

"These guys are so funny!" Luffy laughed as the three continued running towards the mansion. They followed after them until they managed to get away from the graveyard and were able to walk up to the manor.

"They aren't following us, right? Man, what is with this island? Half the stuff here isn't even supposed to be real!" memory Usopp said as they walked up to the Iron Gate. "By the way, if I start turning into a zombie and go after your brains, then just kill me!"

"Bit extreme there," Sanji offered in surprise.

"Yeah, but if you turn into a zombie doesn't that mean that you're already dead?" Zoro asked.

"Where'd that come from?" memory Nami asked as Usopp explained that he read in a book that if you get bitten by a zombie then you turn into one and eat brains so if it was in a book, it had to be true.

"I think I better have a look at this book of yours," Robin offered with a shake of her head.

"I don't think you're mature enough for horror novels, you should stick with children's books," memory Nami replied coldly. They walked up to the gate, with memory Chopper being the only one excited at the thought of seeing Dr. Hogback in person.

"If he's crazy enough to live here, then I'm afraid that he's not going to be as welcoming as you hope," memory Nami whispered darkly. "But fine."

"Sorry," present-day Nami whispered to their Chopper who nodded in understanding, showing that he wasn't upset. It was all fine. There was nothing that could be done about it now anyway. They opened the iron gates with a loud creak, and cautiously stepped through.

"Excuse me?!" memory Nami called out. "But is this the mansion of Dr. Hogback by any chance?! We're traveling pira… uh… traveling… traveler… people!"

"Nice, Nami," Zoro said with a roll of his eye. "That's not suspicious at all."

"Better than you would have done! You'd just come right out and tell everyone who we were! There's no need to cause trouble if we don't have to," she scolded him back.

"We lost our way! So… can we take shelter here until morning?!" memory Nami called, but when no one answered, she called, "Hello? Is anyone here?!"

They stepped up a flight of stairs that led to a dark tunnel. Memory Usopp muttered that there was nothing stopping them from just going in, but the tunnel was giving him the creeps. That was when Chopper pointed out that there was some kind of courtyard ahead of them as Nami continued calling out for someone to answer. But it was either go on ahead or go back and face the zombies so they slowly tip toed inside… when suddenly some kind of spotlight came on and shone onto, of all things, an old well right by a large door.

"A light just turned on! That's a good sign, right?!" memory Chopper asked innocently as they went over and looked into the well.

"But why would they shine a spotlight on this old well?!" memory Usopp asked. "It's weird!"

Well that was when the rope through the pull began being pulled rapidly and the three jumped back in fright as a woman with short, straight-cut blonde hair, grayish skin, and doll-like eyes come rising up while wearing a short, black evening gown, an orange feather boa wrapped around her neck.

"Welcome," the woman greeted them in a somewhat lifeless voice as her blank doll-like eyes looked at them, causing the others to scream in fear at the sight of her. When, without warning, the woman suddenly started throwing the plates at Usopp. She began throwing them like Frisbees as she counted, leaving Usopp to shout out why was she only attacking him.

"I'm guessing that she's got an issue with men," Franky offered. He'd seen his own little sisters take their anger out on all men whenever they got dumped by a guy… of course he'd go find them and beat those jerks up. Who wouldn't want a chance to date Kiwi and Mozu?!

"Why? You ask?" the zombie girl questioned. "Because you alone are not allowed to enter the mansion." She then pointed to memory Nami and Chopper as she added, "You two are just fine though." This took them both by surprise until she pointed back to Usopp again and added, "You! Get out!"

She began throwing more plates at Usopp as he screeched and was being hit hard enough to be knocked over.

"Stop it, that's enough!" called a voice from beyond the door and the three memory selves froze at the voice, with memory Usopp groaning as he sat up, nursing his swollen head as he said, "Hope he doesn't throw plates."

"We can make an exception just this once, can't we Cindry?" asked the voice as the man stepped outside of the manor. "Forgive me if we startled you. You must excuse her, you see, she was once engaged to a wealthy man and to test his love, she shattered ten plates from his cherished dining set. Sadly, he then called off the engagement."

"Bastard! They were just plates!" Sanji barked out. A real man would have forgiven her on the spot!

As the figure came out of the shadows, they got a look at his round body and thin arms as well as his fang-like teeth. There was a scar going from side of his mouth over his eyes, and to the other side while there was a black tattoo of curly slashes on the left side of his neck. His sense of style was also very strange. Consisting of a fishnet vest, a large dark tie, purple gloves, and a purple feathery cape with a white surgical mask strapped under his chin.

"I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't trust my doctor if he looked like that," Franky said with sweatdrops on his head. "That's Hogback?"

"Weird, I kind pictured him to look like a hog," Sanji stated as he pictured some kind of pig in a doctor's coat.

"Cast out of her home in disgrace, she has become my servant with a boundless plate grudge," Hogback finished.

"Yeah, I don't really care," memory Usopp said bluntly.

"And as you may have already surmised, I am the long missing, world famous surgeon Dr. Hogback," Hogback said with no small amount of humility. "A genius in the eyes of many!"

"Nor is he modest, I see," Robin said as Cindry threw the last plate at Usopp and knocked him over.

"Hey, Cindry! We went over this! I said he could come inside," Hogback scolded. "When you don't listen to me, then I look like a fool in front of our guests!"

She then got a very scary look over her face that scared even Hogback as she said, "I wish every last plate in this world would disappear!"

"Ok…?" Franky said slowly. "I mean, I know that she's a zombie with someone's shadow, but it really makes you wonder just what kind of person they took the shadow from."

"I got it! You don't need to tell me, I mean I just got through explaining it didn't I?!" Hogback demanded as memory Chopper now had stars in his eyes.

"Chopper?" memory Usopp asked as they stared at them. "That's who you were talking about?"

"Nope," the present-day Chopper sighed. "Not the guy I thought he was at all."

"Doesn't look like a genius to me," memory Nami stated.

"Shut up, Nami!" memory Chopper snapped as Cindry went up the stairs.

"I'll make an acceptation just this once," she said as she turned back to look at them. "All three of you may enter. We'll continue our conversation inside. Follow me."

"Uh… and there you have it!" Dr. Hogback said as she left them. "Please make yourselves at home."

Memory Usopp grumped that he still didn't understand why she hated him but they all headed inside, conveniently leaving Hogback outside. Once Cindry opened the door for him they entered to the dining room, which was made of bright red walls, dark ripped curtains and paintings of zombies and taxidermy on the walls.

"You think that we would've noticed from the start that something was wrong with this guy when we saw his taste in décor," present-day Usopp sighed.

"It's quite rare for me to receive guests," Hogback said as they all took their seats and Cindry said that she would bring in some food for them. "But my, you certainly are filthy. Was it a stressful trip?"

"I wonder why," present-day Nami hissed sarcastically as her past self began to explain that they were attacked by zombies in the forest and ran here for shelter. Hogback didn't look surprised as he repeated, "Zombies?"

"Don't talk like you don't know," present-day Chopper snapped angrily.

"We also saw a bunch of crazy monsters that were right out of a horror story!" memory Usopp added. "What the heck is up with this crazy island?! I mean you live here, right? You got to know something?!"

"So these beasts were chasing you, were they?" Hogback repeated. "And yet you still made it here in one piece. Quite impressive. But to answer your question, I don't know much about those creatures either. Which is precisely why I'm here."

Memory Chopper's eyes lit up as he asked if he was study zombies, and Hogback was only too happy to talk about it. He told them that when most hear the word zombie, they think of fear. But if you were to think of it as a human being revived, then it's a different story. He was here trying to solve the dream of man, that everyone in the world has lost someone who was precious to them and that trying to play god is considered to be taboo. That was why he was here… to go into hiding and study the zombies here.

"That would be nice," Robin said, "But if something like that were possible, then there would be no point to birth and death if we could live forever."

"Sounds boring," Luffy said as he yawned. "Just living for today is enough for me."

"We all must go someday," Brook agreed. "That's what makes us value life all the more, Yohohoho!"

"I suppose," Chopper sighed as he thought that over. It's just… he would really want to see the Doctor again. And he knew no small shortage of people who would want a chance to see someone they loved again… just once more. His past self was astonished to hear this, but he was behind his plan completely, saying that if he was able to succeed then he would be brining happiness to so many people all over the world.

"How open minded," he said gratefully, "Why thank you, Dr. Chopper!"

Hearing him being called 'Dr.' was enough to make memory Chopper happy as he danced about and told him that his words won't make him happy and that was when he asked for an autograph, which Hogback was more than happy to do so.

"What'd you end up doing with it?" Zoro asked their Chopper.

"I tore it up and threw it in the ocean," he muttered back darkly.

"So you think you can give me a little tour of your lab later?!" memory Chopper asked until Hogback grew very dark and he snarled menacingly, "No one, and I mean _no one_ can look inside my lab!"

Terrified memory Chopper only nodded with a squeak. Just then, Cindry returned with a tray of flan pudding and she set it down in front of Hogback, causing him to yell at her to at least use a plate until she got scary again and wished that all plates would disappear from the world. In a cold sweat, Hogback chose to forget about this and laughed nervously as he reassured them that this happened all the time and that the tablecloth was clean, where memory Usopp and Chopper both began to slur up their food. While Nami yelled at them that they could still use spoons.

"It looks yummy," Luffy moaned out as his stomach roared and he put his hand there as he slumped to the ground. As the three of them slurped, Cindry let them know that she had run a bath for them since they were all so filthy and that they should take one before going to bed.

"I'm sorry that I took them up on that offer," present-day Nami sighed.

Memory Usopp then turned his head, still on the table, and asked Hogback, "I almost forgot to ask you. There was someone who came to this island before us. This may sound crazy, but have you seen a skeleton roaming around today?"

"Oh, were you concerned about me?" Brook asked them happily.

"Well… I guess I just wanted to know where you were," present-day Usopp reasoned. "I still didn't know you very well, but it didn't hurt to ask."

"I appreciate the thought, Usopp-san," Brook said, touched by his concern.

Hogback froze at the question and repeated, "A skeleton?"

"Judging from his expression, I take it that he knows you?" Zoro asked Brook curiously.

"I suppose you could say that," Brook said. After years of drifting in the dark sea, he came across Thriller Bark, where he was hopeful to find something to fix the rudder and he explored the island. That was where he found the zombies and was later captured and Moria stole his shadow. He later learned of the zombies weakness when he spied on some zombies one night after eating some salted fish. He confronted Hogback, who accidently corrected him that it was sea salt, not the fish that freed the shadows. He had Hogback at swordpoint to try and find out where his zombie counterpart was.

"Yeah, he had an afro and he was in a really good mood for a dead guy," memory Usopp asked.

"Why wouldn't I be happy?!" Brook asked cheerfully and the others just looked on fondly at him.

"Of course, even in this place, I know that it'd still be weird to see a skeleton walking around and talking," memory Usopp finished. "So you sure he didn't come by?"

Hogback was now certainly nervous and he was in a cold sweat as he said, "Never seen him."

After that, memory Nami forced the boys to come upstairs with her, telling them that she wanted to take a bath and they were to guard the door for her. The two were nervous as they walked through the dark and creepy halls.

"You're a big girl, Nami," memory Usopp whimpered. "Can't you do this kind of thing yourself?"

"Usopp is right," memory Chopper agreed. "I could be picking Dr. Hogback's super brilliant brain right now."

"Yeah, yeah, just shut up and keep walking," memory Nami scolded as they groaned. They soon found the bathroom and she went on, with the present-day one warning them all that if they looked in then they were all dead. She went inside and Sanji was drooling as he watched Nami's shadowy form start to take off her clothes and the water was running.

"I know I shouldn't but I wanna take a peek!" memory Chopper said, causing surprise from all of them until his past self finished speaking when Usopp asked him about that, "I'm not talking about Nami's butt you silly human. The thing I wanna take a peek at is Dr. Hogback's awesome laboratory!"

"Speak for yourself, it's probably haunted," memory Usopp said as he leaned up against the door. "Why do we have to sit out here? You know, Nami! If you're that afraid to take a shower by your lonesome, maybe you should skip it all together!"

"Maybe some of us don't want to smell like zombies any longer than we have to!" she yelled back as the boys began finding ways to keep themselves entertained… at least until memory Nami added that they were leaving as soon as she was done.

"WHAT?!" they both cried simultaneously.

"Yeah, I wanna go out and see more of the island instead of sitting here," Luffy spoke up and Nami was trying hard to figure out if she should be offended or not.

Memory Usopp, in blind anger, opened the door and stuck his long-nosed face into the room.

"At night?!" he demanded, "But it's scary enough during the day!"

Sanji and Brook both jumped up and looked through the gap in the door before the present-day Nami smacked them both over the heads and they tasted the floor as her past self threw a bucket at memory Usopp's head.

As memory Chopper put a bandage over his swollen lump, Usopp muttered, "We finally found a place where nobody's trying to eat us, but as soon as we step out, we're the main course in a Straw Hat buffet! That sounds painful! So for the time being, I'm staying right where I am! All we got to do is wait for Luffy to show up! He'll save us!"

As the boys had their backs turned, they didn't realize that a stitched-up zombie cat had just crept behind them.

"I'm surprised that you haven't noticed this before?" Sanji offered as he pointed the cat out and the two lowered their heads at how blind they were.

"He's right, Nami," memory Chopper agreed as he looked to the door. "This island's way too creepy for us! I'm not going through that graveyard again!"

"We're not any safer inside than out," memory Nami warned. "You did take a good look at this mansion, didn't you?"

The two froze as both croaked out, "No…? What do you mean?"

"If I'm right about this place," she said, "We're right in the middle of spook-central. There are more zombies in this mansion than you can shake a stick at."

"AHHHHHH! GET ME OUTTA HERE I NEED MY BRAINS!" memory Usopp and Chopper screamed.

"The one I'm worried about is Dr. Hogback himself," she went on. "He's lying to us, no doubt about it! If he really has nothing to do with the zombies on this island, then you tell me why they leave his place alone and terrorize everything else."

The two were clearly thinking this over and memory Usopp asked Chopper what he thought they should do even though it was obvious that Chopper didn't want to accept this. Memory Nami then decided for them that once she was done, they were going to make their escape while they had a chance and make a break for the coast.

Just then, Nami called, "W-What? Usopp? Chopper? What did you say?"

"Huh?" the two asked, "We didn't say anything." But Usopp then farted and the two were laughing about it.

There was silence for a moment before they heard memory Nami cried out, sounding scared, "Usopp! Chopper, I…"

Sanji raised his head from the floor at once at the cry, his face bleeding and missing a tooth as he looked about. "Nami? Is there something wrong?!"

"Don't worry, they saved me in the end," present-day Nami said as the two both jumped to their feet and flung the doors open. Nami then warned that if anyone else went in there right now, then they would be bleeding on the ground like the two idiots at her feet. Taking a clue, they stood back as they heard what was going on inside the bathroom… including how memory Usopp thanked Nami for some reason.

The present-day Nami glared at Usopp who bowed low once more, muttering for mercy before there was a strange squeak of pain inside the bathroom as she screamed, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? SAVE ME ALREADY! SOMETHING'S IN HERE!"

"He didn't do anything to you, did he, Nami?!" Sanji demanded as he jumped back to his feet.

"No, just held me up against the wall," Nami sighed. "I gave him a good kick to his family jewels though. He paid for seeing me naked… plus, I took all of their treasure in compensation for that."

She couldn't wait to see the memory where she gave that guy the beating of a lifetime.

"DO SOMETHING!" memory Nami screamed. "HE'S ESCAPING OUT THE WINDOW!"

"Great, now I have to shoot at an invisible target!" memory Usopp demanded and then they heard him shouting out, "Special attack: GUNPOWDER STAR!"

They heard the explosion and they knew that at least part of the wall was destroyed in the process. He then asked if he should fire again, but memory Chopper reassure him that he didn't smell anything and that whoever it was, they were gone.

"Then he must have escaped," memory Nami's voice said.

"Oh, Nami, you're not hurt, are you?" memory Chopper asked anxiously.

"Well, whoever it was, they heard it all," she answered instead as memory Usopp asked who she was talking about and she finished, "He was in here the entire time. An invisible man."

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!" Sanji roared out, fire licking his body.

The memory changed until they were back with Luffy's group, and they had finally managed to dock the Sunny and were heading down a flight of stairs until they were in the moat. Seeing how calmly that everyone else was when they confronted that Cerberus zombie made the three of them feel even worse about themselves.

Memory Luffy was able to bring the thing to heel… after he beat the crap out of it, and suddenly they were riding it across the island as they began looking for the others, with both Luffy's excited to see what was coming next.

"You're not looking so, Cerberus," said past Robin, looking over him sympathetically as the poor thing whimpered.

"Don't pity the loser," memory Zoro retorted. "You're hurting his pride."

Memory Sanji continued to yell out Nami's name, trying to find any of the others as they continued to explore the place at an easy pace, as if they were looking for a spot to have a picnic. The Weakling Trio watched them while dark shadows over their faces at how casual they all were as they continued looking all over for them.

The others let them sulk as they came to the strangest sight yet: a tree with an old man's face was getting drunk with a beat-up unicorn.

"That's a sight you won't forget," present-day Franky couldn't help but point out as they stared at the two of them. Memory Luffy and Franky gave chase—the two zombies screaming and crying in terror, dragging them back to the others as Luffy tried to get them to join the crew, until the others yelled at him for that.

If nothing else, it brought a few laughs, which they were all grateful for. At least until the memory faded and they were back in the mansion. Memory Nami had calmed down and had changed into some new clothes as they began wandering around the hallways of the mansion.

"Invisible men don't exist, Nami! End of discussion!" memory Usopp snapped.

"Then who accosted me back there?" she demanded as Sanji's eyes twitched at the idea. How dare this punk treat a lady in such a way?!

"Listen to me! You just imagined it, ok?!" memory Usopp demanded, "I betcha clammy invisible hands are a really common delusion!"

"Not that I ever heard of it," present-day Chopper said as he thought that over.

"I didn't imagine it, you ninny!" memory Nami yelled back. "When you came in there, you saw how it was holding me off the ground, didn't you?!"

At the thought, a bit of blood dripped from Sanji's nose. He was suddenly finding himself extremely jealous at what Usopp saw. To think that he had a chance to see an angel…?

"Yeah, I saw… no wait, I mean…" memory said, before realizing that he had trapped himself in a corner. "Sorry, Nami! Didn't see a thing!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" her memory self screamed and soon it was getting into a big argument.

"AH! TRICK QUESTION! THAT'S NO FAIR! AS SOON AS I CONFESS TO SEEING YOU NAKED, I'M DONE FOR!" he cried out in despair. "YOU'RE GONNA SLAP ME INTO NEXT WEEK!"

"I'M NOT TRYING TO PLAY MIND GAMES HERE!" she screamed. "THE SLAPPING CAN WAIT!"

"Because you saved me, I'll let it go just this once," the present-day Nami said to him suddenly.

"Really?" he asked, relief spreading through his body at the thought.

"So, in exchange, I want you to work a little on my weapon when we get back to the Sunny," she said. "I think that you could make it even more powerful than before."

Usopp nodded at once, knowing that he was getting out of this easy if that was the worst he was getting. He could just count his blessings that he wasn't being smacked against the wall.

"SEE?! I KNEW IT!" memory Usopp shot back. "You want to know what I think?! Nothing I've seen on this island has been real! Including you being naked! The invisible man was just a draft! The ghosts were weird birds… and the zombies were just some… underground tribe!"

"Did you really believe that?" Zoro couldn't help but ask as memory Nami yelled at him if he was crazy or something.

"How was I supposed to know that they were corpses with shadows in them?" present-day Usopp demanded. "And look, in the end, they were explained logically. Scary… but logically.

"Sure we ran into a fiddle-playing skeleton with an afro who was brought back to life by a Devil Fruit…" memory Usopp admitted, "But he was the exception! No two Devil Fruits in the world work the same! If his fruit brought him back to life then he's the only one! So zombies and ghosts and all the other horrible stuff around here are impossible! Right, Chopper?"

When Chopper didn't immediately respond, memory Usopp told him to back him up. There were no natural explanation for them so they couldn't be real. Chopper admitted that if he looked at it form a medical point of view then he agreed. But he couldn't help but wonder that if Hogback thought that his work on the island was so important then there had to be a reason… such as the natural order of things on this island is different.

"Maybe Hogback's not the hero you think he is," memory Nami offered.

"DR. HOGBACK IS AN AMAZING MAN AND A MEDICAL TITAN! I THINK HE'S INCREDABLE!" memory Chopper screamed as his present self shook his head at how closed-minded he was here. "HOW COME YOU THINK THE WORST OF HIM? WE DON'T KNOW IF HE'S FRIENDS WITH THOSE ZOMBIES! YOU CAN'T PROVE ANYTHING!"

Memory Nami looked piteously down at him as she said, "Prove? Who needs proof when it's as plain as the nose on Usopp's face?! Your idol is the zombie king!"

"This is the worst argument ever!" memory Usopp said. "Just agree to disagree!"

Chopper didn't want to listen and then decided that they would go ask Dr. Hogback what he thought. Usopp moaned after him that it sounded horrible as Nami gazed up at a creepy zombie portrait and muttered, "I know that I don't have anything to base it off yet, but I don't trust that Hogback. He gives me the creeps."

"Once again, your sense of deduction amazes me, Nami," Sanji cooed in love. They continued on their way down the stairs until they ended up finding their way back into the dining hall, though all the lights were off and it was pitch black in here. They were calling out for Hogback and Cindry when all of a sudden the chandelier lit up.

"I'm afraid that Dr. Hogback and Cindry called it a day," said a voice and memory Usopp screamed when he looked up to see Hildon was hanging upside down at the chandelier.

"Hildon!" memory Usopp cried. "Why you little…! What's the big idea, ditching our carriage in the middle of a scary graveyard?!"

"I feel bad about that," Hildon said in an unconvincing way. "Out of nowhere I really had to go to the bathroom! You know how it is!"

"You're such a liar!" memory Nami barked. "Admit it weirdo! You're in cahoots with those zombies aren't you?!"

"How could you say such awful things about poor Hildon?" he asked as he spread his arms and flapped to the top of the stairs. "But enough of that unpleasantness, if you'll follow me to the guest rooms?!"

"He doesn't honestly think that would work, does he?" Zoro sighed piteously as memory Usopp barked up, "So if you don't turn us into zombie chow at first, try, try again?!"

They were making it clear that they didn't trust him and that they were leaving right now, even as memory Chopper begged for a chance to try an straighten things out with Hogback. That was when they heard a dark chuckle and a voice speaking up, "Looks like you bungled it, Hildon."

That got the three of them to start looking around, but were unable to see where it was coming from and Hildon whimpered out, "You don't have to be so mean to me. I'll take them up to their rooms."

"I think it's a little late for that," and the voice came from a portrait of the stitched up woman. "These three have noticed far too much around here. We can't risk them telling anyone about us."

"Well, it's not like you were making it difficult!" present-day Nami shouted out as memory Chopper gasped and backed away, his eyes wide and he choked as they stared at the talking portrait. Slowly she began to stretch and come out, chuckling as she watched them.

"You're shaking like leaves on a tree, how adorable," she said softly. "Wanna know a secret? You're so cute, I could swallow you whole right now!"

"HEY!" Luffy yelled angrily when he saw her grabbing Chopper.

"LET GO OF HIM!" memory Nami yelled.

"THE PAINTING'S TRYING TO EAT CHOPPER!" memory Usopp screamed.

"I DON'T WANNA BE A STILL LIFE!" memory Chopper wailed as the woman slowly began pulling herself back into the painting. That was when memory Nami then grabbed hold of him and the two began a tug of war on the little reindeer, who continued screaming. Despite the situation, it was funny hearing memory Usopp scream and root for her as she pulled, and how she shouted at him to hurry up and help.

"I'M MORAL SUPPORT!" he yelled before shivers went up his spine and he moved just as the taxidermy pig on the wall had come to life and had hold a pair of swords from the frame beneath it. It threw one of them at Usopp, who had dodged it right in time.

"Nice reflexes," Sanji offered. "Who knew running away all the time could prepare you for that?"

"SHUT UP!" present-day Usopp barked and the pig on the wall laughed. That was when the bear rug that he was standing on began growling and moaning from the sword in its back. He moved, carrying Usopp up with him as he demanded to know who stabbed him.

"NAMI WAS RIGHT! THIS MANISON IS WALL TO WALL ZOMBIES! EVEN THE DECORATIONS!" memory Usopp screamed as Nami was still trying to pull Chopper out of the woman's hands. As she looked behind her, seeing him on the bear's back, being lifted up to the ceiling and screamed out what he was doing.

That was when he did something very surprising and leapt up to the chandelier and began to swing about. He then grabbed one of the candles and threw it at the bear rug when he came swinging over, yelling out, "Here it comes!" He threw the candle and yelled, "EAT THIS YOU FREAKY UNDEAD RUG!"

"GO FOR IT, USOPP!" Luffy cheered as he clapped. That got the bear's attention, its chest caught fire and he tried to put it out, only for his furry paws to catch ablaze too. The paintings were all starting to creak out at the sight of it and were yelling to get memory Usopp down from there. But he was standing there, having collected all the other lit candles and held them up as he stood on the chandelier.

"Oh, no you don't!" he warned as he held the candles warningly. "Because I know your weakness foul minions of the underworld! The power of Usopp compels you!"

"Oh, my… I think the zombies are more afraid of you than you were of them," Robin chuckled.

"See? It's all about confidence," Franky reasoned for him as he clapped a hand on his shoulder. "That's pretty impressive there, bro."

"No… I'm not… ya really think so?" present-day Usopp said as he looked up at himself. "Now that you mention it, I don't look half bad up there."

His past self began throwing the candles at them, causing a bigger fire and the zombies to scream and panic. Even the one who was holding onto Chopper let go as she stared at the flames and wailed. That was when memory Usopp yelled at Nami and Chopper to open the door, which they didn't need telling twice.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT DR. HOGBACK! I WANNA LEEEEEEAAAAAAVVVVVVVEEEEEEE!" memory Chopper screamed as Usopp jumped down and the three of them made a beeline for the front door and reached into his bag for more projectiles. But as memory Nami pulled at the heavy door, that was when they discovered something unpleasant.

"No! It can't be?!" memory Chopper cried as she began pounding on the door and he was now pulling at the heavy ring.

"You're kidding, right?" memory Usopp gasped in horror, his eyes budging out of his head.

"No, I'm not!" memory Nami cried out, "We're really trapped in here, Usopp!"

"I don't know why you're worried though. You're doing a pretty good job." Luffy offered.

"How dare you set me on fire, you dumb little pyro!" the bear rug yelled as he appeared in the doorway, looking madder than ever.

"You're not getting away that easily!" the pig laughed and they were screaming out once again.

"What now?!" memory Usopp cried as the zombie rug slammed its huge paws at the trio, including taking down part of the wall in the process. The three dodged and made a wild run around him. "That was way too close! We've got to get to a different room! Anything beats this!"

Unfortunately, they couldn't get very far, for they ended up in the fireplace. The zombies advanced, cackling the whole time as the trio moved back as they could go, screaming all the way. The wall behind them began to squeak as the trio eased back even more before it revolved completely, causing the three of them to fall inside.

"Cool, a secret passageway," Sanji said. "And you all just happened to find it?"

"It was either luck or fate," Robin couldn't help but point out.

"I don't care, I'm just glad that it got us away from those guys," present-day Usopp said as their past selves realized that the zombies could easily follow them and they pressed themselves up against the wall, trying to block it. But soon other zombies in the hall appeared for them and they began running, screaming so loudly that it was a wonder that they couldn't hear it from the shore. It didn't matter what corridor they ran, they were cornered by zombies until they spotted a door at the end of the hallway and went straight for it.

They broke right through it and memory Chopper slammed the door behind them. The trio were now trying to catch their breath. However, Usopp looked up and gasped again when the lights came on and they saw several pictures hanging on the wall.

"NO! PAINTINGS!" he cried in shock, getting the other two scared… at least until they realized that they were ordinary photos, not zombies. In fact, there were many of them hung up on the walls and on the tables, realizing that it was actually of Cindry.

"Wow! What a babe!" Sanji said as he looked at them all.

"Now that I get a better look, she's really pretty, isn't she?" memory Nami said. "She sure doesn't look like a servant though."

This confused them all for if this was her room, why would she have so many photos of themselves unless she was this into her own vanity. Memory Chopper questioned about all of her stitches, realizing that they weren't in the pictures either as memory Usopp added, "You're right. And look at that smile. She's like a completely different person than the one we met. Maybe these are old photos and she had some kind of accident? I mean, it's gotta be her."

"It's sad what happened to her," Brook said, having heard the whole story. To think that such a lovely woman would have died in an accident, and then to have her remains be reduced to this? That was when memory Nami found a book that held old clippings of Cindry as her time as an actress and she began looking through it. In the papers it said that she came from a wealthy family and that she had been popular ever since childhood… and that was when Nami when as white as a ghost as she read out that there was an accident ten years ago… when Cindry died.

The two screamed, their eyes rolling into the back of their heads at that.

"T-T-THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT! WE SAW HER OURSELVES! I MEAN SHE IS A BIT CREEPY BUT SHE'S DEFINITELY ALIVE!" memory Usopp screamed.

"He's right! So if what that article says is true after all… SHE MUST HAVE COME BACK FROM THE DEAD! THERE'S NO OTHER ANWSER!" memory Chopper squealed. "ALL THOSE ZOMBEIS WE SAW, WEREN'T JUST SOME WERID MONSTERS! THEY WERE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS WHO DIED AND WERE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!"

And together they screamed louder than ever.

"That's starting to get annoying," Zoro said, his fingers in his ears.

"How could you not be shocked at this?!" present-day Nami demanded. "A girl was killed ten years ago but there she was, walking around and talking! Of course it would freak someone out!"

"Well, it's not like it was really her?" Luffy pointed out.

"Yes, but we didn't know that at the time, now did we?" Usopp demanded hotly. His past self didn't like this at all and asked that they should just pretend they never came in here. But that was where he tripped over a large chest and at the sight of all of them, memory Nami cried out happily at the sight of them all.

Franky then whispered into Usopp's ear, "She bounces back fast."

"I guess she's willing to face anything so long as she gets paid for it at the end," he whispered back as she was now demanding his past self to open the box. When he got it opened, it was a large jack-in-the-box zombie.

They screamed as it laughed out, "SORRY SUCKERS, BUT THERE'S NO TREASURE IN THIS ROOM!"

"A ZOMBIE-IN-THE-BOX!" the trio screamed and they went running straight out of the room, right into another gang of zombies waiting for them and soon they were stuck running around in terror from the zombie portraits again.

Thankfully, the memory changed and they were back to the group in the forest, where memory Sanji was just finishing reprimanding Luffy to stop asking every strange thing he saw to join them. Soon the fight erupted when he and Franky were going at it when he said that they didn't need any more random things in their crew. But before they got too far ahead, they heard something singing from the trees.

 _"Ne-ga-tive, ne-ga-tive, ne-ga-tive…!"_

That caused a round of groans from them all as the cutesy ghost from before appeared. As it sang and danced, it began to make copies of itself until there were a handful of them, and memory Luffy went up to try and catch one with his net. Memory Franky tried to use fire on them, which didn't work… and caused the ghost to pass through his chest.

"This is humiliating," present-day Franky sighed at the sight of himself fell to his knees as he began talking about how useless he was.

"HOW DEPRESSED ARE YOU GONNA GET?!" yelled memory Sanji.

"So your attack didn't work, don't be a baby," present-day Sanji said as his memory self was yelling at him to get back up.

"It's not like I wanted that to happen!" present-day Franky yelled at him as memory Luffy threw the net away and tried to grab the ghost with his bare hands. That proved to be a mistake when it phased right through him like it did with Franky, and then he was on his knees as well.

"If I ever get reborn, I want to be a clam," memory Luffy cursed, sounding close to breaking down completely. "This really sucks… I just wanna die, already…!"

"I hate those things," present-day Luffy frowned at the sight of it.

"Believe me, captain, we all do," present-day Zoro said darkly as he thought back to all the times that Perona had used those things on him.

Memory Robin then gave the suggestion that when the ghost touch you then your spirits get depressed. Both memory versions of Sanji and Zoro were skeptical at first, with memory Zoro commenting how pitiful they were acting for not getting their act together… which caused one other ghost to pass through him… and he was soon on the ground like them muttering how he was sorry for being born.

The ghosts laughed as they went flying away, still singing their song until they were out of sight. After a few more minutes, the three on the ground snapped out of their depression and soon they were all furious and embarrassed by what happened.

They continued on foot for a short while until they came to the same graveyard that they had seen the others attacked before. Memory Luffy had no problems as he looked around and said what an atmosphere this was and they should have lunch here. But then a single zombie popped out of the ground, causing them all to stare at it until memory Luffy came forward and pushed him back into the dirt.

"What made you do that? Just out of curiosity," present-day Robin asked with a chuckle.

"I… don't know?" present-day Luffy answered truthfully as the zombie burst out of the ground again.

"LIKE I'D GO BACK! ARE YOU STUPID?!" the zombie shrieked.

There had been another pause and memory Luffy asked, "An old man with a serious injury?"

"CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S A ZOMBIE?" the three men in the memory yelled at him. And just then more zombies began to burst out of the ground around them. They were jumping, spinning, yelling wildly as if they were ready for a great fight… it was hard to believe that any of them had all been dead for a while now.

Memory Luffy smirked as he cracked his knuckles, and the others were all looking ready to kick some ass. And the battle was no contest… using a new move that they called their "600,000,000 Beri JACKPOT!"

Once the fight all over and done with, with large bumps on each one of their heads, the zombies were on their knees in front of the memory Straw Hats, with memory Luffy sitting on one of the gravestones as he began questioning, "Now then what are you guys doing here?"

Now the zombies were the ones who were looking fearful, and didn't seem like they would dare want to make Luffy any angrier and so they tried to tell them that all they were doing was hanging out and rotting.

Yet, memory Luffy didn't seem to buy a word that they were saying as he lowered his head so that his eyes were hidden by his hat. "Are you screwing with me," he threatened, and for the first time since arriving, he sounded dead serious. The zombies held up their hands defensively as they tried to apologize, but Luffy had already gone on talking, "Now listen. Did you guys see a guy with a long nose, a woman with orange hair, and a blue-nosed raccoon looking like a reindeer come through here?"

"I am a reindeer!" Chopper cried out instantly . "Why can't people remember that?!"

The zombies admitted that they couldn't tell them because they had orders not to give out such information.

"Oh, is that so?" memory Luffy questioned as he cracked his knuckles. Fearing another pummeling from them all, the zombies quickly blurted out that they did see them.

Memory Luffy jumped down the stone and said, "Those guys are part of my crew. Listen up! You… didn't do anything to them, did you?"

"YES!" the three cried out tragically, with Nami shivering at the thought of those cold, dead hands grabbing her and Usopp was rubbing his shoulder where he had been bitten. The zombies were looking horrified and they all began changing that they didn't do anything to them.

"I want the truth! Right now," memory Luffy commanded.

"This guy… did something!" one of the zombies pointed to the very same zombie who Chopper knocked his head off.

"HEY! SHUT UP TATTLETALE!" he yelled at him. "AND ANYWAY! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO BIT HIM!"

"Actually, we all did," a third zombie spoke up and the others jumped at him, yelling, "IDIOT! SHUT UP!"

Well, they were looking at a beat down anyway and so about 30 seconds later, the zombie's top-halves were back underground while their feet stuck out like columns. The Straw Hats, however, were now exiting the graveyard and were headed for the mansion, leaving Cerberus behind.

"Looks like they ran outta here and into that mansion," memory Luffy said as they continued. "I'm glad they're alright. Not sure about Brook though."

"It's fine, don't worry about him," memory Sanji said as they passed through the gate as they left the graveyard behind.

"Oh man, how lame!" memory Luffy laughed. "Those zombies were a bunch of weaklings."

"Why…? Why didn't we grab one of you to come with us on the Mini Merry?!" Chopper cried miserably. They wouldn't have been scared so badly if they had these guys here to protect them. Next time, he wasn't going to any creepy-looking island without having one of the others there.

"Yep, pounding their sorry faces in doesn't even count as a warm-up," memory Franky agreed.

"Still, this is no time to let your guard down," memory Zoro warned. "You never know when someone a lot stronger than those guys is gonna pop up."

"Whoa, wait… you're not… getting scared there, are you buddy?" memory Sanji smirked. "Gonna cry?"

"We didn't know anything about this place! Is it wrong to be worried about the other's safety? Look at what happened because we let our guard down!" the current Zoro snapped as his past self yelled, "Up yours! I'm not scared! A swordsman is never afraid of the dark!"

"Don't yell at me, it's all in the past," the present-day Sanji yelled before his past self barked back, "We'll see! When I knock your lights out!"

"Come on! You wanna piece of me!" both Zoro's yelled and it looked like it was gonna break into a fight, both past and present, until someone else shouted from behind them.

"Wait! Stop! Hold on a minute!" the voice called and they all looked behind them to see someone stumbling out of the forest. "I saw you fight those zombies. All of you have such unbelievable strength! There's something I would like to talk to you about!" and he held up the oil lantern to show that he was another zombie. "Would you please listen?"

"Old man with serious injuries!" memory Luffy recited at once.

"For once, you got it right before anyone else," present-day Franky pointed out.

"IDIOT!" the memory versions of Franky, Zoro, and Sanji yelled behind him. "WE TOLD YOU THEY'RE ZOMBIES!"

"Ah, actually, he hit it right on the money," the man zombie answered.

"In our defense, can you really blame us for thinking that way?" present-day Sanji sighed. Really, the guy could at least try to take care of himself. Then again, maybe that was the point. The zombies think that he's one of them so they leave him alone.

"THAT'S TOO CONFUSING! CAN'T YOU JUST SAY YOU'RE A ZOMBIE!?" the three yelled as memory Luffy stepped forward, asking what he had to say to them before the old man fell to his knees.

"There's an evil man who must be brought down," he said. "And I think you youngsters are strong enough to do it. He's left a trail of victims in his wake. If you defeat him, they'll all be rescued. If you could help me get my shadow back, I'd be ever so grateful!"

"Your shadow?" memory Sanji repeated in surprise.

"Hold on, did we just find another guy who got his shadow taken away?" memory Franky asked in surprise.

"Even by Devil Fruit standards, this is too strange," Nami reasoned. "I mean, how can your shadow be stolen? Just what kind of power is that, anyway?"

"I think that it's just perfect for someone like Moria," present-day Zoro pointed out as he thought about how lazy Moria was.

"Let me take a look," memory Luffy said as he crouched down and looked at the ground around the old man and despite the fact that there was light from the lantern right in front of him…? "It's true! See? He really doesn't have a shadow! He's just like Brook!"

"Well, damn, that sucks," memory Zoro said. "So who did that to you? Is he here? Somewhere on this island?"

The man hesitated, as if afraid of just the name of the man who did this to him but then he croaked out, "M-Moria. His name is Moria. And he's terrifying!"

"More fat than scary," present-day Franky muttered in disagreement as Brook sighed at the thought of how scared he was when Moria stole his shadow from him. Just the memory of his shadow being taken was enough to send shivers down his spine… was that a skull joke? He wasn't sure.

"Moria? You don't mean…?" memory Robin said as she came forward, "Gecko Moria by any chance?"

"Huh? Yes! That's right! Yes! That's him," the only man said at once.

Memory Luffy stood up and turned to look at her and asked if she knew him. Which she confirmed, but only by name, merely telling him that his former bounty was higher than even his. That was when they discovered that this Gecko Moria was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, which took the boys by surprise.

"But, what's a bigshot like that doing in a dumphole like this?" memory Franky asked.

"Stealing shadows of every poor fool he could get so that he could build an army," present-day Sanji sighed as he put another cigarette into his mouth. "And then try to use that army to take over the world. What a dumb plan."

"It took him ten years to build up that army, and we took them out in a single night," present-day Zoro added. "If we hadn't done it, someone else surely would have. He didn't have what it took."

"I'm not exactly sure," the old man confessed, "But I can tell you that he's left behind many victims! Most of which are just wandering around lost in this very forest."

"Just how many is many?" memory Zoro asked in surprise.

"He had at least a thousand shadows in all," Brook stated, "So they were all over the world. The people we met here were just those who were unable to leave."

The old man told them that the fact that they were all invited here meant that Moria was out to get them too. Memory Zoro was lost at this, about to tell him that they weren't 'invited', at least until the memory of them finding the barrel out at sea came back to them all and they understood that they were destined to reach this island one way or another since they opened the barrel up. But suddenly, the old man began to burst into tears.

"We hide in this dark forest, scared of the zombies and all the other creatures here," he whimpered as tears fell, "We can't head out to sea because we'll be exposed to the sun! With this body as weak as it is it's hard to find a will to keep on living. Once! Just once before I die I wanna walk under the sun! To feel it's warmth on my skin just one more time!"

"Oh, the poor guy," present-day Franky started crying as the old man bowed his head and accidently knocked the lantern away as it rolled about. It cast the Straw Hats shadows in all directions, stretching and moving wherever the light moved while the old man didn't cast anything. Memory Luffy put his hand on the lantern as memory Franky began crying like the current one.

"You're too compassionate, stop crying whenever we hear sad things," present-day Sanji scolded him.

"Enough of this," memory Sanji added as he pointed at the old man and added, "Hey! Creepy Grandpa! Only ladies get to persuade people with their tears! Show a little backbone will ya!"

"That's your problem?!" Nami demanded. "You had your shadow stolen! That can't have been fun!"

"Regardless, I still think that they rely too much on others," present-day Zoro told her dully. "How long have they been in this forest hiding from zombies? I'm sure they must have come across their zombie at least once or twice. What were they doing all that time? Playing hide-n-seek?"

"Well, you're in luck," memory Luffy said. "We're actually looking for a guy that steal shadows, and I'm pretty sure he's the one. If he's coming after us, then that just makes things easier. I'm gonna kick his ass, and if that saves you while we're at it then that's fine by me!"

"OH! That's very kind of you!" the old man gasped out gratefully, "Thank you! Thank you! You've give me new hope!"

He wasn't the only one, for suddenly dozens of voices began to speak up, the victims all crying out that they were counting on them and to tear Moria a new one.

"What the hell?" memory Sanji demanded, "The other victims? It's not polite to eavesdrop!"

It seemed that they weren't the only ones who didn't know that. For the memory changed back to the three in the mansion and they were, once again, running for their lives. To be honest, it was getting a little old seeing them running away and screaming in terror… but at one point they reached another doorway, that was open just a hair and there was a familiar laugh coming from behind it. They slowly crept closer to it as they heard Hogback laughing inside and they peered through the crack to see what was going on.

Hogback was definitely there, and he was standing with a scalpel in his hand as he cackled. They saw some of the creepy tools and equipment scattered about, as well as a zombie lying on the table. Hogback was bragging about his 'work of art' to Cindry as she stepped out of the shadows and carried a bag with her that was dripping.

"I hope this stupid thing blows up and burns your face off," she said robotically.

"You tell 'em, girl," Franky said approvingly.

"WHY WOULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT?!" Hogback hollered at her. "Cindry, please. You make me anxious with all those unnecessary and frankly hateful remarks of yours!" That was when she held up the dripping bag, telling him that she prepared a midnight snack for him of spaghetti soup… and she poured the contents of the back over the table.

"I know she's dead, but she could at least not waste food," Sanji sighed as Hogback yelled at her for that.

"Cindry's here too," memory Nami whispered as she stared at Cindry, who barely resembled her old photos anymore. "Did she really die in an accident like that newspaper article said? No, that can't be true…"

"What is that thing anyway?" memory Usopp asked as he looked to the ugly thing lying there on the table.

"It looks like a human body," Chopper whispered. "But judging from those injuries, he must be dead already. But… look, he's got a number on him too. Just like the zombies in the graveyard."

"And Hogback said he was almost finished," memory Nami added. "I think that settles it. What we're about to see here, is the creation of a new zombie. And that means that Dr. Hogback made all the other undead creatures on the island as well. There can't be any other explanation."

"You think that a world famous surgeon would have had a better hobby than this," Sanji said darkly. "Why not make some real puppets then if he wanted them so badly? This guy's nuts."

"I guess this is what happens when you have too much free time on your hands," Robin offered with a shrug.

"Yeah, but… even if he's a genius, it can't be that easy to bring people back," memory Chopper pointed out. "You saw, there were tons of those things. You don't think he made all of them himself, do you?"

"He did," the current Chopper muttered bitterly. Now that he knew how it worked, eh supposed it wouldn't have been too hard for him to make all those 'puppets' would there?

"Regardless of what we think we will see for ourselves," memory Usopp warned, "If there is some kind of secret to bringing the dead back to life then this has got to be it, right?"

But while they watched, they didn't realize that they were no longer alone. They heard the sounds of wooden shoes, much like the kind that Jimbei wore and that got their attention.

"Yohohohohohohoho…" laughed a voice, "Good evening! What's the matter? If you're just gonna stand there and stare, you might as well go inside."

"Yo… ho… ho… ho?" memory Usopp croaked out.

"That… isn't Brook, is it?" memory Chopper whispered, his eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," Brook answered with a shake of his head. "That's not entirely true… but I wish it was me."

"Then that's…?" Luffy began, but before he could finish, what happened next happened so quickly that only those with sharp eyes could see the attack. The three memory selves were flung into the room and crashed into the stone table with cries of pain from a sudden attack. Through the dust and smoke, a figure appeared and it was a mummy who watched from the dust.

Cindry didn't even bother looking down at them as Hogback shrieked in shock, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

The three were trying to recover from that shock, but thankfully seemed unhurt as Hogback was demanding to know why they were here.

"Hey," memory Nami said to the others, completely ignoring him, "That guy was… well I could have sworn that it was Brook back there!"

"Yeah, I know, but he wasn't a skeleton," memory Chopper pointed out. "He had skin like a mummy!"

"Yes, I'm afraid that was the zombie who had my shadow," Brook sighed. "From what I learned of him, he was once an incredibly powerful samurai from the country of Wano. Apparently, Hogback went to great lengths to steal the remains of powerful warriors."

Zoro snorted at that while Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all had starts shining in their eyes at the thought of samurai. A true warrior needed a healthy body and spirit… a zombie swordsman had neither of those. He wished that he had a chance to meet this samurai when he was alive.

As they talked, they finally noticed that Hogback was there, and he looked madder than hell.

"YOU FOOOOOOOLS!" he shrieked as they screamed and backed against the stone table.

"HE FOUND US!" they shrieked.

"Kinda hard not to notice you when you go blasting into the room," Robin pointed out.

"That wasn't our fault!" present-day Usopp stated. "We would've been happy not to go in there if that mummy didn't attack us first!"

"Indeed!" Hogback said angrily, "And what did you see? Didn't I tell you never to peek into my research room?!"

Suddenly all three of them began lying, trying to convince him that they didn't see anything at all. At least until memory Usopp ruined it for them by saying, "Really! It's the honest truth! We certainly didn't see that zombie you were making!"

"DUMBASS!" the two screamed at him.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A LIAR!" present-day Nami yelled. "YOU'RE ALMOST AS BAD AS LUFFY!"

"I really seem to have lost my edge," present-day Usopp muttered as he thought that over.

"Alright, fine then," Hogback said, "I'm sure you figured out some of my secrets by now. But you're too late. In just a few minutes, the Night Hunt will begin!" As he said that, he looked up to a clock up on the wall, and they saw that it was exactly five minutes to midnight.

"The Night Hunt?" memory Nami repeated slowly.

"Mercy to those who dare wander the island after dark!" Hogback cackled. "No intruder shall survive the Night Hunt!"

The memory suddenly cut back to Luffy's group, who had left the victims behind and had already continued on their way to the manor, having just reached the Iron Gate when it began raining. That was where memory Luffy spotted the sail through the fog and the mark of Gecko Moria.

"Yes, you're right," the old man said, having followed them all the way here.

"HEY! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL FOLLOWING US?!" the three memory selves yelled as they all looked back at him.

"Right about what?" memory Luffy asked.

"Like he said, what you see is a sail," the old man explained as he pointed above their heads. "Of gigantic proportions. It's so large that seeing the entire thing at once is quite difficult. You see Thriller Bark is not the island it appears to be. Believe it or not, it's actually, the world's largest pirate ship."

The others were having a hard time believing that, even Franky, who put the name together because 'Bark' was normally a type of ship that had three or more masts, but to think that this entire island was a ship…?

"The back of the mansion is where you'll find the main mast," the old man added. "It's also the home of Gecko Moria."

They looked to see that he was right, the more it rained, the more the fog cleared for them to get a bigger view of the entire ship. That was when the ringing of the bell started to sound with loud chimes… ringing on twelve times, signaling midnight and this 'Night Hunt'.

"Well, here we go!" memory Luffy said brightly as they opened the gate. "To the Ghost Mansion!"

 **(First chapter for the New Year! Hope you all enjoyed it, and we are finally starting to get back at looking at the past battles of the other Straw hats. I promise that there will be a point to this. I hope you all enjoyed this longer than usual chapter. But I will be going back to school today, so I don't know when I'll next get a chance to finish the next chapter. As for skipping over the parts where they were all separated and what happened at Sabaody… I never really liked them if I have to be honest. And I just wasn't feeling ambitious enough to do them all. Happy New Year!)**


	15. Floor 14: The Freaks Come Out At Night

**Floor 14: The Freaks Come Out At Night**

Things were looking pretty serious from where they were standing. The memory versions of Nami, Usopp and Chopper were all confronting Hogback about his 'work' on the island just as the clock on the wall struck midnight. They had hogback and Cindry in front of them with no other way out of the lab, and a freaky mummy samurai behind them passed the now destroyed doorway.

Memory Nami slammed her hand down on the ground as she demanded, "What was that nonsense about studying zombies, Hogback? There's no hiding it now! We know you're the one making all the creatures on this island, so out with the truth already!"

"Guess you guys decided not to beat around the bush anymore?" Zoro asked them.

"Well, it's not like we could have lied our way out of this," present-day Nami sighed before she cast a glare over at their Usopp, who turned red and looked away as he mumbled an apology for how pathetically he had tried to lie their way out of this problem.

"Whoa! Easy there, Nami!" memory Usopp warned as memory Chopper continued to stare at Hogback with shock in his eyes, "Don't piss him off!"

"Your accusations are meaningless whether they're true or not," Hogback cackled back. "But out of curiosity, what's your proof?"

"Proof? How about the fact that he's working on a zombie?!" Franky demanded, looking over the guy's shoulder to see the large zombie that lay their immobile. "This place is filled to the brim with freaky zombies! I don't know what other proof you need!"

"He'd just deny anything that you would say, but there's no point," Robin offered. "No one else is here, and as far as he can tell, a small crew of pirates isn't a threat if he has a Warlord protecting him. And under normal circumstances, he'd probably be right."

"But that was before they decided to mess with this crew," Sanji smirked as he let out a breath of smoke. "Serves him right."

Memory Nami glared at the mad doctor before she pointed to Cindry and declared, "We read your assistant's obituary! Victoria Cindry! She died 10 years ago!"

Cindry didn't react at all, but Hogback quickly grew angry—even his smile couldn't hide the anger that was clearly boiling under his skin.

"You cretains! How the hell did you know that?!" Hogback demanded. "Answer me!"

The three didn't dare answer, realizing that they were just adding more fuel to the fire. But Hogback seemed to have figured it all out on his own as he snarled out, "So, not only did you three sneak into my secret lab, but _that_ room as well." He then stood tall as he shouted out, "My dear Cindry! Samurai Ryuma! Throw them into the world of darkness! Never to return!"

Cindry held up a stack of sharp-looking plates, while it didn't look very threatening, memory Usopp was clearly remembering the last time she had plates and it left a painful impression on him.

"Wait! Let's talk this over!" memory Chopper pleaded in one last attempt to prevent this from breaking out in violence.

"I'm sorry, doctor, but I'm afraid it's too late for that now," Hogback said. "The night hunt has already begun you see."

That was when they heard the sounds of the wooden shoes once again and looked behind them to see the shadowy figure approaching them from the dark hallway.

"Done with your little tour of the lab?" asked an eerily familiar voice. "Do you need me to show you out?

The figure that had attacked the three Straw Hats finally stepped into the low light of the lab and they were able to get a good look at him. He was more of a mummy than a zombie, and very tall… with there looking like there wasn't a difference in height to him and Brook. He has several bandages wrapped around his face, he didn't have either eyes or nose as his skin was stretched so tightly over his bones that he may have well have been a skeleton. He wore a tattered kimono with blue intricate designs, as well as a worn, blue scarf that covered his neck and mouth, and the white hair he had was tied up into a traditional samurai topknot.

"Hey Brook, that's…?" Luffy began as Brook nodded grimly.

"Indeed," he sighed back. "They were fascinated by me and decided to put my shadow into a very powerful zombie. I guess to prevent me from being able to keep me from trying to regain it one day."

"Oh my… upon closer inspection, you're quite the lovely young lady, aren't you? Beautiful," Ryuma asked Nami when he saw her.

"How can he? He's got no eyes?" Franky pointed out before realizing what he said and quickly looked to Brook, who was skulking over his joke being taken once again.

"Oh, no… not at all," memory Nami said awkwardly.

"You know, I only have eyes for girls like you," Ryuma said with a laugh. "Or I would if I had any eyes in the first place. Yohohohoho! That said, perhaps you would like to show me your panties?"

"YEAH RIGHT!" memory Nami barked back before she stopped as she stared at him.

"Déjà vu," Robin nodded in agreement.

"It was the strangest feeling," present-day Nami said. "It was like reliving that moment over. I couldn't figure out how that thing sounded like Brook, when it clearly wasn't."

"Yes, even if Moria had cut them away, your shadow is still connected to you," Brook reasoned. "So it will have your personality even if it is being controlled."

Hogback laughed again. "This fellow is of a much better stock than the zombies you encountered thus far. He is one of my zombie generals. His body is quite special. It harkens from the country of Wano in the New World."

"Wano…" Zoro repeated slowly.

"You know that place, Zoro?" Luffy asked curiously when he saw the faraway look in Zoro's eye.

"Merely heard of it," he answered back, knowing that he heard Mihawk mention it at least once. "But I would like to visit there someday. That place is supposed to be filled with extremely powerful swordsmen. I would love the chance to cross blades with some of them."

"Really powerful swordsmen?" Luffy repeated before a sunny smile came to his face and he called, "Alright! Let's go to Wano after this!"

"Interesting, do you know how to get there?" present-day Nami asked with a roll of her eyes as Hogback went on to explain that Ryuma was a legendary Dragon Slayer.

"I wouldn't worry," Robin nodded. "I'm sure if we keep following the log, we'll get there eventually. It sounds like a fascinating and mysterious place as well. I would love a chance to be able to look around it."

Just then, Ryuma slowly began to walk towards the three of them, his hand going to the black sword that Zoro now wore. The three in the memory began to panic as they backed away, half expecting a fight. Ryuma unsheathed his sword, an ominous looking katana that seemed to glow with darkness as he continued walking forward. The memory versions of Usopp and Nami got out their weapons, poised to strike, while memory Chopper flinched, but then… with a great wind sweeping through them… they looked up to see that Ryuma just… strolled passed them.

"Cindry," Ryuma said conversationally as the sword hung almost innocently in his hands. "If you wouldn't mind, please open that door for me, and if you have a moment, I'd like a sandwich as well."

"That was a hard hit," Zoro said, having seen what happened, but it had been so quick, all he saw was the flash of light.

"I am so sorry," Brook sighed at the sight, shaking his head in sadness.

"You mean…?" Franky asked, just figuring out what happened as the three in the memory were baffled to what just happened. They decided to just leave now while they had a chance, but as they bolted for the only way out, they didn't notice how the slight wind whipped around Ryuma's scarf and kimono or how Hogback grinned. What happened next no one knew, only there was a bright light and blood bursting out.

"NAMI-SWAN!" Sanji shrieked out.

"Relax! He only used the blunt edge of the sword," Zoro called.

"TO HELL WITH THAT! IF YOU GOT ANY DECENCY THEN YOU SHOULD THROW THAT SWORD AWAY! IT SPILT THE BLOOD OF A LADY!" Sanji barked back, getting him angry.

"LIKE HELL I WILL!" Zoro shouted back.

The memory blacked out, with the last thing they heard was Hogback's voice calling out, "Splendid. They say that when a true master cuts you, you can just walk away humming and smiling. It's not until later that you realize that you've been struck down!"

The three crumbled with Ryuma's voice whispering softly as he began to sheath his sword. "Three Verse Humming… ARROW NOTCH SLASH!"

Ryuma fully sheathed his sword, and then the memory versions of Usopp, Nami, and Chopper collapse and it all went dark.

"What happened?" Robin asked in confusion. "It didn't look like you were all slice in half?"

"Don't say things like that, Robin!" Usopp snapped at her.

"I think that he hit you with the blunt edge of the sword," Zoro remarked. "Which would make sense because under normal circumstances, you all would have been sliced in half."

"Why are you people so grim?" Nami whimpered with tears rolling down her cheeks. Just what kind of crew was this?

"The point is that they needed you all alive so they just knocked you out, right?" Franky asked.

"It would seem so," Brook sighed before he bowed low and added, "I hope that you can all accept my apologizes."

"Hey!" Luffy said firmly, tugging on Brook's feathered boa to get him to listen. "That wasn't your fault, Brook!"

"Nevertheless, it was my shadow… my technique that attacked you that night," Brook said firmly with that same grim tone. "Please know that I will not try to make excuses, but that…?"

"Don't worry about it," Usopp said at once as he waved his hand. "We know that it wasn't really you who did that, Brook! It's all water under the bridge now!"

"Yeah! That's right!" Chopper added with a smile. "And even if it was your shadow, we were only knocked out! There's nothing to be sorry for!"

"Oh… thank you all so much! Yohohoho!" Brook said happily as the memory returned and they were back with Luffy's group, who all just entered the dining hall of the mansion. Memory Luffy was calling out for Moria as the rest of them were able to get a good look at the damage that had been done earlier by Nami and the boys.

"Luffy, did you really think yelling for Moria to come out was a smart idea?" present-day Sanji asked their Luffy curiously.

"Well, if we were going to fight him, might as well let him know that I'm here to kick his ass, right?" present-day Luffy offered brightly.

"Have you no concept of danger?!" Usopp demanded. "You're gonna get us all killed one day. You know that, don't you?"

"Rally?" present-day Luffy asked in surprise. "Well then…" he bowed his head as he said, "I'm sorry in advance."

"SHUT UP!" Usopp barked back.

"But you know something?" Franky offered as he looked at their past selves. "Apart from me, it's funny how you three were the only ones who didn't have your shadows stolen the whole time… while the rest of us were."

"That's because we knew better than to stay in one place for long," Usopp said proudly.

Sanji nodded as he added, "In other words, you just kept running and hoped that you didn't get caught."

"Hey!" Chopper shouted up at him as Usopp added, "At least we never had our shadows stolen! What about you?!"

Robin chuckled at that as she added, "Alright, we promise to be more careful from now on. Don't worry."

They watched the scene before them when their past selves heard the dark laughter. The portraits and taxidermy began to attack them… at least until the five Straw Hats were able to put a stomping on them right away. The zombies, like the ones outside, didn't stand a chance, and memory Luffy was actually laughing the whole time as he sent the bear flying right into the wall.

The zombie pig, who was still up on the wall, was staring down at them all in a state of shock as they brought him down to face them. As the Straw Hats tried to get some answers from him, he tried to tell them that their friends were just fine in the guest rooms, and they should go upstairs and see for themselves. But they knew now that this was all just a distraction for memory Sanji was ambushed from behind by a pair of spider… mice… things? Anyway, before he could even let out a startled cry, he was wrapped up in web and hoisted away and the present-day Sanji was shaking his head at this, mentally kicking himself for how easy that he was spirited away like that.

When the others noticed that they were one crew member short, the pig chuckled as he told them that they were never getting out of this place. Soon all the zombies around them were laughing as well, speaking up as they told them that they had no hope of beating Moria.

"Shut up," memory Luffy said with such a cold rage that the zombies gasped and fell silent at once. "You can tell that Moria bastard, that if he so much as lays a finger on my friends… I'll sink this whole island and every single zombie here, too!"

"Thank you, Luffy," Chopper said tearfully, grateful by Luffy's devotion.

"Thing is, you really would have sunk this whole island if you could if you thought it would get us all back," Robin offered with a smile.

"Hey! No one messes with this crew without an ass-kicking!" present-day Luffy declared as he punched his fists together and the men all let out similar cheers at his declaration. The memory faded once more until they were back outside.

When the memory came back, it was with a loud crash and it came too in the middle of what appeared to be a mixture of a girl's bedroom and a forest. There was a large cluster of trees around them, as well as the scattered pieces of furniture and even single-standing walls all about them. There was a broken coffin lying there, with the three memory Weakling Trio groaning as they began moving. A few feet away, there were a couple zombie squirrels getting back to their feet. It seemed that they were the ones carrying the coffin with the three of them in it before they tripped and that was what woke them all up.

"Oopsie! We dropped it!" the first squirrel called as he popped right up.

"Oh, my!" the second squirrel, who had a blue mask over his head, added, "That's bad! Whatever will the master think if it's broken?"

"Those squirrels look familiar," Robin said with a frown, fairly certain she had seen a couple people who resemble those two from somewhere. That was when memory Chopper crawled out from the broken side of the coffin, dazed and confused.

"Crap! They're awake! We're screwed! Kill them!" the second squirrel yelled. "Beat them to death! Hurry! Hurry!"

"Too bad that their boss wouldn't like that," Franky pointed out sarcastically, which the squirrel's friend seemed to think.

"Killing is bad!" the first squirrel reminded him, "They need to be alive!"

"Ok! Half kill him half dead!" the second squirrel said as they charged.

"Half kill them half dead?" present-day Luffy said in confusion.

"Don't think too much about it," present-day Nami reassured him. "They're zombies and thus, they have rotting brains."

Memory Chopper looked up in time to see that the two squirrels were swinging around miniature weapons as they charged at him. He let out a shriek and instinctively shifted into his Heavy Point before sending them flying off and knocked them out before they hit the ground.

"See?" Sanji asked their Chopper. "You can take out zombies easily. You panic too easily."

"It's was easy with them," present-day Chopper pointed out. "They're small. Even Usopp was able to kick them."

"Yeah, even I was able to… HEY!" present-day Usopp barked when he realized what Chopper said as the memory reindeer went to check on his past self and Nami, who were just starting to wake up in the coffin.

"Usopp! Nami!" memory Chopper cried out, "Guys! We're ok! Wake up!"

The two groaned as they sat up, not taking long for them to remember what happened.

"But wait…" memory Usopp said as he looked at his hands like he was expecting them to have been sliced off. "That guy…? He cut us!" He looked down at the slight wound in his gut—where they could see the blood on the sash… yet it looked like the bleeding had already stopped as he added, "He must have used the back of his sword."

"Again, I am so…" Brook began but present-day Usopp gave him a punch in the shoulder.

"Don't say it again," he retorted. "We know you'd never do something like that to us! No worries!"

"Looks like it rained while we were knocked out," memory Nami said as she slowly got to her feet and stepped outside the coffin. "The ground's a bit wet…? Where are we?"

"Funny, you wake up after nearly getting sliced apart and waking up in a coffin and the first thing you notice is that it had rained," Robin offered lightly.

Present-day Nami rolled her eyes as she retorted, "I'm a navigator! It's what I do!"

"And what an amazing joy you do, Nami-dear!" Sanji swooned happily.

"All I know is that we're outside now," memory Chopper answered as he pointed to the unconscious squirrels. "And those little squirrel guys dragged us here in the coffin we were just in."

"Holy crap! It is a coffin! I didn't notice!" memory Usopp shrieked as he looked down to see just what he was standing on. But before he could say anything else, the zombie squirrels suddenly jumped up.

"Ah turds! All three of them are awake now!" the first squirrel with all the scars on his face cried.

"Let's book it! We need back up!" the second, wearing the mask, added. The two ran away, heading back the way they came, to where they could see the back of the mansion while the gloomy fog began to drift back in.

"Funny, you were being carried there, but the boys had been dragged there by the use of webs," Robin informed them.

"What?" everyone but Franky asked in confusion. Robin explained that the two of them had seen Luffy being carried off by some kind of zip line made out of spider web, thus getting him to Moria quickly. She could only assume that Zoro and Sanji had been carried off in the same way as well, especially with how quickly that memory Luffy had come across Zoro's zombie.

"Can't say I remember that," Sanji admitted as he thought back. "One minute I was in the dining hall, the next I was tied up like a pot roast and then carried off before being slammed into the coffin. The next time it was opened, Moria was there… and he cut off my shadow."

Zoro and Luffy both sighed as well, knowing that it was the same for them both. Man, how sad was that? It looked like they had been asleep for most of their time on Thriller Bark… letting that fatass bastard stealing their shadows like that?

"I see," memory Nami said, getting everyone's attention. "They brought us to the back of the mansion. I think Hogback's lab is on the top floor so they took us pretty far. It's probably good when we woke up when we did."

Memory Chopper then looked around and he got their attention by to the even larger building behind them. They were all taken aback by it, having not seen it the entire time they were here on the island and it was bigger than the mansion.

"To be fair, we couldn't even see the sail with all the fog," Franky pointed out reasonably. "Most likely the fog did all that."

"Yes, this is the largest pirate ship in the world after all, so seeing it all at once is very difficult, if not impossible," Brook reassured them.

"Usopp! Chopper!" memory Nami yelled, having climbed up to a battlement far off to the side and was looking down over the ledge. "I know exactly what this place is!"

"Oh yeah?" memory Usopp called as the two went running up to look over the edge to see the forest below them. "Then let's hear it then, 'cause I'm lost!"

"Look," memory Nami said as she pointed to the two buildings. "This is a bridge that connects one building to the other. Or more like a passageway."

"Passageway?" memory Usopp repeated as he looked to all the scattered furniture that were among the trees. "It's kinda wide for that, don't ya think? There's even a forest. Well, it's kinda a forest, and kinda a bedroom or something."

"Yeah, the whole island has a very strange fashion sense," present-day Nami sighed as she looked at the worn-looking furniture. Still, better than having zombie portraits up on the wall."

"Anyway, if they were dragging us through here while we were passed out then they must have been taking us to that other building for some reason or another," memory Usopp stated nervously. "It's probably better that we don't know."

"Don't be a baby," memory Nami said as she jumped down from the battlement, "They were turning us into zombies and you know it."

The two shrieked at those words as Luffy stated bluntly, "You're acting pretty brave here, Nami."

"I had something more important on my mind than zombies," present-day Nami stated as Usopp and Chopper both sighed.

"Really? What was it?" Luffy asked brightly.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon," present-day Usopp sighed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" memory Chopper demanded. "We got to get outta here!"

"Yeah," memory Usopp agreed. "I'm not going back in that coffin!"

"Not so fast guys," memory Nami said, taking them both by surprise. "Let's calm down for a second here. We were running scared for so long, I feel like we're forgetting something here. Think!"

"I don't wanna think! I wanna run!" memory Usopp barked at her.

"I know!" memory Chopper agreed. "My 'something-freaky-detector' is detecting something freaky!"

"I know that you're frightened," Robin said soothingly, "But you need to calm down and think about what you're going to do. You can't just run off without a plan."

"Yeah, we already have one crewmate who does that and look at all the trouble he gets us in," Sanji added darkly as he patted Luffy's head.

"We just wanted to get off the island," present-day Usopp sniveled miserably. Meanwhile his past self and memory Chopper were shrieking and trying to reason with Nami into running with them as she continued thinking, with memory Usopp telling her that whatever she was thinking about, it didn't matter. She should just figure it out later.

"Nami, I'm scared!" memory Chopper added as Nami turned back to them.

"I know! I'm just trying to come up with a plan here! I'm just as scared as you are!" memory Nami tried to convince them, even though her eyes were clearly saying otherwise.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOUR EYES ARE SAYING!" the two screamed at the large Beri marks that appeared.

"Why were you thinking about treasure?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"I was just thinking about that jack-in-the-box zombie," present-day Nami explained shrewdly. "Remember when we were in that room with all those pictures of Cindry? He said that there was no treasure in 'this' room. So that meant that there had to be treasure somewhere."

"Probably from all the people they came to the island before us," Brook answered. "They steal their shadows, as well as whatever was valuable on their ships before they let them go."

"That sucks," Zoro shrugged.

"Then which way are we running?" memory Nami demanded calmly as she folded her arms. "Forwards? Or back?"

At the question, memory Usopp took several deep breathes as he thought over her words, realizing that she made a good point. Since jumping over the side was out of the question, their only options were to go back to the mansion or go to the new building. While Luffy was cheerfully yelling that they should go to the new building, memory Usopp went on saying, "That's a good question. If we head back to the mansion we might run into that zombie samurai again, huh?"

"But you would have run into us a lot sooner," Franky pointed out.

"Well, when you say it like that, maybe that was the better option," present-day Nami nodded slowly.

"Yeah, but… the other place might have even tougher, scarier guys," memory Chopper pointed out.

"Good point, especially since that was where Moria is," Sanji reminded them. "And if they were going through all the trouble to carry you over there, you'd just be walking right into Moria's hands."

"And get our shadows stolen, right," present-day Chopper sighed before their memory selves suddenly had guests. It looked like, a trio of penguins all dancing into view, which took them all by surprise.

"Neat forest," Luffy laughed.

"NEAT MY BUTT!" present-day Usopp barked at him.

"Count off!" one penguin said, who had only one eye, blonde hair, and a brown cap said. "One!"

"Two!" the second said, who was wearing a top hat and appeared to have human lips stitched to where his mouth was.

"Three!" the third who, oddly enough, had a dog's face stitched on his body with his left eye shut. He wore a beach ball style hat and a blue bowtie.

Robin blinked at the sight of the penguin, realizing at once whose zombie that was. For a moment she could have sworn that she felt the pain in her ribs where that same penguin ended up kicking her. Not that she brought it up as the penguin with the hair called happily, "Howdy folks! They call us…"

"The Zombie Penguin Duo!" said the penguin with human lips, before he seemed to realize that something was wrong and added, "Wait… that's not right…?"

"Trio! We're a trio! I'm the new guy!" said the penguin with the dog's face.

"WHO CARES?! NO ME THAT'S FOR SURE!" memory Usopp yelled.

"And behind you is the rest of the crew!" said another voice and they all turned around to see… that while they were talking to the penguins, they had just been surrounded by a pack of zombie animals.

"Wow, what freaks!" Zoro said, actually impressed that someone could have come up with such twisted animals.

"I'll say," Sanji muttered darkly as sweat hung about his head as the zombies introduced themselves as the Wild Zombies. "What kind of drugged-up mind could come up with something like this guys?"

"Welcome," they all recited, "to Mistress Perona's Wonder Garden!"

"Right, they are the Wild Zombies! Zombie animals that Perona controlled," Brook said at once.

"And she thinks they're… cute?" Franky couldn't help but ask. "Then again, she did dress Zoro up as a teddy bear, so I guess it's no surprise."

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THAT?!" Zoro yelled at him.

"THOSE THINGS ARE SERIOUSLY FREAKY!" all three of the memory Weakling Trio shrieked.

"Now!" a zombie koala cried out with a sword in his hands. "Let's beat them to a bloody pulp!"

But memory Chopper showed real courage as he told Nami and Usopp to run as he charged at them, punching as many as he could. Not that it mattered for there wasn't much choice for the other two to run to. They were surrounded on all sides by zombies, and since these guys were wild animals, they could run faster than they could.

The Wild Zombies were surprised by Chopper at first, quickly realizing that he didn't look human but wasn't a zombie either. They deduced that he must have had zoan type Devil Fruit powers and tried to reason with him that since he was an animal like they were, they would cut him a break and said that if he got down on his knees and begged, they would only bloody him up a little.

"Right, like that's a deal that anyone in their right mind would agree to," Luffy said with a pout. "Dumb zombies."

"I agree," Zoro said approvingly as he watched memory Chopper snapped back that he wasn't anything like that and he would never beg. He continued doing his best to fight, but with so many that he wasn't getting far. The same was for memory Usopp and Nami… who mostly had tiny creatures like the zombie squirrels attacking them—with memory Usopp was able to kick them away as Nami hid in some nearby bushes.

"Nice to see you all fighting back instead of running, though," Zoro added.

"Not that we had a choice since there was nowhere to go!" present-day Usopp snapped at him just as some kind of a freaky mixture of a zombie zebra and a kangaroo with boxing gloves came bouncing up to him.

"What's that? You wanna fight?" memory Usopp demanded as he held up his fists despite the sweat that was pouring down his face. "Well bring it on you… zebra-kangaroo! Or, ah… kangaroo-zebra maybe? Ah… which one do you like better?"

"I think a zebra-kangaroo!" Luffy said at once.

"Nah, what it looks like more always goes first, kangaroo-zebra!" Franky disagreed.

"Does it really matter?" present-day Nami sighed as the zombie didn't answer as he hopped in place, ready to throw some punches. Memory Usopp tried to scare him by lying, saying that he actually won every golden pirate boxing championship for fifty years… which caused the rest of the Straw Hats to look at their Usopp with their eyebrows raised.

Memory Usopp tried to throw a punch, only to get his face punched black and blue. Just then, memory Nami went screaming out of the bushes as a hoard of small zombies went chasing her, causing her to scream in terror. As she ran, Usopp was trying to get away from the zombie kangaroo, only to be jumped from behind by a couple rabbit-monkey zombies. But at the last second, when the two attacked him and the kangaroo-zebra threw another punch, memory Usopp tripped over his cape and fell out of the way as the kangaroo-zebra punched the two rabbit-monkeys.

As the monkeys told the kangaroo-zebra off, memory Usopp started running and ran into memory Nami, who was still running from her own zombies before they all headed for a nearby flight of stairs. The two ran as fast as they could up the steps as the two crowds crashed into each other before they began following them. Soon though they were in a kind of maze of staircases and they were having a hard time keeping track of where to go. There were stairs that went this way and that, and they went until they ended up meeting the kangaroo-zebra at the top of a flight of stairs, who began to chase them down it. But as they went back down the stairs, the rest of the zombie hoard was running up towards them. They were cornered…

"Where are you going to go?!" present-day Chopper gulped, having no idea how they could have gotten out of it if they were cornered on both sides.

"Let's just say we thought outside the box," present-day Usopp answered as memory Nami spotted several standing pillars and it seemed to click for her. She grabbed hold of Usopp by the arm and took a running jump as they began leaping across. They made it to the first pillar and even over to the second. When they landed, memory Usopp slipped and almost fell off until Nami grabbed him and pulled him upright. That was where they were able to look back to the other zombies who were watching them from the stairs.

One wouldn't think they could catch them now. Memory Usopp certainly seemed to think so as he began taunting the zombies.

"If you want something, come on over here and get it! What's that? You can't?" he yelled as he then began patting his rear end as he yelled, "I gotta keep all this booty to myself?!"

"You had to taunt them…" present-day Nami sighed as memory Usopp even farted in the zombie's direction.

That was when the kangaroo-zebra began hopping about and then he began jumping over to them. The two screamed as Nami grabbed him and began making wild jumps to more pillars. When the kangaroo-zebra landed, the pillars crumbled beneath them and it was a struggle trying to keep up as the zombie was right on their heels.

The two of them were clearly exhausted, having been running all night. But when they reached the last pillar, they had nowhere else to go and the zombie was right in the air above them. That was when memory Usopp spun around and fired another projectile right at him, taking him out.

"Right in the kisser!" Franky cheered. But the victory was short-lived, for the pillar the two of them were on crumbled and they fell screaming to the ground. "Damn… talk about cheap rock."

As they fell, they spotted memory Chopper right below them, surrounded on all sides by zombies. While he was clearly the stronger one, they were tough and a lot more of them than him. Yet help came in the form of the memory versions of Usopp and Nami landing on the tall koala and knocking him down.

"What are you going to do now?" Brook asked worriedly, "It's like you ran around in a giant circle."

"What's the problem? They're doing great!" Luffy cheered for them. At first they were glad to see each other, with memory Usopp yelling that he wasn't sure how yet, but he knew this was all Nami's fault. She ignored him as the rubble from the pillar fell down on them and she had to knock him out of the way to avoid getting crushed.

"Hurry, Usopp! Fire!" memory Chopper yelled.

"Fire?! Huh?" memory Usopp asked in confusion.

"Burn them!" memory Chopper explained. "These guys are zombies too!"

Memory Usopp did what he was told as he sent another gunpowder star right at a group of zombies and fire exploded around them. But before he could fire another, two of the penguin trio came charging in and head-butted him from behind, knocking his slingshot out of reach. Memory Chopper went running over to help, but Nami was too slow in warning him of the panda zombie throwing a spiked mace at him, knocking him down.

"Owww… that had to hurt," Sanji winced at the sight. "You alright from that?"

"Yeah, I was fine," present-day Chopper said as memory Nami was so worried about Chopper she didn't realize that she was in danger from the hippo with the mustache that was right behind her. The zombie hippo was towering over her, hiding saber from behind his back.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Sanji roared out, already halfway to running in and defending Nami from her unseen attacker.

"Perhaps you should be less worried about your friends and a bit more worried about yourself," he warned. Memory Nami gasped and shut her eyes as the zombie brought the sword down. But at that moment, the dog-faced penguin zombie came dashing in and attacked him with a hard kick, breaking the sword and sending him flying—this took Sanji so much surprise that he tripped and landed hard on the ground.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" cried the penguin as the hippo zombie went knocked right through a building.

"No…" he gasped as he looked up, his eyes wide as he realized what just happened. "Is that…?"

"Right… you guys said that his zombie was a denguin," Zoro said as a grin began to spread across his face. "How many dog-faced penguins can there be? Looking good there, Sanji. He looks just like you."

"And how is an old geezer like your zombie any better!?" Sanji demanded.

"Easy, my zombie wasn't short!" Zoro retorted.

"HEY STUPID! WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON ANYWAY?!" one of the other zombies screamed at the denguin, who was now standing protectively in front of memory Nami.

"I know you're new here, but that girl's a pirate!" another zombie shouted, "Kick her ass."

And it was just the one against the entire crowd of zombies.

"I don't care who this lady is or where she came from," the denquin declared, seemingly not caring who he was up against. "I don't even care if I have to disobey our master's orders! 'Cause even if it kills me… I'll never kick a woman!"

The other three in the memory stared at him in shock.

"If you got a problem with that then bring it on!" the denguin said as he folded his flippers together. "You piece of crap, zombies!"

"Damn, that is creepy how much that our zombies sound like us…" Franky whispered, thinking back to Brook's zombie and now this.

The memory changed back to the mansion where Luffy's group had taken the pig zombie down from the wall and were forcing him to show them around, trying to find the trio who were running for their lives outside, and the now missing Sanji, who already had his shadow stolen. But he wasn't the only one who was going to be in trouble, for memory Zoro, who had been at the back of the group, was attacked with the spider webs and was pulled away from them much like how Sanji had been before.

"This is humiliating," present-day Zoro snapped as his past self was ambushed from behind and hoisted away like a fish on a hook.

"I can imagine," Franky offered. "Being attacked from behind, wrapped up like a present, and then being stuffed into a coffin before having your shadow stolen would be a bad night for anyone."

They watched on as the remaining three Straw Hats were continuing to search, just realizing that they were missing another crew member. They ordered the pig to continue leading them even as memory Luffy found a gold-plated suit of armor and had to put it on. Memory Franky wasn't amused as he demanded to know why he was playing around when they didn't know where the rest of their crew was. Which left memory Luffy to retort that he looked damn good in this so what else was he supposed to do. He then added that he hoped that his heart wasn't really made of iron that he had forgotten what it was like to be a man.

"I'm so sorry!" present-day Franky sniffled. "How could I forget that?!"

"Oh, brother…" Nami sighed as she shook her head. What was with men? She suddenly felt like some of those Amazons from Amazon Lily who had never seen a man before. Just what kind of creatures were men?

Memory Franky was so touched by his words that he started to strum up a guitar and began to sing a song of his own creation: The Cyborg's Iron Heart.

"I could help you write it, Franky-san!" Brook added brightly.

"Super! Let's get started then!" present-day Franky said as began to sing the first verse, followed by one of Brook's lines.

Thankfully, it didn't last for long, for the pig head had led them straight into a trap at the end of the corridor to a large carnival-like tent which was filled with General Zombies. The strangest and freakiest-looking zombies they've seen yet came bursting out and were getting ready to fight. While the three of them were able to take them out, the problem was that the zombies didn't know when to quit and kept getting back up to fight.

Sanji hit down on his cigarette. "However twisted they are, they were tough. That was all they had going for them though. Who wants to fight an enemy who could be beaten by salt?"

But as they continued fighting, there was another aged zombie that appeared. A middle-aged man was standing there with a toothbrush mustache, long black hair with his head wrapped with bandages, and even had nails going through it. He appeared to have some kind of metal casket attached to his legs as well as a stripped haramaki much like the one that Zoro wore, and was wearing a yellow shirt with the text 'Your Song' writing on it…

Present-day Zoro shook his head in shame that Moria would give him a zombie like that. Come on! He had a bounty of 120 million here! Why didn't he at least give him a bad-ass looking zombie to put his shadow in?! Memory Luffy, meanwhile, was bluntly proclaiming that he wasn't Zoro though he did sound like him.

"How does he sound like me?" Zoro demanded their Luffy.

"Don't know, but it kinda felt like I was looking at you," present-day Luffy answered back with a scratch of his head. "But he didn't look like you so…?"

"I don't know, he looked a lot like him if you ask me," Sanji offered.

"No," the zombie said to memory Luffy's question. "The name's Jigorou."

But before that Luffy could do anything else, the webs appeared behind him and soon he was hoisted up and into a coffin like the others had been and the lid was slammed shut.

"Ok, I can't imagine anything scarier than being buried alive," Usopp gulped at the thought of being locked up inside a coffin and being buried while trapped inside it. That would have been terrifying! He was suddenly grateful for the clumsy zombies who dropped the coffin that the three of them were in when they were being taken to Moria.

Meanwhile, memory Franky was still doing his best battling more of the generals, who were continuing to surround him. Even the ones that he took out were already getting up to their feet and he was completely surrounded. Thankfully for him, memory Robin came swinging in, having created a rope of her arms, and swung overhead, grabbing hold of Franky's hand and pulling him to safety.

"Nice save there, sis," present-day Franky told her gratefully. "I gotta tell ya, those zombies are almost as bad as marines. They just kept coming."

"At least with marines when you knock them down, they tend to stay down," Sanji offered.

"True, and we don't need to worry about holding back in case we accidently kill them," Brook nodded. "But I rather deal with marines than zombies any day."

They landed in an area that was free of zombies and they broke into a run, but it was no use, they were being chased by these generals, and unlike the ones they beat-up in the graveyard earlier, these guys were strong and fast.

Memory Franky spun about and breathed out a ton of fire… but these guys were ready for them, having buckets of water on standby and doused the flames, taking him by surprise. That was when a handful of them went running passed him and going for Robin, probably thinking that she would be an easy target.

At least until she caused several arms to grow out of their bodies and forced them to slam themselves into the walls and floor. But more just kept coming, forcing the two to start running again, having reached another long bridge that connected the mansion to the building behind it.

"Where's Luffy?!" memory Robin panted, already sounding tired.

"Looks like he wasn't able to get out in time!" memory Franky shouted back. "I don't see him anywhere! Probably cause he's wearing that stupid armor he blends in with the rest of them!"

"Hey! That armor was cool!" Luffy snapped at him as they ran. "Don't you dare say otherwise!"

"Oh, shut up about that!" Nami snapped back.

Just then, the two memory versions of Franky and Robin stopped as they turned back to face the zombies as memory Franky added, "Unless… wait! You don't think he disappeared too do ya?!"

"It's not a good idea to wait and find out," memory Robin answered firmly. "Those zombies will catch up to us any moment."

"Not to say that we weren't worried about you," present-day Robin added kindly to their Luffy, who was still frowning at this scene.

Gritting his teeth, memory Franky then shouted angrily out over the incoming hoard's heads, "HEY! STRAW HAT!"

That was when they heard a crash and the rattling of a giant chain. Looking up, they spotted a chain going from the mansion to Moria's manor, and it slowly began moving like a pulley system. That was when they saw a large that was tightly bound by more of that spider web… with a very familiar voice shrieking from inside for someone to let him out.

"Oh, so that is how they got us there so fast," Sanji sighed as he watched the coffin moving down the chain with great speed. Memory Robin and Franky both gasped at that as the coffin passed over their heads and they began running, trying to catch up with him.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING IN THAT BOX, DUMBASS?!" memory Franky yelled as he ran. "WHY'D YOU GO AND GET YOURSELF CAUGHT LIKE THAT?! HEY! STRAW HAT!"

"It's not like I planned on it!" present-day Luffy snapped back at him. "It all happened so fast and I couldn't break free of those stupid webs!"

"Yeah, they were strong, not that it's an excuse or anything," Zoro mumbled.

Suddenly, they heard another voice calling out, "That's far enough!"

Something huge fell from above, landing right in front of memory Franky and Robin, and when the dust cleared, another ugly form stepped out from the shadows to reveal another zombie, but this time it was of a massive spider with the head and front arms of a monkey attached to it.

"Talk about a spider-monkey," Nami said as Usopp and Chopper shrieked at the sight of it. "Makes you wonder just what other animals that these guys stitched together."

"Right. Like Cerberus? That could be a foxhound or something, right?" Brook added at the thought.

"I guess that they just wanted to see how freaky they could make something look and they found a way," present-day Franky pointed.

"Ha-ha! Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!" the giant spider-monkey said. "All those stories you heard about spider-monkeys? That's me!" The spider-monkey watched as the coffin disappeared through the wall behind him with memory Luffy still trapped inside and making a fuss. They heard another crash and knew from the sounds of it, the coffin had hit the floor.

"Oh, looks like we've caught another one," said the spider-monkey eagerly.

"Sounds like it hit the floor," memory Franky said in worry before glaring up at the spider-monkey and yelled, "Dammit, what are you gonna do to him?!"

"Oh, don't worry," the spider-monkey grinned wildly as he looked down at them. "You're gonna find out soon since you're gonna be next! But I'd be more worried about myself if I were you!"

"Yeah, you guys won't be able to help him if you're stuck and captured here," Zoro added as he looked behind him to where more of the zombies were continuing to advance on them. Even the memory versions of Franky and Robin knew that he was right. They were stuck with no way out, and they were hopelessly outnumbered.

"You got me in front of you!" the spider-monkey reminded them. "And all the General Zombies closing in from behind!

The memory then went back to Perona's Garden, with Sanji's denguin still standing protectively in front of memory Nami, who was staring ahead with shock on her face. The other Wild Zombies were staring on in shock at how the little zombie was able to defeat so many of their own.

"Hey! What the hell are you trying to pull here, newbie?" demanded a zombie panda bear.

"Our masters' orders are absolute!" another added, like he thought that if he explained it, then it would all make sense, "We couldn't oppose them even if we tried! But that doesn't affect him at all! What makes him different?"

"He's my shadow!" Sanji declared firmly with a nod. Zombie or not, he wasn't going to let anyone control him if he could help it… even if it was only his shadow that was being controlled. The Denguin folded his flippers as he continued glaring at them.

"And wait! Why's he as strong as a general?" another zombie asked in confusion.

"My power is not one that's bound by logic!" the denguin stated in warning. "It makes the impossible, possible! This unstoppable force that rages like a hurricane is none other… than love!"

There was silence all around them.

"That sounds almost as stupid coming from him as it does from you," Zoro pointed out.

"At least I don't have all muscle for brains like you do," Sanji retorted darkly. "Don't criticize it without trying it."

Zoro's eye glared at him as the three behind them began muttering to each other.

"I'm not exactly sure how this works," memory Nami whispered to the boys, "But if he's saying stupid things like that… that must be Sanji."

"You're right!" memory Chopper gasped as memory Usopp tried to ask the zombie if he really was Sanji.

"Does that thing look like me?!" Sanji demanded hotly before shooting Zoro a glare, already knowing what he was going to say. Zoro just grinned evilly back at him, but he wasn't given the chance to finish his insult because the zombies were talking again.

"Shut your trap you damn, dirty pirate!" the denguin yelled as he ran up and gave memory Usopp a few hard kicks.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Sanji muttered as he scowled at his crewmates.

Meanwhile, memory Usopp and Chopper both shrieked as they moved as far away from the zombie as possible, trying to grasp what was going on. That was when they heard more crashing right behind them and they looked up as a tree fell over. They all looked at once to see two figures running in their direction. One of which they recognized as one of Moria's commanders… the lion-faced pervert… and he seemed to be chasing… a giant, pink zombie warthog in a wedding dress.

"Just when I thought that this place couldn't get any stranger," Robin said in bright interest as present-day Nami smiled at the sight of Lola's zombie.

"Maybe you're enjoying this, I had my fill of it a long time ago," present-day Usopp growled. "Haven't we suffered enough?"

"Yeah… It was a bad night!" present-day Chopper nodded tiredly… so sick of running around here.

"LOLA! STOP!" Absalom yelled in panicked warning. "PLEASE! DON'T BE HASTY! LISTEN TO YOUR COMMANDER, LOLA!"

Lola giggled as she called back innocently, "Catch me if you can you little cutie!"

"LISTEN YOU BEAST! I'M ORDERING YOU TO STOP!" Absalom yelled back.

"Who's he calling a beast?" present-day Nami demanded with a roll of her eyes.

Lola giggled again as she said, "Well, if you insist, I guess I can…" but then a rather scary look came over her already scary face as she spun about. "If you want me that bad then…"

She attacked him, pinning him to the ground and trying over and over to kiss him despite the fact she really didn't have much in terms of lips.

"Ok, I know that this guy is our enemy and all…" Franky muttered as they all watched with sweatdrops hanging around their heads, "But I gotta feel bad for him."

"I don't," Nami muttered darkly. "Besides, Lola was way too good for him. She could have done a lot better if you ask me."

"This isn't right, Lola!" Absalom gasped out. "Remember? I already found the woman I'm going to marry!"

"NOT IN THIS LIFETIME, YOU PERVERT!" present-day Nami screamed out, scaring some of the men in her crew at the furious look on her face.

"Scary…" Luffy gulped down as the men, other than Sanji—who was sighing happily—nodded in agreement.

"Sorry! I can't hear you!" Lola said innocently, pretending that she misunderstood. "Did you just say 'you wanted to marry me'?"

"That's not what I heard," Luffy said as he tilted his head.

"Love is funny that way," Robin informed him with a chuckle. "I wouldn't worry about it."

The others watched in fascination as Lola tried over and over to kiss him, leaving deep lip-shaped craters in the ground.

"I can't tell if she's trying to kiss him or eat his face off," Franky said with his eyes whide.

"Are they… friends?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"No idea," present-day Usopp muttered. "Still haven't figured that all out.

At last, Absalom got angry and managed to kick Lola off him, sending her flying over their heads and she landed with a crash between Nami and the boys. As the dust cleared, she caught sight of memory Nami.

"You wicked Cat Burglar!" Lola snarled as memory Nami looked up, completely lost. "You'll pay for stealing Master Absalom's greatest treasure!"

"Wait, you already stole something?" Luffy asked their Nami as he tried to remember. "Huh… I don't think you took anything…?"

"For once, you're right," she answered back as Lola, who looked scary before, but now it was downright vicious as she glared down at memory Nami with murder in her eyes.

"NAMI!" the memory versions Chopper and Usopp screamed.

"SHE FOUND HER!" Absalom cried out in horror.

"OF COURSE SHE DID BECAUSE OF YOU!" Sanji yelled, wishing that he kicked that bastard harder.

"Me?! Treasure?!" memory Nami gasped in protest as she began backing away. "H-Hang on! I know that I'm a pirate and all, but I haven't stolen anything yet!"

"I'm innocent here! Believe me, what she thought I stole wasn't something I wanted!" the present-day Nami answered as she shook her head.

"What was it?" Brook asked politely before he screeched when he saw Lola holding up a large axe, faint light reflecting off the blade.

"You stole his heart," Lola snarled as Nami screamed. "AND NOW I'M GONNA TEAR YOURS OUTTA YOUR CHEST!"

"Why not beat up the guy?" present-day Nami demanded. "I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, she sees it that if she takes you out then she doesn't need to worry about you stealing her 'husband' away," Robin pointed out.

"Do you take me for that kind of person?!" Nami demanded furiously as Sanji's denguin came charging in once again and kicked at the axe, breaking it in two and saving her memory self, just in time.

"You won't lay a hand on this lady!" he declared. It was a stare off… but then the denguin's eyes widen as Lola snarled out, "Shut your mouth…" She then held up her hoof-like fist and yelled, "AND GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Lola dealt a heavy blow, sending the little guy flying and crashing into a wall. Usopp and Chopper both cried out words of worry as dust filled the air once again.

"Denguin!" memory Chopper cried out.

"Pen-dog!" memory Usopp added in horror.

"I don't get it!" Brook gasped out. How was that possible? She shouldn't have been able to deal such a blow against that zombie… especially since it had Sanji's shadow in it. It looked like… it looked like… that zombie didn't even try to fight back? But why?

"Why didn't he try to fight back?!" memory Usopp demanded, voicing Brook's unanswered question.

But that was when the denguin managed to pull his tiny body out of the rubble. He stumbled to his tiny feet and gasped out, "I already told you… even if it kills me… I'll never kick a woman!"

"Small… but determined… what a guy…" Franky sniffled at the sight of it. "I guess I should be complimenting you though, huh bro?" he added to Sanji, who felt a little bit of pride at the sight of his shadow being so protective over women.

"Wow, so even as a pathetic penguin-dog zombie, you still were protective over woman… well, at least I think it was a woman," memory Usopp said as Zoro sniggered at the whole scene.

"Listen," Sanji said darkly. "There are some rules in this world that must never, ever, be broken! A man attacking a woman is one of them! It's a rule as old as the dinosaurs! Men should never strike against a lady no matter what!"

He lit up another cigarette as another memory came back to him when Chef Zeff gave him a hard beating in the head as he barked at him that it was ok for him to mess up as a human being all he wanted. But if he messed up as a man then he would personally cut off his family jewels and slit his own throat for good measure.

There was wisdom in that.

No matter what, he was never going to turn out like his fath…? He shook his head, doing his best to kick down those bad memories of his early childhood. He had only one father, and it sure wasn't the one who he was related to by blood.

But the memory verisons of Usopp and Chopper were clapping at the denguin's words.

"Nice speech!" memory Chopper praised.

"And I gotta admit, you're a real gentleman for being able to see that thing as a woman!" memory Usopp added.

"What'd you say?!" Lola demanded, causing them both to freeze up.

"Seriously, even if she is a zombie, you should both learn to watch what you say," present-day Nami informed them darkly.

"Sorry…" the present-day versions both said with their heads bowed.

"Guys! HELP ME!" memory Nami called out, a hint of panic in her voice and present-day Nami sighed… she had forgotten about this part. They all looked to the direction where Nami's voice came from, and to their shock, they saw her being held aloft in the air like she was flying off.

"I'll be taking my bride, thank you!" purred that familiar voice, whom they couldn't see the owner for anymore.

"NAMI! YOU CAN FLY?! AWESOME!" the two screamed out in shock at the sight of her 'flying away'.

"REALLY?!" Luffy screamed out, his eyes bugging out at the thought.

"IDIOTS!" memory Nami screamed back in annoyance. "I'M BEING ABUDUCTED HERE!"

"That bastard!" Sanji growled out at the sight of his beloved Nami being carried around like a sack of flower by that disgusting pervert. Oh, if only he was there instead of that denguin! Where is his zombie, anyway? Nami was being kidnapped and he wasn't doing anything!

"We'll have the wedding ceremony immediately!" Absalom's voice said. "All of the preparations have already been made!"

"I rather nail my tongue to the kitchen table every morning than marry him," present-day Nami declared, feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of being married to that freak.

"You're that invisible pervert from the shower aren't you? Let me go!" memory Nami yelled as she began hitting whatever was carrying her.

"Whoa! I guess he really is invisible!" memory Usopp gasped as Chopper cried out her name and they began giving chase.

They all began running after them, getting close enough to hear Absalom's laugh as he purred to Nami, "I was sizing you up. In short, I've determined your fit to be my bride."

"Yeah, right, you were just staring at me the whole time!" present-day Nami yelled out, her arms shaking at the thought of bathing where that jerk was watching her… oh, if she could have a second chance to hurt this guy…

' _Really man… you don't know what you're getting into by marrying her,'_ Zoro couldn't help but think to himself. Save yourself while you still can.

"You may call me… Absalom," Absalom said as he reappeared, and showed that he was carrying her over his shoulder. "It's the name of your future husband, so remember it well."

"You got a lot of nerve looking at me naked and then acting like you own me," memory Nami snarled. "I don't keep myself in shape just pervert can drool over me!" That was when she pulled out her weapon from her side as she stated, "So don't treat me like a piece of meat, you animal!"

She then pointed the tip of her weapon to his chest as she cried out, "Thunder CHARGE!"

There was a blast of light and Absalom was given a large electrical shock as he screamed in agony. Memory Nami was flung off and skidded a few yards away as Absalom stood there smoldering, his eyes rolled into the back of his head so that it was hard to tell if he was even still conscious. None of them felt any kind of sympathy for him though… however those who had been hit by Nami's Thunder Charge did flinch ever so slightly in pain at the memory.

"NAMI!" memory Usopp screamed as he ran up to her. "Great job! Now keep running! Don't stop!" He ran to her side, pulling her to her feet as they began to run once again, having the opening they needed.

"What happened?" memory Nami gasped as they continued running. "Even after all of that, he's still standing up?!"

"That guy is not normal!" memory Usopp yelled. "Just look at him!"

He just continued to stand there, like he had turned into a statue.

"Is he ok?" present-day Chopper asked.

"I hope not," present-day Nami mumbled angrily. "Wouldn't break my heart if he's not."

"Harsh, Nami-san," Brook whispered.

"HE TRIED TO KIDNAP ME AND FORCE ME TO MARRY HIM!" she shouted back for the hundredth time.

"Seriously, why would he want to make himself so miserable by marrying her?" Franky whispered to Zoro, who shrugged back.

"I guess… a vicious, blood-thirsty shark is his type?" he offered as they all continued running without looking back. They made sure to keep this conversation as quiet as possible so that they would be spared Nami's wrath… thankfully, they were all paying more attention to Lola, who was now wielding two long swords as she gave chase.

"Get back here, Cat Burgular!" Lola shrieked.

"Hey Nami! I think she's only chasing after you!" memory Usopp panted after a few minutes of running.

"You're right! What the heck is going on here?!" memory Nami cried out.

"You need to pay attention, sis," Franky smirked. "She thinks that you're gonna steal her man away so she wants to get rid of the competition."

"What a pain," both Nami's panted.

"So I was thinking," memory Usopp said after a moment. "Maybe we can just sorta split up?"

The anger quickly built and then…?

"SELLING ME OUT YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD?!" memory shrieked as she gave him a swollen lump on his head.

"YEAH! IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR A LADY!" Sanji roared after present-day Nami gave their Usopp an injury to match his past self.

"I'M NOT YOU!" present-day Usopp yelled back at him.

"GET BACK HERE AND DIE ALREADY!" Lola screamed as memory Usopp whimpered.

"Women are scary!" memory Chopper cried tearfully.

"I'm with ya there, pal," Franky muttered as he saw how both Nami's and Lola were now all yelling and looking like some kind of angels of death.

"You'll have to run faster than that!" memory Nami yelled as she began sprinting, starting to leave them behind.

"SLOW DOWN, NAMI!" memory Chopper cried.

"YOU'RE USING US AS A SHIELD AREN'T YOU?! NO FAIR!" memory Usopp shrieked.

"Of course not!" present-day Nami gasped out. "How could you ever think I'd do something like that?!'

"Because you're YOU!" present-day Usopp yelled back. "Since when don't you pull stunts like that?"

Lola was right behind them until they ended up tripping over a tree root and landed hard on their faces. But Lola didn't even pause as she went running right over them, still chasing memory Nami.

"I'LL BRUTALIZE YOU!" she screamed until the two of them were out of their sights.

"Huh? We're not dead after all!" memory Usopp said in amazement as he slowly raised his head.

"You mean she's gone?" memory Chopper asked.

"Well, I don't see a pink warthog in a wedding dress and carrying sharp, pointy weapons in her hands," Brook offered helpfully.

"How did you get out of this one, Nami?" Robin asked her.

"Oh, just some girl talk," present-day Nami chuckled a little as the two memory versions of Usopp and Chopper were sighing in relief at the thought of being safe… at least until they realized what just happened.

"OH CRAP! NAMI!" they screamed in horror. Memory Chopper shifted to his Walk Point, and Usopp jumped onto his back as they began to give chase. They were quickly able catch up to the two… who were now they were both fighting close combat.

"GIVE… BACK… MY HUSBAND!" Lola shrieked as she swung viciously.

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" memory Nami cried out as she did her best to block her swords.

"Yeah, can't you just talk it out?" Franky asked as he scratched his head. "I mean… I thought that it was obvious that you didn't want anything to do with the guy?"

"She's a little stubborn," present-day Nami nodded. "But it's alright. She's really not such a bad girl. She even ended up risking a lot to save me! You'll see."

Meanwhile, memory Usopp and Chopper both jumped up and grabbed onto her face to try and stop her.

"You big, pink eyesore!" Usopp yelled as Chopper grabbed her tusk on the other side of her head.

"Leave her alone!" memory Chopper added as Usopp screamed at Nami to run, who did what she was told. Not that it was helping things because Lola was far from giving up. She continued running after memory Nami, with Usopp and Chopper still clinging onto her.

"LOVE STOPS FOR NOTHING!" she screamed out as she continued charging.

"DAMMIT! SHE'S TOO STRONG!" memory Usopp yelled.

"She is pretty tough," present-day Usopp said. "I wonder how she's doing right now?"

"Or more importantly, did she ever find herself a husband?" Zoro couldn't help but ask as a few rounds of laughter came from all over.

"One thing's for sure, she's not too picky is she?" Franky laughed out.

The memory faded after that and soon they were on the bridge with the memory versions of Robin and Franky, who were still confronting the giant spider-monkey spider and an army of zombie generals.

Despite their overwhelming odds, the two of them were both surprisingly calm.

"I see," memory Franky began slowly. "So that's what happened to them. You captured our crewmates, didn't ya? And carried them behind that wall just like Straw Hat?"

"Monkey! Monkey!" the giant spider-monkey chanted and cackled. "That's correct! And just wait! Because any second now… you'll be suffering the same fate!"

"Oh, shut up…" the Monster Trio all snarled out, feeling humiliated once again at how easily they were captured before.

"To be fair, they almost captured us as well," present-day Robin said soothingly. "We would have been if we didn't have extra help show up at the last moment."

"Really? Who?" Luffy asked interestedly as Robin smiled back and Brook began to laugh happily.

But back to the scene, the General Zombies were all slowly closing in on Franky and Robin… and with an army behind them… and a giant-ass spider-monkey in front of them… on top of a bridge… made their options of where they could go very limited.

"Zombie Generals in front!" taunted the spider-monkey, who seemed to realize their problems as well. "Zombie Generals behind! I'd give up if I were you!"

"Well, good thing he's not us," present-day Franky said proudly.

"We don't really know when to give up, do we?" present-day Robin chuckled.

"Nah," Zoro countered. "We just don't like to admit that we're in trouble. That's all. Works for us, though. Don't you think?"

"Whether you're a dumbass monkey or a dumbass spider," memory Franky stated, "It looks like that big, sticky web that caught the Sunny when we first came here was your work. If I'm not mistaken? In other words, you were after us right from the very beginning. That must mean you had us under watch."

The spider-monkey laughed once more before he cackled, "Yep! Once on Thriller Bark there's no hiding! Mistress Perona's ghost network knows all! Sees all! And tells all! Bringing you doom from the start!"

"Those big ears of yours," memory Robin added, her empty eyes looking over him like he was just a piece of artwork that she wasn't interested in, "Must be useful for gathering information too. And you certainly like to run your mouth."

The spider-monkey lifted a paw to his ear and asked, "Eh? Sorry. What was that?"

"YOU MEAN THEY'RE JUST FOR SHOW?!" Franky barked.

"What he really playing around or is that true?" Chopper asked curiously.

"Well, I'm guessing that those ears don't really work all that well since they had begun rotting," Sanji offered. "But they can't be completely useless either."

"In other words he's just like you," Zoro offered.

"Better than a drunk swordsman who does nothing but sleep all day," Sanji retorted as the two began glaring viciously at the other. Before they could start a full agreement thought, they heard the sounds of the armored feet coming ever closer. The two memory Straw Hats then began talking calmly about their situation, with memory Franky informing Robin that they were surrounded and in the worst case scenario. What they needed was a last second miracle and he asked if she thought he could pull it off.

She smiled back at the question and answered almost flirtingly, "I'd like to see you try. But on a good show for me."

"Did I?" present-day Franky asked and she grinned back.

"Oh, yes… it was quite entertaining," she admitted as he flashed a winning grin.

"Of course, it was," he declared as he struck a pose. "IT'S BECAUSE I'M SUPER!"

The others were wondering what he was talking about… but then memory Franky chuckled as he cocked his right arm and looked directly down at the bridge beneath their feet—where they all knew right away what he was planning.

"Leave it to you to rationalize that the only way out of here was to blow something up," Nami sighed, not sure if she should laugh or not. But she couldn't fight the smile coming to her face as the spider-monkey realized what he was doing and tried to yell for him to stop, but memory Franky was already building up power.

"Coup de…VENT!"

Memory Franky, using his Coup de Vent at the bridge and it created a massive bang that caused both sides to crumble.

"YOU CAN'T BREAK THE FREAKIN' BRIDGE! THAT'S CHEATING!" the spider-monkey cried as he skidded along the collapsing bridge like it was a slide, trying to stop himself. The zombies behind them weren't fairing any better… not having the brains to try and run back to the other side or grab hold of something to slow their fall.

"So? My plan SUPER enough for ya?" memory Franky asked Robin, who still stood calmly as she watched on like it was all mildly interesting.

"Well," she called back, "It certainly is violent."

"You can say that again!" Usopp yelled.

"THAT WAS AWESOME, FRANKY!" Luffy cheered out as he sat down and happily began to slide down the collapsing bridge until Zoro reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Get back here!" Zoro yelled.

"HEY!" Luffy yelled back angrily as he continued to try and continue to go down but Zoro kept a tight hold of him as some of the larger pieces of the broken bridge began crumbling. The present-day Straw Hats managed to make it to the other side safely, with Zoro finally dropping Luffy grumpily on the ground. Luffy stuck his tongue out at him as even memory Franky's cool had vanished as he and Robin both began falling.

At least until memory Robin, who hadn't even broke a sweat, dropped her bag as she crossed her arms. Suddenly, a hundred arms blossomed out of her shoulder blades, fifty on either side until side until they formed a pair of wings that held her aloft.

"Cien Fleur! WING!"

"THAT'S SO COOL, ROBIN!" Chopper cried out, wishing that he could fly like that too.

"It is a handy ability to half," she chuckled back as she watched how memory Franky gapped at the sight of her past self swooping in to grab him by his arm and lift him back up.

"Whoa!" said memory Franky in surprised. "You—You can fly?!"

"How come you never used that ability like that before?" Usopp couldn't help but ask and she shrugged back.

"Never had a good reason to," she answered. "It's not easy to use."

"Yes," memory answered, but there was clearly a strain in her face as she confessed, "For about five seconds."

"LAME!" memory Franky shouted out as she struggled to lift him higher.

"Why is that?" Luffy couldn't help but ask, but she held her finger to her lip and pointed back to see what would happen.

"But actually… that's all we need!" memory Franky stated as he held up his hand. "STRONG RIGHT!"

His fist rocketed towards the other end of the broken bridge and grabbed hold as he shouted out, "Sweet! I got hold of the ledge! That's the building where they took Straw Hat! If we can make it up there, we can save him!"

"Awww, you guys are great to worry about me," Luffy said, turning red at the comment and grinning happily.

"We always worry," present-day Robin said as she folded her arms. "And as to your question, it takes a lot of effort for me to use my ability in such a way. Lifting myself up with only the support of a hundred arms is difficult."

"Not to mention you had extra weight trying to hold Franky up," Sanji pointed out as he looked at memory Robin in worry. She was now drenched in sweat and her face was now contorted with pain as she struggled to remain airborne.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, "I can't… hold it!"

Her arms began to dissolve into flower petals and her wings were quickly disappearing. But that was alright as they began to swing upwards and Franky was retracting his arm. Memory Robin's wings disappeared completely and she jumped on top of Franky's head as she landed safely on the ledge… causing him to yell at her for that… before he swung forward and crashed into the wall.

"Well, that was rather rude, Robin-san. Yohohoho!" Brook laughed.

"Damnit… I forgot that you did that," Franky snarled as he looked down and saw his past self hanging rather pathetically there. "You could have at least apologized for that!"

"You are right," she answered as she bowed her head. "Franky, thank you for taking that hit for me."

"THAT'S A PRETTY LOUSY WAY TO THANK SOMEONE!" present-day Franky yelled. "AND THAT WAS TWO YEARS TOO LATE!"

"Better late than never," Usopp pointed out with a laugh.

Memory Franky began yelling at her, telling her to at least apologize… or to pull him up, which she ignores until there are signs of the zombies moving below them… and then they heard a very familiar laugh.

They looked directly up to where a shadowy figure was falling down towards them… memory Brook.

"Hey! It's me!" present-day Brook cried out joyfully at the sight of himself falling there, even as his past self was screaming for someone to catch him… of course, no one did and he crashed into the courtyard below.

 **(Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait, but I haven't been in the mood to do much writing lately. School is picking up and it's becoming hard to juggle everything. I've also been sick for the last two weeks and now with all the work I need to catch up on, I've been getting these migraine headaches that are just taking a lot out of me. The chapters I post from now on aren't going to be as long as they usually are. Sorry, but if I want to update more often, they got to be smaller. And not only that, I've been getting these 'reviews' lately that have just been depressing me. Just people who write single lines saying things like 'Luffy is retarded' or just something like that… etc. etc. etc. Listen, if you want to write a review about a complaint or opinion, I don't mind it. But please be nice about it. I welcome helpful criticism… but this isn't criticism or helpful. It's just rude. No one is making you read this story, and if you insist on coming back and saying such rude things every chapter you clearly either like it or you just want an excuse to complain. If I keep getting such comments then I'm going to stop writing these chapters. So please either stop reading it or keep it to yourself :(**


	16. Floor 15: Creeping Shadows

**Floor 15: Creeping Shadows**

The memory faded after that until they were back in Perona's Garden, taking them all by surprise. Especially when the first thing they saw was that memory Nami still running for her life from Lola and the memory versions of Usopp and Chopper were doing their best to try and distract the pink boar zombie. They were hanging off her tusks, hitting her over and over as they yelled at her to stop, but Lola barely paid any attention to them as she continued to give chase.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR DEAL IS, AND I DON'T CARE!" memory Usopp yelled at Lola, "SHE'S OUR FRIEND AND I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!"

"I'M WARNING YOU!" memory Chopper screamed as he kept punching Lola. "I WON'T STOP PUNCHING UNTIL YOU STOP RUNNING!"

"Nice try, boys," present-day Nami stated.

"She was just too strong for us," present-day Usopp sighed. "It was like hitting a brick wall. Sorry, Nami. We really did try."

"Well, they do say that there's nothing scarier than a woman in love," Franky offered as he thought that over. "They are known to be unstoppable."

"Oh, Lola…" present-day Nami said fondly.

When they realized that nothing they tried was working, memory Usopp screamed out, "GET AWAY, NAMI! HURRY!"

"What did you guys think I was doing?" present-day Nami couldn't help but mutter darkly under her breath.

"I'M GONNA CRUSH YOU! YOU FILTHY CAT BURGLAR!" Lola shrieked menacingly as she continued to give chase. Even as memory Nami screamed in fear Lola kept going, declaring, "THE ONLY WOMAN THAT ABSALOM IS ALLOWED TO MARRY IS ME!"

"You can have him!" Sanji yelled out. "Not that he deserves a woman of your devotion, but just leave my dear Nami-swan alone!"

"Oh, no, we have enough of that," present-day Nami said with a roll of her eyes. One pervert is bad enough. Well, one good thing about Sanji is that she's sure that he would never force a woman to marry him. He would be heart-broken, of course. But he bounces back quickly.

At last, Lola grew irritated enough that she tossed her head up, able to throw both the memory versions of Usopp and Chopper into the air and off of her. Memory Usopp landed in a nearby tree as memory Chopper went crashing through one of the set up screens, leaving a giant hole. At that moment, memory Nami caught her foot over a tree root and tripped, and Lola was right over her with the swords still in her hands as she prepared to strike. There was no longer anything that the memory Usopp or Chopper could do but watch in terror as memory Nami rolled over, her hands held up defensively as she tried one last time to talk herself out of this. Though this was only a memory, they all forgot about it, some of them even running over to Nami's rescue.

"Wait! You got it all wrong!" memory Nami cried out desperately, but Lola was now directly above her, even as Sanji already went running off to jump in front of her and shield her with his body if he had to. Lola's eyes glowing as memory Nami kept trying to find something to say.

"I… I'm…" and at last memory Nami cried out the one last thing that could have possibly stopped Lola, "THE TRUTH IS I'M A MAN!"

Lola was so shocked that she stopped dead in her tracks, her swords just stopping short of her neck. She then dropped them and fell her knees. "WHAAAAAAAAAT?" Lola and memory Chopper both cried out.

"WHAT?!" present-day Luffy yelled in shock. "REALLY?!"

"NO! YOU IDIOT!" present-day Nami yelled at him.

"Oh, come on, Chopper," memory Usopp said to Chopper, who was still staring at Nami like he had never seen her before.

"Don't tell me you believed that, Chopper?!" present-day Nami gasped out, "How is any part of my anything like a man?!"

"Of course not! You are the very essence of elegance and grace, Nami!" Sanji sighed lovingly to her while the rest of them didn't dare answer.

"You… you mean it?" Lola asked like she couldn't believe it.

Realizing that she may have a way out of this after all, memory Nami answered, "Ah, yeah! Cross-dressing is just a hobby of mine! I'm not joking! And… ah… I think that you and that ab-guy make a super cute couple! You two should totally hook it up, girlfriend!"

That shocked Lola almost as much as hearing Nami declare herself as a man. "Huh?!" she cried out, "Ya think?!"

"Of course I do! You two were made for each other!" memory Nami yelled back.

Those words seemed to be too much for Lola. She tossed her swords aside as she fell forward onto her cloven-hands and began crying.

"To be completely honest, I was beginning to lose hope!" Lola declared. "All this time… no one has ever offered me a single word of encouragement! You don't know how much this means! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Oh, the poor thing," Robin said, feeling truly sorry for Lola.

"I know the feeling," present-day Chopper sniffled, remembering how hard things had been for him before he was lucky enough to meet the Doctor and Doctorine.

"It's heart-breaking!" Franky sobbed out tearfully. "Hey guys… you think we can be her friends or something?"

"I, too, find it hard not to feel sorry for her," Brook sniffled as tears fell from his empty eye sockets. "The poor girl… it's always encouraging to find someone who believes in you!"

"Ok, this is getting sad," Zoro sighed as he shook his head. Really, why are so many of his crewmates such crybabies? They tear up over everything, don't they?

Memory Nami then got up to her feet as she began smiling and held out her hand as she said kindly, "Raise your head up high, its ok. You don't have to thank me for saying that. We're friends. My name is Namizou… but you can call me Nami."

"We're friends? NAMI!" Lola cried, her eyes filled with tears of joy as memory Usopp and Chopper just stared on.

"Wow… I don't know what to say to all that," Franky could help but say.

"I can't believe that she bought all that," Zoro muttered as Sanji and Luffy both nodded with him. They just saw the whole thing, but it was difficult to believe.

"But it was clever of you, Nami," Robin complimented as she smiled back at her.

"It wasn't too hard," present-day Nami said sweetly. "You just had to get to know her. Once she realized that I wasn't interested in that invisible pervert, she turned out to be a great friend."

"Interesting," Robin said as she thought that over. "So I guess, in this case, the enemy of my 'love' can be my friend."

"I know, right?" present-day Usopp asked as Lola dried her eyes and got to her feet. Soon, she and memory Nami went to a nearby picnic table with an umbrella like they were at a café and began having a nice conversation while the boys watched, still stricken dumb by what just happened.

"I like, just don't get it," Lola told Nami, as if she were her best friend and was going to her for advice on boy problems. "I always tell him how much I love him… and I hug him so hard that I nearly crack his ribs… and he's like, 'oh whatever' about it. I try being as sweet as I can but he just won't notice me."

"That's not what I saw," Luffy couldn't help but say with a tilt of his head. "He noticed her so much that he went running away from her, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did," Brook nodded. "But I don't think that's the kind of 'noticing' she wanted."

Meanwhile, Zoro was thinking over what she said about how being sweet she was. "If what I saw earlier is her being 'sweet', I hate to see scary," he couldn't help but mutter.

"If I had to guess, it's far worse than trying to kill another woman just because her man was looking at her," Franky pointed out before shivering at the thought. "Damn, I scared myself there for a moment."

"Well, of course not, Lola," memory Nami said brusque. "You're going about this all the wrong way. You need to be _more_ aggressive."

"I'm sure that you would like that," Robin couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

"I was just giving her helpful advice," present-day Nami reasoned as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "The fact that it would only help keep him away from me was just an added bonus."

"Sure it was," present-day Usopp stated with a roll of his eyes.

"Huh? What? Is that the problem?" Lola asked, her chair having broken under her weight and now laid in shattered splinters underneath her while her head was bending the umbrella.

"Well, put it this way," memory Nami explained, "If you wanna get married, you can't do it while he's awake, that's just silly! You knock him out and get him to sign when he's sleeping."

"Wait, is that really ethical?" Lola asked in concern. "I mean, like as a human being?"

"Humans? Yes. Zombies…?" present-day Usopp said as he thought that over. "I don't think so. And she wasn't even human to begin with. I mean, she has a human shadow, but that body is a rotting boar zombie. So I think that it would be alright, don't you?"

"I don't see the problem in it," the all answered him.

"But that would still be kinda on the scary side," Franky couldn't help but add.

"Lola, sweetie, you're a zombie," memory Nami pointed out and Lola realized that she was right.

"A loophole!" she cried out happily. "A rotting zombie loophole!"

"Remember, if you can't knock him out, you can always drug him," memory Nami added firmly. The present-day Nami laughed at that, remembering that invisible idiot was knocked out in the end. Oh, she hoped that Lola managed to get him to sign the marriage certificate! That would have just been perfect!

"Hey, Namizou," memory Usopp yelled finally, realizing that they were spending a lot of time here and they had to get out of here before Absalom or the Wild Zombies came looking for them. "Weren't we gonna run away?"

Memory Nami ignored him as she then smoothly told Lola that she 'dropped' something in the treasure vault and that she wanted to go back for it, but couldn't remember the way. Lola was more than happy to give her directions, not suspecting a thing as she gave very clear instructions.

"Wow, that's pretty sneaky, Nami," Luffy had to say.

"I don't think it matters," Brook offered happily. "She's so happy right now that I think that even if Nami-san had asked her where the treasure vault was, she would have told her anyway. It's so nice to have friends, isn't it? Yohohoho!"

"Yeah, it is!" Luffy laughed happily with him.

But as Lola kept talking, memory Usopp heard footsteps and looked back in time to see the hat that Absalom wore just poking up over the side.

"There he is, I was beginning to wonder just what happened for him to take so long to get here," Zoro said when he looked back there to see the hat.

"I'm guessing that your zombie may have done something about that, Sanji?" Robin pointed out.

"I hope that the little guy hurt him," Sanji said firmly. Jeez, why did that idiot Moria think to put his shadow into such a weak and pathetic-looking zombie? He was worth almost a hundred million! Why did that stupid wanted poster cause him so much pain, here?!

"Hey, Nami," memory Usopp whispered, trying not to alert Absalom that they were here, "He caught up to us."

"Alright then," memory Nami said before turning back to Lola and declaring, "Lola, this is your chance to attack! I'll never see him again and that's perfectly fine with me! There's nothing stopping you! You'll make a beautiful couple!"

Her words seemed to be the thing that sealed the deal for her. Lola seemed to swell with confidence as she threw the umbrella off.

"I'll give it my best!" she cried as she went back for her dropped swords, "Thank you for everything, Nami! YOU'VE GIVEN ME THE COURAGE TO FIGGGGGGHHHHHHHTTTTTTT!"

"Go for it girl!" Franky cheered as she went charging off. "Take him out!"

"She's trying to marry him, not murder him," Robin pointed out before thinking it over and added, "At least I think not?"

Her words were soon put into question when they heard Lola yelling out, for practically the whole island to hear her, "ABBBBSSSSAAAAALLLLLOOOOMMMMM! I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! LOLLLLLAAAAAA!" they heard the terrified voice scream at the sight of her.

"Alright you two, this is our chance!" memory Nami said as she got up.

"A non-violent solution, for us at least," memory Chopper said happily as he followed. "Wow, Nami! That was awesome!"

"Yes, it certainly worked out very well for you all, Yohohoho!" Brook laughed. "But I must say, that Lola truly must be strong willed if her zombie was able to disobey one of her master's orders."

"She really is something else, isn't she?" present-day Nami smiled fondly. "I bet she has a really wild past. I hope we see her again someday."

Memory Nami laughed as she answered, "She's not such a bad girl, you just have to get to know her a bit."

"Exactly!" the present-day Nami agreed even when her eyes clearly gave away what she was thinking and memory Usopp yelled at her for it. Sure enough, she led them up the stairs and into Perona's room, telling the boys that this seemed to be the best way out anyway to get away from the Wild Zombies anyway, so they might as well stop by the treasure vault on their way out.

"I can't believe that we bought that," present-day Usopp sighed as Chopper nodded next to him.

"I think it was when she was threatening to beat you both up so badly that even the zombies would look better than you if you didn't go with her," Zoro pointed out helpfully.

"Shut up!" they both snapped at him as they managed to find the stairs and made it up to the mansion without being seen. Once they reached the top, they were able to look cautiously over the edge of the balcony that held a view of the whole area.

"Did we lose them?" memory Usopp panted for breath, sounding exhausted.

"I think," memory Nami also gasping for air. "Lola should keep him busy." But no sooner did she say that then they spotted him walking around, looking for them. At the sight of him, memory Nami gasped and crouched down below the wall and out of sight. As she held onto memory Chopper in fear, memory Usopp began looking around for some place to hide.

"I didn't think he'd get away from Lola that easily," present-day Nami muttered with a pout. "I thought for sure that she would have trampled him or something."

"I guess he turned invisible and went to hide," Sanji offered with a frown as well. "It wouldn't have been too hard for him to get away."

As present-day Nami thought that over, she shook her head as she answered, "I suppose you make a good point."

That was when memory Usopp found a strange hiding place that held a large zipper and called them over. The two didn't hesitate as they climbed inside and pulled up the zipper. That was when their hiding place moved, revealing that it was the large patchwork bear with the mask over his face that they climbed into. He was playing with some string when he was looking around in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You hid inside a zombie?" Zoro asked slowly.

"Hey, where better place to hide?" present-day Usopp asked, like he thought that he could pass it off like he had it planned all along. But when no one seemed to buy it he then yelled out, "I just saw a large zipper behind a pillar! How was I supposed to know it was a zombie?!"

The bear zombie waddled around, trying to find what it was that disturbed him when they heard Absalom, who just made it to the top of the stairs, yelling out, "Hey! Kumacy!"

"Oh, Absalom… I mean, Master Absalom," Kumacy said as he put the string away. "This is bad. It seems intruders have…?"

"Hold on, this is important," Absalom interrupted. "Did you see three pirates run past here? They just disappeared."

"Does he know that you guys are hiding there?" Brook asked in concern.

"I'm not sure," present-day Chopper confessed as he thought that over. "But he definitely knew later on."

"Then why didn't he tell on you guys, then?" Luffy asked in confusion. "Hey, does that mean that bear-guy was a good guy too?"

"Hang on, you'll see in a minute," present-day Usopp reassured him.

"Well, ah… that's just the thing," Kumacy said but he was once more interrupted, this time by Perona.

"Absalom!" she called, walking towards him with her parasol over her head. Her long, pink hair was tied into pigtails, and she was dressed in a bright shirt and skirt, with red boots and black and white striped tights. It was the first time they had seen her in the memory, and she both looked and acted like a pampered princess, with even a small crown sitting up on her head.

"What do you want?" she went on, sounding like a teenager whose parent had come into her room without permission. "I told you, I don't like you in my room."

"To be fair, it is rude to enter a lady's room without at least knocking," Robin pointed out, finding this whole conversation amusing.

"Yeah? Well, I also find it rude to be knocked out, stuffed into a coffin, brought over miles of zombie-infested territory to have your shadow stolen, too!" present-day Usopp snapped back.

Kumacy then began welcoming Perona back, until she snapped at him to shut up. Even as he tried to tell them what was going on, she yelled at him to be quiet because no one cares what he says.

"Don't you think you're being a bit too strict with Kumacy?" Absalom asked. "Or rather, way to strict?"

"Don't tell me that pervert has a heart in there!" present-day Nami said with a shake of her head.

"It's kinda hard not to feel bad for that bear when he's stuck serving her," Zoro snarled out as he remembered the painful humiliation he suffered by being turned into one of Perona's 'servants' even if he was able to snap himself out of it eventually.

"He's my underling, what's it to you?" she asked Absalom coldly. "Anyway, did you hear? Master is calling for us."

"Did something happen?" Absalom asked in surprise as Kumacy was now trying to reach the zipper in his back, revealing that he now had to know that there was something wrong.

"I suppose you could say that," Perona answered teasingly. "Number 900 is making appearance."

"Number 900?" Absalom repeated in surprise. "Then he must have found a powerful shadow."

"Yeah, your shadow almost ended up killing us, Luffy," Sanji scolded their captain.

"Really?" Luffy asked in mild surprise. "Oops. Sorry."

"Just don't let it happen again," Sanji answered back as if getting your shadow stolen could happen to anyone.

"Right, you got it!" Luffy agreed happily just as the three memory Straw Hats inside Kumacy were starting to move around. The zipper opened just enough for memory Usopp's eyes to look through. As Perona and Absalom talked, the Straw Hats could hear the three of them whispering inside him.

"It's a miracle they haven't found us yet," memory Nami's voice hissed. "What were you thinking hiding in here? We were better off before."

"What do you want from me?" memory Usopp hissed back, "You were freaking out over that invisible guy and I found something to climb inside of! How was I supposed to know it was a zombie? We'll run away as soon as we get the chance. Ok?"

"Looks like you were being taken to Moria one way or the other," Franky pointed out.

"Don't remind us of that guy!" present-day Chopper cried out fearfully. It was awful to see his captain having his shadow stolen before being taken to that giant freezer where it was stuffed into that huge zombie! He wished that he could forget that moment!

Just then they heard flapping and they looked to the sky to where they saw the bat-freak Hildon, who had left the three of them in the middle of that stupid cemetery to begin with, flapping his way over to them.

"Master Absalom!" he called in relief when he saw him. "That's where you're hiding. There's something important that I needed to tell you."

"Yes?" Absalom asked in irritation.

"In addition to the pirates I'm afraid we have another unwelcomed guest," Hildon informed him. "It's him! The humming swordsman!"

Absalom's eyes widen in surprise as he demanded, "He's back?!"

"Right, that was your old nickname, wasn't it?" Zoro asked Brook, who was laughing happily at that.

"I tended to hum when I fought," he reminded him as the memory faded around them. "It was scary to fight against zombies. But I discovered that if I hum while I do it, then there's no room for fear!"

"It seems you caused quite a fuss here," Franky offered and Brook laughed again.

"Yohohoho! I once spent some time here," he reminded them. "After my shadow was stolen, I was lucky enough to wake up just after I was put onto my ship and was being forced out to sea. I managed to get back before Thriller Bark was out of my sights, though I have no eyes! Yohohoho! Anyway, I was looking all over to find the zombie that held my shadow and that was when I encountered a zombie whose shadow had been freed after eating a salted fish!"

"So that's how you knew about the zombie's weakness being salt?!" Chopper asked in awe.

"Indeed," Brook confirmed. "Though I originally thought that it was fish, to be honest. Anyway, I started going around and freeing as many shadows as I could! I was becoming quite a problem for them until I ran into my zombie." He then sighed despairingly and added with a sad tone, "Of course… I didn't stand a chance. That mummy that you all saw back in the laboratory had once been an incredibly powerful swordsman from the land of Wano. Not only did he have the strength that he had in his lifetime, but he also had my sword techniques as well. I didn't… I didn't stand a chance."

"That must have been hard for you, huh Brook?" Luffy asked him and Brook nodded solemnly.

"A real swordsman would never run away from a battle," Brook confessed. "But I had to keep my promise to Laboon. I couldn't let myself die there. And I had to protect my afro. That samurai said that I was too protective over it."

"It is kinda big," Usopp offered.

"It's my treasure," Brook reminded them as he patted his hair fondly. "It's the only part of me that hadn't rotted away when I died. And the only thing that Laboon will recognize! I had to protect it! In the end, I managed to escape and went back out to sea. I spent every day training until I felt I was ready to reclaim my shadow. But of course, I was lost in the fog, and Thriller Bark was constantly moving around. So it was very difficult to find. However, it turned out that samurai was never fighting me for real to begin with. He had been holding back against me all that time!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Zoro told him. "You fought well against him. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Your words are too kind, Zoro-san," Brook informed him, but was grateful nonetheless.

When the memory next reappeared, they were back on the broken bridge with memory Robin and Franky, who were looking over the ledge to where they had just seen memory Brook go flying by and crashing into the ground until it left a perfect outline of his skeletal body. The zombies that had taken the fall to the ground were looking at the smoldering crater in shock, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Hey, is that what I think it is down there?" memory Franky asked as he continued pulling himself up to the ledge so that he could join Robin.

"It can't be," memory Robin began as they got a good look at the crater.

"Don't see how you could mistake that," Usopp pointed out as he looked to the crater. "I don't think that there are too many other living skeletons with afros out there."

"If there are, I'd love to meet them! Yohohoho!" present-day Brook laughed out. "Oh, I hope that they like music!"

"Actually," memory Franky stated surely, "Looking at the shape, I don't think it can be anything else. I don't get it. Just where did that weirdo fall down from, anyway?"

"Now that's just rude!" present-day Brook said at once. "I clearly heard you say weirdo with my very own ears! Not that I have ears anymore, Yohohoho!"

"You have to admit bro, you aren't exactly normal," present-day Franky pointed out good-naturedly. "Even if there are other afro skeletons out there, you are still one of a kind."

"Why thank you, Franky-san!" present-day Brook said happily before he thought that over. "At least, I think I should take that as a compliment?"

As he thought that over memory Robin suddenly looked across to building across from them, turning her attention to one of the windows as if she thought that they were being watched.

"What is it, Robin?" Nami asked their Robin, who now held an anxious look in her eyes.

"I'm not sure what it was. But in that moment, I felt someone's eyes watching," she answered back, also looking up to one of the many windows. "But I felt like it was more interested in Brook than in us."

"No, I felt it too," Zoro reassured her, his eye also on the building as Sanji and Luffy both nodded. "If I had to guess, it was probably that mummy samurai."

"I was looking all over for him," present-day Brook confirmed. "I found out that he was in that building and I was just heading over there when I saw the trouble and decided to help out."

"You may be able to use Observation Haki, someday, Robin," Sanji told their Robin in wonder. "You never fail to amaze me!"

She chuckled at that as she thought it over. It truly would be useful to be able to use some form of Haki, and Observation would be helpful. She wondered if she could learn it?

Memory Franky was looking irritated as he sighed, "Guess we better go save him. What a pain in the ass."

"No need! Turns out, you ended up saving us," the present-day one added to their Brook. "By the way, didn't that hurt crashing into the ground like that?"

"A little," present-day Brook confessed. "I'm lucky I didn't break every bone in my body! Ah! That would really be bad for me, wouldn't it?"

But before the two memory Straw Hats could move, webbing appeared out of nowhere. It hit all over the walls, crisscrossing all over, forcing memory Franky to scramble up the side of the broken ledge to avoid getting hit. All the webs came together until a bridge of the sticky stuff appeared, stretching the length of the broken bridge and the spider-monkey was nestled in the center of the web like a giant spider.

"Hey! Hey!" laughed the spider-monkey zombie. "You think I'm gonna let you get away? Just because you broke some measly little bridge?"

"I was hoping for it," Usopp muttered darkly. He was getting sick of looking at this patchwork spider-monkey. Seriously, what kind of person could come up with something like this?

"I'm a spider! I can climb whatever the hell I want!" he laughed. "Monkey! Monkey!"

"Then why do you keep saying monkey over and over?" Luffy couldn't help but point out.

"Maybe it doesn't know the difference?" Chopper suggested. No one could answer that, but at that moment, memory Franky was going through a bag with some of his equipment.

"Looks like we're gonna have to pound the crap outta this guy first," he grumbled in annoyance as he pulled out a large steel nunchucks. He then turned to Robin and asked, "You think you can keep the spider busy for a sec?"

"What for?" she asked as he looked around and his eyes came across some stone pillars.

"Perfect," he said to himself, "There's an open section right over there. Anyway, I'm gonna build a spider smasher."

"Really?!" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp all gasped in excitement as their eyes lit up.

"Yeah, and it was working pretty good to!" present-day Franky added with a nod as his past self walked off as memory Robin crossed her arms, already preparing for a fight.

"Hey, I'm right here! Don't ignore me!" the spider-monkey demanded, taking offense by memory Franky's lack of interest. "I'll show you what's what! Bastards!" he then held up his hands and declared, "Sticky SPIDER NET!"

Giant silk webbing shot itself from his hand and went flying straight at memory Robin, who remained calm and retaliated with a "Seis Fleur!"

Six arms sprouted around the spider-monkey's right eye before she made all the hands slap his giant eyeball. He screamed in pain, pressing his hands over his eyes before he tried to pull them away, only to leave the webbing trapped over his eyes so that not only couldn't he move his hands anymore, he couldn't see.

"Alright, Robin! You got him there!" Nami cheered out with a smile.

"Amazing as always, my love!" Sanji added, now dancing around as hearts sprang to his eyes.

As the spider-monkey screamed out insults, memory Franky came back with his 'spider smasher'. It turned out that he had stuck his steel nunchucks into some stone columns and was now carrying them around like they didn't weigh a thing. He grinned evilly at the sight of the spider monkey, who was still trying to free his eyes.

"AWESOME!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all cried out at the sight of his 'spider smasher'.

"I want one!" Luffy added.

"No," the rest of the crew said to him firmly and he pouted at that.

"Cause when a monster is this big," memory Franky declared, "You gotta smash them extra hard!"

He then moved his new nunchucks around easily like they were made of foam before he ended up bringing them down on the spider-monkey's head.

"Heavy NUNCHUCKS!" memory Franky exclaimed, he sent it crashing the spider-monkey sideways and into his own webbing. Left stunned, memory Franky jumped upwards, spinning the pillars around in a wide circle, preparing for the finishing move. Over and over again he hit the spider-monkey with his pillar nunchucks until it got to a point that they were almost feeling bad for the zombie by the beating.

"Yeah! Pound him until there's nothing left!" Usopp cheered out with Brook and Chopper.

"How long were you going to keep hitting him?" Zoro asked with a rather evil grin. "You should have hurried up and taken him out."

"I was trying. But it's hard to kill a zombie. I wish I hit him harder," present-day Franky muttered darkly before they saw the spider-money finally have enough and held up his hands again, creating more sticky webbing, and trapping Franky's weapon in the web. The spider-monkey thought for sure that he had won… at least until memory Franky held up his left arm and fired his Weapons Left at him.

It looked like he had won until memory Robin cried out in fear behind him and they all looked back in time to see that she was now trapped in a giant spider web, surrounded with at least half a dozen spiders that each held the heads of giant mice. At the sight of her there, present-day Sanji gasped out in horror, rounding on their Franky and barked out, "Idiot! You were supposed to be looking after her!"

"I didn't see them!" present-day Franky shot back. "How was I supposed to know that there were more spiders around?!"

"Those are the things that grabbed me," Luffy said suddenly before he got angry. "Stupid spiders-mice things!"

"I hear ya," Zoro snarled under his breath, anger boiling in his stomach at the thought of how he had been wrapped up and carried away.

Memory Franky gasped at the sight of the spiders all laughing at memory Robin, all of them chanting, "Mousy mousy, mouse mouse!"

"Ok, we get it! You're not just spiders! Stop talking about yourselves like that!" Usopp yelled out.

"Nico Robin!" memory Franky gasped out, completely forgetting about the spider-monkey behind him. "What the hell are those things?"

"I was careless," she said apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't think that there were other spiders here."

"Indeed," present-day Robin sighed as she shook her head. "That wasn't like me. I guess I was so distracted by the fighting that I didn't notice them. I suppose I'm not cut out for Observation Haki after all, huh?"

"Don't say that," Sanji said confidently. "The three of us didn't sense them either and look at us! You'll get there, my dear. In fact, if you like, I could give you a few lessons and…?"

"Thank you, Sanji," present-day Robin said with a smile. "But I'm good."

"Oh, you're so beautiful even when you're so cold to me, Robin!" Sanji sighed affectionately. One day, he was sure that he would win her heart. Until then, just being near her was a miracle for him.

Memory Franky ran forward to help her, but he let down his guard long enough for the spider-monkey to come to and take his chance to take care of him. He fired more of the webbing at him, trapping him to the web-like bridge, leaving him with no way to move.

"Stupid, stupid me…" the present-day Franky sighed as he watched how easily that he was captured here.

"Serves… you right…" the wounded spider-monkey croaked out smugly. 'That's what happens when you let your guard down. These guys are my minions. They're called spider mice."

"Really?" Nami asked sarcastically. "I wonder how they got that name."

"They look more like rats to me," present-day Robin couldn't help but point out.

"There's more than 500 of them here on Thriller Bark," the spider-monkey went on. "Once we set our eyes on you there's no escape! We never once failed to capture our pray. From your shadows… from your blind spot… from where you least expect it, we attack! And thanks to Dr. Hogback modifications, these silk threats are unbreakable."

"No, but they aren't fireproof," present-day Franky muttered haughtily.

"We picked off your friends one by one," one of the many spider-mice explained squeakily. "Silently carrying them through the ceiling of our mansion without a single one of you noticing a thing! It doesn't matter how strong they are, once they're wrapped in our webs they're helpless! One little mistake and they become another offering to our master!"

"I wish they were still alive so that I could finish them all," Zoro muttered darkly.

"I want to crush them for that," Luffy nodded angrily. "That wasn't fun!"

"Don't worry about your friends! Once we carry you off, you'll all be reunited!" another one of the spider-mice said. "Hope you enjoy the ride!"

But as they laughed, they heard a new noise filling the air until it was all around them and impossible to tell where it was coming from. It was eerie, almost like some lost soul singing with a ghoulish laughter as it echoed off the buildings and walls.

 _"_ _Yo-ho-ho-ho,_

 _Yo-ho-ho-ho._

 _Yo-ho-ho-ho,_

 _Yo-ho-ho-ho."_

"What's that?" the spider-monkey asked nervously.

"It's an amazing how you can make even such a cheerful song sound so foreboding, Brook," present-day Robin complimented.

"Yohohoho, it's all about the tempo, Robin-san," present-day Brook offered happily.

 _Gather up all of the crew,_

 _Time to ship out Binks's Brew._

 _Sea winds blow,_

 _To where, who knows?_

 _The waves will be our guide._

 _O'er across the ocean's tide,_

 _The sunset is goin' wild._

 _See the sky, the birds singing in circles, passing by."_

"Stop it! Who the hell is singing that?!" demanded the spider-monkey as the eerie song continued.

" _Yo-ho-ho-ho_

 _Yo-ho-ho-ho_

 _Yo-ho-ho-ho_

 _Yo-ho-ho-ho…"_

But at the very last line, the echoing faded until it was normal again and memory Brook stepped up onto the bridge of webs, his sword resting against his shoulder.

"Yohohohoho!" memory Brook chortled as he went walking up to them. "My goodness it would seem you came to this island after all."

"How did you get all the way up here?" memory Robin gasped in shock, actually looking shaken at the sight of him there.

"I jumped, of course," memory Brook said as he tipped his hat to her. "I'm quite light."

"One of many advantages to being made out of nothing but bones! Yohohoho!" present-day Brook sang out cheerfully.

His past self placed his hat back onto his head before he turned to look from memory Robin to Franky as he added, "Since you're here already, I suppose there's no point in holding back. I'll tell you everything I know about this island."

"I see that I should have done so when we first met," present-day Brook muttered.

"You didn't know what kind of people we are, it's not your fault," Sanji reassured him. "Sure it would have saved us some trouble, but you were just doing what you thought was best for us."

"Yeah, we just have a captain who never listens anyway," Nami added as Luffy was cheering for their memory selves again.

"Who are you? Huh?" barked the spider-monkey when he saw Brook. "You're not a zombie! Does that mean you're with these pirates?"

Memory Brook didn't answer him as he slowly turned away and began walking.

"Hold on, what are…?" memory Franky began before he was interrupted.

"Worry not my friend," memory Brook reassured him, already slowly starting to slide his blade into his cane. "I'm not going anywhere."

But as the spider-monkey had just gotten over his shock and was preparing himself to attack, memory Brook finished sheathing his sword until only enough remained the light was able to reflect a dark light onto his empty eye sockets before he whispered, ""Three-Verse Humming…" and then… "ARROW NOTCH SLICE!"

Memory Brook fully sheathed his sword and at that moment a deep would appeared across the spider-monkey's back and blood burst out as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Leaving both memory Franky and Robin to stare ahead in shock.

"To say that you took us by surprise would be an understatement," present-day Robin confessed. "That was impressive."

"Yeah, bro… had I known would you could do before, I wouldn't have been so ready to think that you needed our help," present-day Franky commented.

"Ah… but I did need help," present-day Brook pointed out. "I never would have made it through that night alive!"

"Neither would we," Usopp reminded him as the spider-monkey writhed in pain, blood was dripping from its head and back, but it was still moving.

"Don't stop!" memory Franky called in hurry. "It won't die! The damn thing's a zombie! I'll just get right back up!"

Indeed, the spider-monkey, though in pain, was now forcing itself to get back up as he cursed at Brook. "Hang on…" it said now that it got a good look him. "I… I know you from somewhere?"

Memory Brook only happily laughed before he reassured the two other memory Straw Hats, "Never fear! I got this under control!"

"You do?" memory Franky asked skeptically as memory Brook looked back to the spider-monkey.

"Even the dead can be killed if you know their weakness," memory Brook explained. Memory Franky and Robin look at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion before the spider-monkey was writhing worse than ever. His whole body seized up and that was when something black came wiggling out of his giant mouth.

"That's the shadow?!" Nami asked at once.

"Indeed," present-day Brook nodded. "When I struck at him, I made sure to throw salt into his mouth at the same time."

"That's good thinking, Brook," Zoro complimented.

"Why thank you!" present-day Brook said happily. "Why my cheeks are now blushing! At least, they would be if I still had cheeks to blush with! Yohohoho!"

"What the hell is that thing?!" memory Franky cried out as the two of them stared in shock at the choking monkey as the shadow was still struggling to get free.

"That thing would be the soul of the zombie," memory Brook answered calmly.

"Its soul?!" memory Franky gasped, "Why's it coming outta its mouth?!"

"Better the mouth than the other way, I guess," the present-day Franky offered and Nami hit him over the head.

"DON'T BE SO GROSS!" she hollered while the spider-mice were all crying out for their captain, but it was too late.

"Go on! Get out of here!" memory Brook called to the shadow as it finally broke free of the spider-monkey zombie and went soaring up into the sky. "Return to your rightful owner!"

"You know, I bet we sure made a lot of people happy in the morning," Luffy said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure we did," Sanji chortled as he lit up another cigarette. "Moria had around 1000 shadows lurking about here. And they were all freed in the end. Good, huh?"

The spider-monkey fell with a crash, no longer moving… no longer a zombie, but an empty corpse. The spider-mice were all crying out in shock and terror when they realized that their captain had been defeated.

"You obliterated the guy!" memory Franky said, staring on with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. "What'd you do to him?"

"I purified him," memory Brook answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. But he wasn't given the chance to explain for the spider-mice were all starting to panic.

"It's him!" one of the spider-mice cried out in terror. "It's no doubt! It's the Humming Swordsman! He's the one who wreaked all that destruction on Thriller Bark five years ago!"

Chopper laughed at the sight of it as he said, "Wow, you're like a celebrity here!"

"Not in a good way," Sanji pointed out with a grin. "But that's good in our case."

"We gotta report this to the master!" another one of the spider-mice cried and they all made a break for it. They left the memory versions of Robin and Franky tied up in the web as they scurried away in fear.

"Oh," memory Brook said to memory Franky, like he just remembered something. "I know that web feels like it's stronger than steel, but you can melt right through it with fire."

"Wish I knew that before," Sanji muttered as he remembered trying so hard to break those stupid threads when he was tied up. If he knew that he could have used fire, he'd have been able to get out of there with no problems! Why is it that they always seem to learn something important only after it doesn't count anymore?

"Really?" memory Franky asked before he blew a small flame on the webbing that trapped his arm, and in a matter of seconds he was easily able to pull it free. "Well I'll be damned! You're right!" he cried happily. He quickly freed himself and when he got to his feet, he went over to melt the webs that still held up Robin.

Once they were both safely standing on the web-like bridge, they told Brook what happened. That after he left their ship, they were all forced to come to the shore one way or the other. They then mentioned that they lost sight of most of their friends, and just now they saw Luffy being taken away.

"Straw Hat and the rest of the crew got captured," memory Franky finally ended. "So let's talk. You seem to know a lot about this creepy island."

"I wish I didn't," present-day Brook confessed as he looked around at the buildings and shivered, though he no longer had any skin that could cause him to shiver.

"I do," memory Brook confessed before going on slowly, like he was afraid that he would be blamed if he worded what he was about to say the wrong way. "It's just… I'm not really sure how to say this… but if your friends have already been captured then there's a very high probability that it's too late to help them."

"Hey! Wait! WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'TOO LATE'?!" memory Franky barked furiously at him, scaring the skeleton man.

"Would you please refrain from yelling at me?!" he gasped out fearfully as memory Franky was now seething and growling like an angry bear. "I can't bear to face such hostility." He then lowered his hands as he added, "But then again I am a skeleton so I don't have a face! Yohohoho! Skull Joke!"

"Brook, maybe now wasn't the best time to be making skull jokes?" Usopp sighed as he watched the scene and how memory Franky was growing angrier and angrier with every passing second. Indeed, as memory Brook went on laughing, the memory version of Franky was now pulling his left arm at him, ready to fire.

"Don't bother," memory Robin commented as she put a calm hand on his shoulder to stop him, "He's already dead, remember?"

"Anyway now," memory Brook said as he tilted his hat again. "Try to be serious here."

That only served to make memory Franky lose it a second as he pointed his arm at him again.

Present-day Franky then yelled at their Brook, "You were the one making jokes at a time like this!"

"I know he's annoying, but he's still dead," memory Robin repeated, once again stopping Franky from firing.

"I tried to explain this while aboard the ship," memory Brook went on in a more serious tone. "But there was a great deal of time many years that I spent adrift in the sea lost and all alone. When I thought I'd finally charted my way out of this demonic sea, my rudder broke and I was cast even further into this watery void. But then it happened. I suppose it was about five years ago, much in the same way that it happened to you. The island of Thriller Bark called out to me."

Zoro shook his head as he then finished, "And we answered it… hook, line, and sinker."

"At least it wasn't a complete waste of time," Nami offered as she thought of all the wonderful treasure that she gained from this place.

"I was utterly desperate to escape the Florian Triangle, no matter the risk," memory Brook went on, "So I took a chance and decided to scour the island, hunting for parts to fix the rudder."

Luffy thought that over before he offered, "That must have been scary for you, Brook. Since you were more scared of the zombies than anyone."

"It was scary," present-day Brook agreed. "Cerberus alone was trying to eat me when I first got here! That was awful!"

"You don't like dogs, do you?" Chopper asked him.

"Would you when you come across a creature who was trying to eat you?" present-day Brook asked.

"Well, to be fair," present-day Robin offered, "You are as good as a walking chew toy to them."

Present-day Brook liked at her sadly before muttering dejectedly, "Don't say that so calmly, Robin-san."

"All that was to be found on this island was a hoard of monsters and zombies," memory Brook explained. "It didn't take long for them to capture me and brought me to this building. It was here that I witnessed something incredible. With me was a Kung-Fu dancer who had been captured some time before… they brought him before a stitched up corpse they called a marionette. Before I knew it…" and his voice started to grow more and more afraid, "One of the most frightening creatures I'd have ever seen had appeared! And then…?"

He stared down at his hands in horror, his skeletal face holding nothing but fear, "The dancer's shadow was ripped right away from his body… it was amputated!"

Both memory versions of Franky and Robin breathed in sharply at the thought and memory Franky asked, sounding like he couldn't believe it, "How is that even possible?"

"I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it," memory Brook added as he turned away from them. "Luckily… I don't have eyes! Yohohoho!"

"CUT THE CRAP!" memory Franky shouted at him, his temper finally reaching its breaking point. "WANT ME TO BEAT YOU UP?!"

Even memory Robin had lost her patience as she said, "Now that, I can approve of."

"Wow, you must have been annoying, pal," Usopp said, sounding impressed. Franky didn't need to hear anymore and gave memory Brook a hard beating, leaving him only a dented and swollen headed skeleton on the ground, moaning in pain. "Robin doesn't lose her patience that easily."

Present-day Robin nodded as she admitted, "With everything that had happened to us that night, I wasn't in the mood for a skull joke."

"That hurt, you know?" present-day Brook commented as he rubbed his head, swearing that he could still feel that pain.

"Good," Sanji said with a roll of his eyes.

"It didn't take him long to finish with the dancer and move onto my shadow," memory Brook went on speaking as if nothing happened even though he was still on the ground from his beating. "Once your shadow is taken, you fall lifeless to the floor. But the shadow remains active, up until the moment it is confined within a corpse. And once this act was complete, I witnessed the marionette go from lifeless meat to a full-blown dancing zombie!"

"Those last few lines weren't something I ever thought I'd hear in a sentence," Nami couldn't help but speak up.

"You gonna explain this?" memory Franky demanded, still not getting what was going on.

"It's the shadows," memory Brook explained as he slowly pushed himself up to his feet. "It doesn't matter whom the corpse belongs to, the shadows contain the characteristics of the soul they originate from. Of course, the shadow at your feet is the same. That reflection of your soul… your other half if you will… is intended to follow you from birth till death. Only one man has the ability to force those shadows to submit to him. A member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea… Gecko Moria. He is endowed with the power of the Shadow Shadow Fruit."

"I think we should just assume that from now on," Usopp offered for them. "Whenever we hear that something weird is going on, just assume it's someone with a Devil Fruit. It's usually what it is, anyway."

"Devil Fruit powers…" memory Franky said in understanding.

"So he's the one who stole your shadow," memory Robin put together.

Memory Brook nodded before explaining, "The only materials needed to make a zombie are a corpse and a living shadow of some unfortunate individual. But the zombies you see… are not merely corpses but a collection of human and animal parts stitched together by Dr. Hogback… Moria's brilliant accomplice."

Chopper frowned at the name and looked down at his feet angrily, trying not to feel disappointment with himself for ever having admired that man. He had heard the stories of the countless people that Hogback had saved, and he wanted to become a doctor just like that…. One who could perform miracles! To see how Hogback was using his skills to create these zombies was enough to strike fury into his very heart.

Memory Brook had gone on with his explanation, "He collects the corpses of legendary warriors from around the world and using his medical expertise, outfits their bodies with new parts. And trust me, he's admass quite the collection; a countless number of monstrosities stored away in his lab and ready to live again."

"Dr. Hogback, huh?" memory Robin repeated in surprise before she spoke a little of what she had heard about the man, how he was a famous surgeon before he disappeared.

"So these zombies aren't really resurrected from the dead," memory Franky summed up what he heard. "They just got someone else's shadow working its way inside their bodies."

"The bodies could move, but that's not really bringing the dead back to life," Chopper stated firmly, not noticing the angry tears in his eyes as they all looked at him. "It's a mockery of life! These zombies don't have hearts or souls of their own… they were just monsters! And every monster he made, he devastated a living person!"

"Chopper," Nami said soothingly, trying to calm him down as he took several deep breaths to stop him from continuing to scream.

"Precisely," memory Brook agreed. "The personality and fighting abilities come from the shadow's original owner. But its physical strength is completely dependent upon the corpse itself. When these two elements are both powerful… their combination creates a truly formidable zombie! Which is why Moria is so eager to get his wicked hands on those with ample bounties on their head."

"So the stronger the person and corpse, the more powerful zombie," Chopper nodded. "But even the weaker zombies can be tricky to deal with."

"Of course they are," Zoro reminded him. "They don't need to worry about dying."

"Well that makes sense," memory Franky said thoughtfully as he began putting all the pieces together. "At least now we know why we're being targeted now."

"I imagine one of the greatest advantages for Moria is the absolute obedience his zombies provided," memory Robin pointed out as she thought this all over. "He needn't worry about winning the favor of their original personalities. A living army of such powerful warriors would be difficult for anyone to control."

"Where's the fun in that?" Luffy questioned with a frown. "Stupid zombies."

"You were all on board with having a few of those freaks join us," Zoro reminded him sharply. "And no! You can't have them as a pet!"

"Awwww," Luffy groaned at the thought. It would be cool to have a pet!

"Even if it wasn't a zombie, every time you bring an animal on board, you eventually want to eat it!" Sanji reminded him firmly. "It's a wonder you haven't eaten Chopper yet."

"Indeed," memory Brook agreed, "And since the shadows he takes have the same abilities as their original owners, then he has no need for the less manageable bodies they were attached to. The stronger they are, the faster he sends them out to sea before they wake up."

"But… that means…?" memory Franky gasped as he finally understood what was happening, "We gotta find our guys!"

"Probably a little late for that," Sanji sighed as he thought back… or at least tried to. He remembered seeing his shadow cut off from his feet before he fell into darkness. The next thing he knew, he was waking up on the Sunny. "It's for the best you go back to the ship and slap us awake."

"They're alright for now," memory Brook said as he held up a hand to prevent them from moving. "There's still time to save them. However you must put your complete trust in me if you want to accomplish that. My experience will have to serve as your guide!"

"What?" memory Franky demanded. "Trust you? Why should I?"

"I hope you aren't offended by that, pal," present-day Franky asked their Brook. "It's just that we still didn't know what your deal was at this point."

Memory Brook only chuckled as he waved his hand down at him, letting him know that it was alright. To be honest, he had to agree. After all, they hardly knew him, and he shouldn't expect them to trust a complete stranger without good reason. Especially one that looked as strange as he did.

A pause came. But then memory Brook gasped dramatically as he cried out, "Rejected!" He was so happy to have such an emotionally engaging conversation that he began twirling about happily as he sang.

"Are you gonna tell us what to do, or not?" memory Robin demanded. Her arms were folded and her eyes were dangerously shadowed over by her bangs. She looked so dangerous at that moment that she frightened memory Brook in mid-twirl and he meekly promised to tell her anything she wanted.

Memory Brook told them what their best course of action should be. It wasn't what they were expecting and memory Franky repeated in surprise, "What? Return to the ship? You want us to go back on board the Sunny?"

"Yes, that's right," memory Brook answered back, "If your comrades have been captured then we must fear the worst. By now, and if not, very soon, they will surely have their shadows stolen. But even if that's the case, they won't die. Their bodies will likely be taken back to your boat. You see? They'll end up just like me!" He realized what he said and yelled out, "Wait! The shadow part! Not the dead part!"

"You probably could have worded that right," Usopp pointed out as there were sounds of scattered laughter from around them.

"YEAH, YEAH! WE GET IT! LET'S JUST MOVE ON!" memory Franky yelled at him, his temper close to breaking again. "Anyway, like you were saying… even if you have your shadow taken, you won't die, right?"

"Yes, that would be correct," memory Brook confirmed for him. "But whenever it's taken you immediately weaken and lose consciousness. Usually for about 2 days or so. If the victim is strong enough, they put them on a ship and send them out to drift in the sea. Which is why I'm urging you to return to yours. Any guesses as to why they do this?"

"Oh, is that why the forest was full of people?" Chopper suddenly asked as he thought to the Rolling Pirates and all the other people who had been wandering around the woods before they begged the Straw Hats to help them.

"Guess so," Zoro thought it over. "Guess they thought that they were just people they didn't think they had to worry about. So they didn't mind them running around. To be fair, they were in those words for about three years, weren't they?"

"Meanwhile we were fighting all that in one night!" Usopp couldn't help but feel strangely proud of that.

Memory Robin thought it over for a moment before suggesting, "Well, I'm assuming it's to prevent the victims from taking back their shadows, correct?"

"Yes!" memory Brook called, sounding pleased that she guessed it so quickly.

"Why don't they just kill them while they're unconscious and get it over with?" memory Franky asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he didn't," the present-day Franky added to the rest of them, "I was just curious."

"Would have been better for them if it wasn't for the fact that they needed us alive," Zoro nodded as he thought that over.

"That's something they cannot do," memory Brook countered.

"Thank goodness for that," Nami sighed in relief.

"Now this is important so be sure to pay close attention," memory Brook clarified, like he was a teacher and was trying to get his students to listen. "Firstly, even though the body and shadow have been separated, they still represent one being. Think of the shadow as a soul, if the body dies then the shadow will disappear as well. Thus, killing the host zombie in the process. Since they're trying to build an army of minions, this would certainly not bold well for them. Secondly, in the likely event that your friends have had their shadows stolen from them, they would most certainly still be alive after it and their bodies will have been returned to your ship as soon as possible."

"And because they knew that we were gonna cause them trouble, they wanted to get us off the island as soon as possible," Sanji nodded. "Makes sense."

"Stupid if you ask me," Zoro rolled his eye. "Even if we all had our shadows stolen and were sent adrift back in the sea, it would only be a matter of time before we found our way back."

"Well, I guess they never thought that we would bother coming back," present-day Robin offered. "The title of 'Warlord' is usually enough to scare away most pirates."

"Good for us that we aren't like most pirates," Chopper proclaimed proudly.

"Which is why the two of you must not lose your shadows as well," memory Brook finished as he pointed a finger dramatically at them. "If you do then all hope will be lost and you'll be forced to wander these seas aimlessly for all eternity. While you have this window of opportunity, you should use it to awaken your comrades! Once you do, you must regroup and formulate a plan to reclaim their shadows! Do you understand? Does all of this make sense?"

"Good plan," Nami nodded, "After all, the three of us were trying to do the same thing."

"Yeah, I guess so," memory Franky said. "Your shadow story wasn't so crazy after all."

Just as it was looking like they were getting somewhere, memory Brook handed each of them a small sack, telling them to take them.

"What is it?" memory Robin asked curiously as she looked over it. That was when he explained that it was salt, and it was the zombie's weakness.

"It's just salt?!" Franky asked. "Not exactly what I had in mind for the vanquisher of evil. Does it lift the curse or something?"

"Well, I suppose that would be one way of putting it, yes," memory Brook answered back gleefully. "The reanimated life of these zombies is brought about by a Devil Fruit power. Just how one who is a power holder is weakened by sea water, the power that is contained in that water can also be used as a weapon to unbind the shadow from the zombie, leaving them permanently deceased!"

"Ok, I get it," memory Franky said in understanding as he tucked the sack away. "Then when that spider-monkey went down, that black thing that floated outta him afterwards was somebody else's shadow that he had been given."

"To think that something so simple would be their weakness?" memory Robin said in wonder, like she was kicking herself for not realizing it sooner. Memory Brook began to spin around happily once again, telling them that all they had to do was throw the salt into their mouths to deal with the zombies. That was when memory Robin asked him how he knew so much about this island.

She had clearly hit upon a very sensitive subject, for he suddenly froze in place and his happy personality changed so suddenly that he really seemed no different than a lifeless skeleton at that moment.

"It all relates back to an incident on this island, five years ago," he answered back grimly. "The time I lost my shadow. I was sent out to sea just like all the others. Luckily I awoke and was able to retrace my path and return here. Once I did, I went to shore and began my battle. I fought against the very zombie who had my shadow."

There was a very tense pause as memory Brook seemed to be having trouble speaking at that moment.

"Unfortunately the outcome was a crushing defeat," he confessed shamefully as he clenched his hand tightly—leaving present-day Brook to watch on with his memory coming back more and more with each second. "Because I vowed to survive no matter what I faced, I ran. Even if it was shameful, I had to keep on living. I have an obligation you see… I was the only survivor of my crew. One day, I will escape these evil seas, and make good on the promise made by myself and my comrades! Until then, I cannot die a second time! Sadly, living longer has helped me keep my promises or reach my goal at all!"

"Go for it, Brook!" Luffy cried encouragingly. "You can take that mummy!"

"I wish," present-day Brook answered back, still feeling terrible that he was so weak that a mummy had to hold himself back to prevent him from killing him.

"But this time! I'm back and I won't run away!" memory Brook declared loudly, determination ringing in his voice. "Not until I defeat that man and take back my shadow!"

Yet even as he declared that loudly for them all to hear, they saw him freeze, which even their past selves had noticed and that surprised them.

"Brook?" Chopper asked slowly as he looked up to their Brook, who was shivering again, breathing hard through his mouth to try and calm himself.

"Sorry," he whispered as he looked down at his skeletal hand for a moment as he answered, "The memoires are harsh."

Both he and his past self were breathing hard as the memory version leaned on his cane, gripping it hard as he fought to regain control of himself. One he did, he steadied himself and spoke to the Straw Hats like he was running late for an important appointment.

"I better hurry," memory Brook said as he turned around and tilted his hat to them once more, "So please excuse me. I'll be on my way now."

But he hardly took more than a few steps when memory Franky called out to him.

"Hold on a second!" he said, which caused memory Brook to stop dead. "While you're still in the mood to talk. There's one more burning question I still need an answer to. If you go out in public like that, you know how people are gonna react don't ya?"

"Right… I forgot about this part," the present-day Franky winced. "Sorry about that, bro. I didn't mean to be so…?"

"It is alright, I understand," present-day Brook reassured him. "Were it the other way around, I would have asked the same thing. But you were very understanding!"

"Well, yeah…" Franky sniffled a little at that as tears began to form in his eyes again. "How could I not after hearing such a touching story!" He then broke down completely as his past self went on speaking.

"I mean, you're a talking skeleton," memory Franky pointed out obviously as he folded his arms. "There's no way someone as creepy as you is ever gonna make friends with anyone. People are gonna run away in terror."

"Franky," memory Robin scolded. "Why are you telling him that?"

Yes, in a lot of ways, she supposed that that line could apply to her as well.

"That's not true, Brook!" Luffy added to their Brook. "You were a big star, weren't you?!"

"Yeah! Everyone loved you Soul King!" Chopper added firmly. "And we'll beat up anyone who says otherwise!"

"As always, your words mean more to me than any amount of treasure, my friends!" present-day Brook sobbed out. "Your words touch my heart! AH! I don't have a heart though, Yohohoho!"

"Even if you can see the sun and make it out of these cursed waters, your life will still be full of suffering," memory Franky went on, completely ignoring Robin. "You've had it rough for a long time already. Are you sure you can handle that? After all, you said before that you were so lonely that you wanted to die, right? If I were you, I'd have given up on life a long time ago. And yet… you still act like a gentleman. You laugh, you sing… you pretend you don't have a care in the world. What is it that's keeping you alive? You said that you made a promise to a friend, what is it? How can it be so important?"

Memory Brook laughed softly, but it wasn't a happy one—it was sad, like he rather be talking about anything but this.

"Interested in me, are you?" memory Brook asked delicately, speaking in a tone that was completely different than it had been before now. "The story is quite simple. At a certain point in the past, before we came to these waters, my crew left behind a good friend of ours. It was a troubling situation but we did it out of necessity. The only consolation we could offer this friend was a promise to return one day, no matter the cost."

"I wish that we could have taken Laboon with us," present-day Brook said sadly. "But he truly was too young. We would have all done our best to protect him, but there was no promises that we could do that."

"No, we all understand," Usopp reassured him. "I mean, it's not like now. He's big enough to eat most Sea Kings. But if he really was as small as you said he was…?"

"He was about the size of a rowboat," present-day Brook said as he thought back.

"Wow… talk about a growth spurt," Sanji couldn't help but mutter as he thought back to how they thought that Laboon was a mountain when they first saw him.

Memory Brook turned his head around just enough so that they could get a glimpse of his skull face as he added, "But then the crew was annihilated. And the promise that we made… was left unfulfilled." He sighed again as he folded his arms behind his back and was gripping his sword cane hard in his skeletal fingers.

"Since I am the only survivor it is my duty to return to our friend," memory Brook went on, "Even if I must bear sad news." He then looked up to the sky and asked a question, but he was asking himself this instead of memory Franky and Robin. "How long has it been since the day we died? I've lost count but it must be about fifty years now."

"How were you able to keep going and not lose your mind all that time?" Nami couldn't help but ask. "How can you be lost in this fog for almost half a century?"

"The currents and tides in this sea are all interwoven with each other," present-day Brook answered simply. "So long as your ship can hold out, it can sail forever in that place."

Nami looked sadly at him as memory Franky's eyes widen in shock as he gasped out, "Fifty years?! You're talking about ages ago! Hell I wasn't even born yet! I'd hate to break it to you buddy, but there's no way your friend is still waiting for you…?"

But almost before he could finish his sentence, memory Brook shouted out, "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"

The other two fell silent immediately as memory Brook kept his back to them, but when he spoke, it was in a much calmer tone as he confessed, "But it's true that he would have every right to leave by now. I realize that I may be foolish to believe that he's still there. However, if by some chance, he did believe in our promise and is still waiting for us after all these years… then the loneliness he's suffering from would be far worse than my own. How sad he must be… wondering if we betrayed him… wondering if our promise was a lie…?"

"But he does have Crocus," Chopper pointed out and Brook nodded at that.

"That is true," he confessed as he folded his hand like he was praying as he added, "Oh, Crocus-san… thank you so much for taking care of Laboon all these years!"

His past self was now gripping his sword cane so hard that it was a wonder he didn't break his fingers.

"Yet still waiting for us in the same place?" memory Brook asked.

"You're right, but…?" memory Franky tried again.

"The name of the friend we left at the cape, swearing to meet again is… Laboon," memory Brook confessed as he looked up to the sky once more and went on, "He was just a child. We simply couldn't take such a young whale on such a dangerous journey with us."

"You made the right choice," present-day Robin told him softly. "He never would have survived at the time."

"I wish that we thought to stay in the West Blue long enough to find Laboon's family," present-day Brook said. "He would have had his family all these years…?"

"But who knows how long that would have taken?" Usopp pointed out. "It could have been years! And remember, we saw them here in the Grand Line! There's no guarantee that you would have ever found them even if you stayed."

"A whale?" memory Franky repeated in surprise.

"Yes," memory Brook confessed as his present-day counterpart remembered that day. "I can only imagine how big he's grown since then."

"Oh, he certainly has! He's so big now… I can't wait to tell him!" present-day Brook nodded at the thought. "I can't wait to see him again."

"You think that whale… understood your promise?" memory Franky asked slowly.

"In his own way," memory Brook answered firmly and the present-day Brook nodded. While it was true that Laboon couldn't speak English, he could understand everything that was happening around them. He remembered the day that he had tried to explain to him that they couldn't take him to the Grand Line and it was better if he remained in the West Blue. The little whale went into such an angry fit that it was clear that he knew what was being said to him.

"I can't help but think that he's still waiting for us at that cape… staring longingly at the Grand Line," memory Brook went on unhappily. "He probably wants us to play our cheerful music again. Dancing and singing…? Although, I suppose it's a little late for that now." He slumped forward a little, having to use his cane to keep him upright as he whispered mournfully, "Even if I return I don't think that he'll forgive us for running away and dying like that. But no matter how much he resents me for making him suffer all these years…"

Those words were enough to cause more tears to come to the eyes of the more sensitive members of the crew. Memory Brook was now grinding his teeth together so hard that they could hear them cracking from here.

"Death is never an apology!" he declared loudly, "BECAUSE WHEN A MAN MAKES A PROMISE, HE DOESN'T STOP FIGHTING UNTIL HE FULFILLS IT!"

"OH, LABOON!" Brook, Luffy, Usopp, Franky, and Chopper all cried out together. Sanji, Zoro, Robin and Nami decided to let them have this moment, though their cries were only continuing to grow louder and louder.

Memory Brook, sounded close to breaking down and he took several deep breaths before he said his goodbyes to memory Franky and Robin, who were both staring at him in wonder and new respect. The memory faded as Brook went running off, heading towards the building in front of them, determined to find his shadow.

"To know that Laboon is still waiting there for me made me see that all the lonely years I had to wait was worth it after all," Brook said as he continued crying. "I'm so happy that I never gave up! I'm so happy to be alive!"

"Dude! You're breaking my heart!" Franky cried as he pulled the skeleton into a tight hug. The crying continued for some time as they returned to the tower and continued walking up the flight of stairs to the next floor. Soon enough though, the memories began up again and what they saw knocked the tears out of them as they recognized it. They were back in a room in the mansion, and they saw memory Luffy tied up and locked inside a cage that was just barely large enough for him.

While in front of him was none other than Gecko Moria. Seeing him here they realized how much they didn't miss his devil-like face, horns and stitches running along his head and neck. The way his teeth and ears were both pointed as he grinned down at how memory Luffy was unable to move while his enormous fat and round body that made him look like he would roll over if he sat down.

"Damn, no matter how many times I see him, I can't get over how ugly he is," Nami couldn't help but say.

"What is he?" Zoro asked. "Did his Devil Fruit do something to his body? Or did he just always look like that?"

"I don't see why the Devil Fruit would have that much of an effect on him," Robin offered as she thought it over. While there were many Devil Fruits who change a person's appearance, this would have to be one of the biggest changes she had seen. Or, it was certainly possible that Hogback may have stitched things onto his body as well.

"I'd hate to be his parents to see that mess when he was born then," Sanji couldn't help but add darkly.

Memory Luffy was still throwing out insults and yells from inside the cage while more zombies came running into the room, telling their master that the 'Mysterious Three' have finally arrived.

"Mysterious Three?" present-day Luffy asked with a tilt of his head in confusion.

"Including Moria there are four," Brook explained, "Moria… Hogback… Absalom… and Perona… In order, we have Moria at the top, and these three are directly underneath him. Followed by the zombie generals and then the surprise zombies, then the wild zombies, followed by regular weaker zombies. There were several branches of zombies, and each one of them has control over a certain group. Like Absalom controlled the zombie generals, and Perona controlled the wild zombies."

The three tiny zombies then called for the others to enter, and they appeared. The first was Hogback, followed by the 'invisible man' Absalom, and then Perona. At the sight of the girl, Sanji sighed lovingly as he cooed out, "Oh, why does someone so cute have to work for him?"

"She's a monster, don't let the pink hair fool you," Zoro hissed.

"Right," Sanji laughed out, "Because she turned you into her giant teddy bear didn't she?"

"Better than being an Okama!" Zoro yelled, his face red. A very dark look passed over Sanji's face as he glared back.

"You. Die. Tonight," he snarled at him menacingly.

"In. Your. Dreams," Zoro retorted as fire burned angrily in his own eye.

"Oh," Moria said in a pleased voice when he saw the three of them there, "You're all here. Hurry up and make me the Pirate King."

"Immediately," they all said at once, which caused present-day Luffy's ears to perk up.

"Hey! I'm the one who's gonna be the Pirate King!" present-day Luffy shouted out.

Almost immediately afterwards, his past self yelled from inside his cage, "What are you all talking about? The one who'll be the King of the Pirates… will be ME!"

Nami then soothed their Luffy down as she said, "We know, Luffy. Don't worry,"

Memory Luffy was now making a fuss as he continued to fight against his bindings, roaring out for Moira to untie him and fight and to give him back his crew while he was at it.

"He's got quite a spirit on him," Hogback admitted as he looked over at him, "So this is Straw Hat Luffy?"

That was when Cindry appeared and stood in front of Hogback, who meekly tried to get her to stop doing that before Perona said sweetly, "No matter how you look at him… for him to stand against the World Government seems impossible."

"We may be small, but we're tough as nails," Chopper cheered out proudly.

"And for some of us, we can grow bigger," Franky teased with a laugh as he reminded Chopper of that and the little guy blushed red as he also began laughing.

Absalom was pointing out that he couldn't be that tough if he wore armor against the zombie generals, which caused memory Luffy to snap that he just looked damn cool in it and that was all.

"What are you talking about?!" Absalom yelled, "How can you look cool if you're tied up and strapped inside a cage?!"

"Damn, I hate it when an idiot makes a good point," Nami sighed.

"Hey, I could take him!" present-day Luffy answered her.

"Not if you couldn't get out of that cage," she pointed out as their Luffy thought over something very strange.

"Hey…" he said slowly. "That's the 'invisible man' guy, right?"

"Yes," Nami answered. "Why?"

"He doesn't look invisible," Luffy pointed out.

"Because he's not using his powers right now," Sanji sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Believe me, if he were invisible, you'd know."

"Not really if you can't see him," Usopp pointed out.

"Not now," Sanji muttered darkly as Moria pulled out the Straw Hats wanted posters and unfolded them out like cards as he said that all that he was mostly after was him, Zoro, and the 'Blondie' character.

At the name, Zoro burst out laughing and Sanji looked as if he had just been kicked in the face. He was shaking in rage as some of the others began to laugh at the new nickname, with Brook and Zoro, laughing louder than ever.

"Whoever thought it was a good idea to put that ugly drawing on that poster and give it my name should be shot," Sanji hissed as his shoulders shook with suppressed rage.

"Hm?" memory Luffy asked, looking confused. "Blondie can't fit anyone but Sanji, but…?"

"THAT'S NOT ME!" Sanji roared out.

"Settle down, Blondie," Zoro laughed.

Sanji glared back at him as he screamed out, "AND YOU SHUT UP TOO, MOSS HEAD!"

"Hey, look!" present-day Luffy said as he pointed to another zombie that looked like a giant patchwork teddy bear that just lumbered inside. He had a large zipper in the back where there were several pairs of eyes looking out. "Nice hiding place, guys! I had no idea you were all there!"

"I still don't see why the bear didn't tell everyone you were there?" Franky asked in confusion.

"Because Perona kept telling him not to talk," Usopp pointed out. "I think that this would have been the one time that she would have understood, but I'm not complaining about it."

"Zombies had to follow their orders," Brook reminded them. "So when she ordered him not to talk, he had no choice but to do so."

"So," Robin said slowly, "That was what led to this predicament."

"Well, they have no one but themselves to blame for that," Nami said firmly as Hogback began asking Perona what happened to the 'three' that he already sent to her, but as they talked, the bear zombie that had the three Straw Hats stumbled over and was trying to tell her what was going on until memory Usopp whispered, "Don't speak. You, don't speak!"

When the bear choked at that, Perona snapped at him to be quiet.

"You're harsh on Kumacy like always," Absalom said, and he sounded a little sorry for the zombie bear. "But among those three is my bride, and she seems to have made a mess in your garden."

"I'LL DIE BEFORE I MARRY YOU!" present-day Nami shrieked out.

"I'll kill him before that could happen, my dear Nami!" Sanji added bravely. After all, any real man would win a lady's heart the right way. While he lost the last time they met, it was only because he was trying to protect Nami… but should they ever meet again, he would take that bastard out one way or another. It didn't matter if he could turn invisible… he would now be able to sense where he was at all times now. This guy was in for the beating of a lifetime!

Absalom turned to Hogback and had somehow come to the conclusion that he had taken Nami and demanded that he give her back. Cindry suddenly walked up and stood in front of Hogback—not as if she was protecting him, but merely because she wanted to block him out—and said in a cold and almost metallic voice, "Your bride won't come for you."

"You got that right," Nami added approvingly.

Absalom cried out in anger at the sight of her as Hogback tried to reason with her not to make the conversation worse. Cindry then answered him that no one could ever love him either, which caused Hogback to scream out how hurtful that was. While this argument was going on, memory Luffy went crawling to the bars of his cage and was already getting a head start in biting through them. Meanwhile, the three memory Straw Hats who were hiding inside the bear were starting to get a little gutsy as they were poking their heads out a little. Which caused Perona to yell at Kumacy again not to speak when he tried to tell her what was going on.

Sanji was growing more and more angry when he listened to Absalom continue to declare that Nami was to be his bride, even when Cindry reminded him that his 'bride' didn't love him.

"Tell him again!" Nami kept cheering for Cindry even if she was a zombie. She would like to meet her human self one day… she wondered just what kind of person she was.

Well, if nothing else, the arguing was at least entertaining, especially when Cindry repeated to Hogback that no one would ever love him ever, causing another scream of fear.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Moria yelled, finally losing his temper. "All that blabbering is getting on my nerves! If those pirates ran away, you can do something about it later!" They all shut up at once and turned back to him as he told them that the reason he summoned them here was because he wanted them to see the moment when they increased their battle strength because they now had Luffy.

That was when they finally noticed that the cage had been chewed open and memory Luffy was already making his escape as he sent the three tiny zombies flying away. The only problem was that Luffy couldn't run because he was still bound by the web.

"My what big jaws you've got, Luffy," Robin chuckled as memory Luffy continued crawling along the ground like an inchworm.

"It tasted bad," present-day Luffy moaned out as his tongue rolled out of his mouth and his hand on his growling stomach. "I'm hungry."

"Don't tell me you swallowed the metal," Sanji asked exasperatedly.

"No! But now I'm so hungry that I might consider it," present-day Luffy confessed as his stomach continued to roar.

"You can live one day without food," Nami sighed.

"Seriously, bro," Franky added in amazement, "That's a metal cage, how did you do that?"

"I just started chewing," present-day Luffy answered back as if it was obvious.

"Damn," Franky added as he looked down at his metal hands. If he could do that to metal…? Luffy could probably eat him…? That was a scary thought.

"Why didn't you bite your way out of the web?" Chopper asked curiously as they watched memory Luffy continue to try and escape.

"I couldn't reach them," Luffy answered back simply as Moria seemed to be mildly fascinated by Luffy's escape attempt.

"How are you gonna catch me now?!" memory Luffy demanded as he continued to crawl away. No one had the heart to tell him that he wasn't exactly moving at a fast past. Not that it mattered for Perona declared she would handle him. She created more of her hallows to send after him, this time, sending three of them through memory Luffy's body. Memory Luffy's whole body sort of seized up before his eyes widen in shock and curled up on the floor in a fetal position, whispering that if he was reborn, he wanted to be a sea cucumber.

The little ghosts were hovering above his head as they continued to dance happily, as they were easily able to drag memory Luffy back to their master and took off his armor before stringing him up from the ceiling with more webs. When the effects of the hallows finally wore off, memory Luffy was already hanging off the ground and there was nothing that he could do to escape.

Moria grinned wildly as the others all moved back until it was just the two of them in the center of the room and a giant spotlight had been switched on behind Luffy. The light was enough to cast a dark shadow across the room and they watched grimly as memory Luffy continued to demand to know what was going on.

But Moria just smirked even wider, a rather insane smile on his face as he reached down one of his giant hands and slowly began to peel Luffy's shadow right off the floor like he was peeling up tape. Memory Luffy stared down in shock until his shadow was pulled straight up and he was being held upside down with his shadow still connected to his feet.

"That must have been really scary," Chopper gulped. He had been so scared just watching it. He didn't want to imagine how bad it was to actually be the one who had their shadow stolen. Brook looked away grimly as Moria pulled out a pair of giant scissors.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" memory Luffy screamed out, his eyes full of terror for the first time since coming to this island, as he stared up at his shadow. "WHAT'D YOU DO TO MY SHADOW?!"

Moria only smirked down at him one more time as he stretched the shadow out a little more and held the scissors right across from it so that they were right above Luffy's feet… and cut the shadow away from him. They watched as Luffy's eyes widen more from shock rather than pain before they slowly shut and the last thing they saw was him hitting the ground. But unlike the last time they saw this, the memory didn't black out.

 **(Hey everyone. Sorry for the wait and for the grim message in the last chapter. It's just that I've been under a lot of stress lately. I'm going to be graduating school in June, and I'm already starting to look for a job and a new apartment… with finals coming up, and so much work under my belt. It's just been rough. For those of you who have been sending encouraging reviews and messages, thank you so much, they have really been helping me. I guess I was just a little burned out and those bad reviews have just pushed me into a kind of breaking point. Make no mistake, I don't mind helpful criticism, I find it helpful. It's the rude ones that have been bothering me. Anyway I hope that you like this chapter. Until next time.)**


	17. Floor 16: Zombie Samurai and Giants

**Floor 16: Zombie Samurai and Giants**

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but getting your shadow stolen is stupid and it sucked," Zoro couldn't help but speak as Luffy, Sanji, Robin, and Brook all nodded in agreement.

"Did it really hurt?" present-day Chopper gulped as Gecko Moria laughed in triumph as he held memory Luffy's struggling shadow within his grasp.

They all looked at each other as they tried to find a way to explain it.

"It didn't hurt as bad as it looked," Brook explained gloomily. "But…?"

"But it's like a piece of you is ripped away," Robin offered as she tried to think it over. "Like… like phantom pain from a limb that was cut off."

"EEEEP! Robin don't talk like that!" present-day Usopp begged, wishing that she wouldn't use such vivid descriptions.

"I hate to say it, but that is a lot like how it felt," Zoro confirmed, causing more cries of fear from the present-day versions of Usopp and Chopper as they thought about it.

"Now Straw Hat becomes another one of my subjects!" Moria laughed in a pleased way as he looked to the struggling shadow, who was trying to get back to memory Luffy, who was still out cold on the floor. "And then my ultimate minion will have the power he needs to come to life!"

Meanwhile, the memory versions of Usopp, Nami, and Chopper were all now staring at the scene from behind Kumacy, the shock on their faces was so big that it was obvious that they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"It was like I was in a dream," present-day Nami said as their past selves were staring at memory Luffy. "Or rather, a big nightmare that I wanted to wake up from, but couldn't."

"Man, I can't believe that they caught us off-guard like that," present-day Luffy couldn't help but add.

"I can," present-day Nami sighed at the thought. Really, why don't these guys think before walking right into a dangerous place like this?

"Poor Luffy," memory Usopp whimpered, tears forming in his eyes.

"What just happened?" memory Nami gasped, looking blue in the face. "That's not possible? Is it?"

"His shadow…" memory Chopper whispered as his eyes were twitching, "He cut it off and took it…"

"Not just that, but he did it like he was unrolling wrapping paper," Sanji said as he stuck a new cigarette into his mouth. "And now he's about to give himself a new present in the form of a zombie."

"I'm glad that the giant ended up destroying his castle here," Franky huffed as he looked around the room, knowing that it was about to be reduced to rubble before the sun rose.

"Wait a minute…?" memory Usopp said, getting their attention. "We've heard about this, haven't we? Didn't that skeleton say the same thing happened to him?"

"Yeah, I remember," memory Nami agreed. "He said his shadow was stolen. Then this must be the guy who did it."

"I think that's a pretty safe bet," Franky couldn't help but point out to them with a smirk. "Unless, of course, there's another nutjob out there who can steal shadows."

"I bet you're right, how awful," memory Chopper said as the bear zombie was looking right down at them with wide eyes. "What's the trick? It must be a Devil Fruit Power."

"Hey," Zoro warned, realizing that they were all talking a bit too loudly for their own good and if Moria found out about them, he would steal their shadows while he was at it. "Keep your voices down. You're gonna get caught."

However, Perona did hear something and turned around. Thankfully, she thought that it was Kumacy who made the noise and was now telling him off at the thought that he was speaking again. The three memory Straw Hats ducked back inside him before she noticed anything else. The bear, meanwhile, was trying to tell her what was going on without speaking, but all he did was wave his paws around wildly as he made little grunting noises. Perona then warned him not to ever speak since she didn't think he was cute when he spoke at all.

"I don't see how she could consider that mess to be cute," present-day Nami couldn't help but point out at she looked at Kumacy's patched up body.

"We should be glad that the bear has to follow every order she gives him," Sanji reminded her. "Otherwise he would have sold you all out right away."

Kumacy was now trying to get her attention by shaking his body around, trying to show her that they had uninvited guests inside his back, but she just kept warning him to keep his mouth shut. Meanwhile, Moria continued laughing.

"This little guy is just what I need to take one step closer to becoming King of the Pirates," Moria spoke, not paying any attention to what they were all saying. "Right, Dr. Hogback?"

"Hey!" present-day Luffy yelled out indignantly. "I'm the one who's gonna be King of the Pirates! Not that oversized onion!"

"We know, Luffy, we all know," present-day Nami said as she patted his shoulder.

"Yeah, he's just diluted himself if he can't even fight his own battles," Sanji agreed as he breathed out a mouthful of smoke.

"Since the day I met you ten years ago, I put all my time, resources, and energy into making number 900," Hogback laughed excitedly as he looked up at his master. "With that shadow it will make the greatest zombie of all time! With that power at your fingertips, nothing will be beyond your reach!"

"And yet we still took him out," Zoro said. "Sure it took all of us and we were practically dead at the end of it. But if we could do it, I'm sure that the big guy would have fallen to someone else sooner or later."

But now Absalom and Perona were both getting excited. Absalom was grinning like the cat who got the cream, as he said in a pleased way, "That means it will only be a matter of time before I become the cemetery king of the entire world!"

"Please, I will so kick your ass if I ever see you again!" present-day Nami warned. "And who wants to be the king in a cemetery full of dead people?! You still won't be able to get a girl! Well, one that's living anyway!"

"Harsh, sis…" Franky blinked at her.

"And I'll transform all of the cute creatures of the world into zombies," Perona said happily at the thought, "then I'll have an entire adorable kingdom of servants who never talk back!"

"I hate to see what she considers to be ugly," present-day Chopper gulped at the thought of those Wild Zombies running around. Sure, he was strange… but those things were straight-up weird!

"That's right," Moria said smugly in agreement to his servants. "It doesn't matter who the person is, how powerful they are, or how strong willed they may be. Once a shadow is taken and place in another, they bow to your will. Soon, I'll fill the world with my servants! If I had an army like that before… I wouldn't have been beaten by that idiot Kaido in the new world!"

"Kaido?" present-day Chopper blinked at the name. "I think we heard that name before…?"

"Yes, he is one of the Four Emperors, I believe," Robin informed them.

"What? Really? Then he must be really strong," present-day Luffy said as he thought that all over impressed. After all, this guy must be as strong as Shanks or Whitebeard to be an Emperor, right? Wow… he couldn't wait for a chance to meet him.

"You know about him?" Zoro asked Robin curiously.

"Not much," Robin said as she tried to think back to what she did hear of him from the Revolutionaries "Just that he is one of the Four Emperors… and one of the more… unpredictable ones."

"Unpredictable?" Brook repeated in confusion.

"Apparently he's been known to attack a random town or island at any random moment and kill everyone there," she explained, causing more than a few shrieks of fear from around certain members of the crew.

"I think it's about time we open his eyes, don't you?" Moria called in three little zombies before barking, "Gyoro! Nin! Bao!"

"Yes, Master! What's your command?!" the three zombies cried out obediently as they sprang into salutes.

"Go on ahead and open the door to the special freezer," Moria commanded and they sprinted into action, tripping over each other as they headed to a large door at the other end of the room that looked like it was bolted shut with an enormous door with the number 900 printed in big letters on it.

"I wonder how they managed to get such a big zombie here in the first place if they had to go to some distant, frozen land to get his corpse." Franky couldn't help but wonder out loud.

"Wouldn't surprise me if they brought him here piece by piece and just stitched him back together when they got here," Robin reasoned.

"Robin, please," present-day Nami begged. "Don't paint such images in my head. I have enough nightmares without you adding to them."

"It's almost time, number 900," Moria said as he looked to door to the freezer. "But soon your eyes will open at last. The perfect shadow has finally found its way to my doorstep. And once I place it inside you, you'll help me to become King of the Pirates!"

Present-day Luffy just huffed, steam practically coming out of his nose like an angry bull.

"You know, even if Oars did make him the King of the Pirates, it would still be your shadow that did all the work," present-day Usopp pointed out to their Luffy. "Showing that there's no way that anyone else but you could have done it."

"I guess," present-day Luffy pouted. "But I still don't like it."

That was when Absalom called in for a nearby spider-mouse, giving orders to carry the out-cold memory Luffy back to his ship, warning them to be gentle since they'd be in trouble if he dies. But just as the spider-mouse gave his word he would do it, another came swinging down on a string of thread, looking panic-stricken.

"Wait! I have an urgent report to give you!" it squeaked out.

"What is it?" Absalom asked in annoyance.

"Just moments ago," the spider-mouse explained in a fearful voice, "The spider-monkey, captain Talleran was defeated by intruders!"

"Ah, so this was right after we got through with that spider-monkey freak," Franky said reasonably. "So we must have finished talking with you, Brook. Or at the least we're still talking right now." He thought over what he just said and scratched his head. "Man… this whole going back in time stuff and seeing your memories is confusing. It's tough keeping track of everything that's happening."

"It's a little easier now since we're watching more than just Luffy's memories now," Sanji pointed out before he added to their Captain, "Ah… sorry."

"Nah, it's cool," present-day Luffy said as he waved his apology aside. "I know that you didn't mean to go looking through my memories like that."

"Defeated?" Absalom repeated with a laugh. "What does it matter so long as his shadow wasn't removed?"

"BUT THAT'S JUST IT! HIS SHADOW WAS REMOVED!" the spider-mouse screamed out, causing its fellow spider-mouse to cry out in fear and to get Absalom's and Hogback's full attention.

"You're certain of this?" Absalom demanded as he turned back to look at him.

"Yes, there's no doubt," the spider-mouse confirmed, causing Absalom to growl furiously.

"It's him, Absalom," Hogback croaked out fearfully, "There's only one man who's capable of doing this! He has returned!"

"Did you scare them the last time that you saw them, Brook?" Robin asked Brook lightly, as if she was just asking a young boy if he had pulled a harmless prank on someone.

"Yohohohoho! Maybe just a little?" he confessed and they knew that he would be smiling right now if he still had a face.

"Damn that Humming Swordsman!" Absalom growled. "It seems the report I received earlier weren't so crazy after all."

"I don't see why they would lie if it means that a possible threat is back on the island," Zoro commented. "Although, I'm a little surprised that they were able to overlook you coming back to the island at all if they were that scared of you."

Brook nodded in agreement. "I was a little surprised too. After I was forced to leave Thriller Bark five years before these events, I went back to sea to train myself so that I could come back and reclaim my shadow. But every time I thought that I was getting close in locating the island when I thought I was strong enough, it was like they would high-tail it out of there. It could be that they just didn't expect me to be on board your ship when they brought you all here?"

"How could this happen?" Hogback cried out in panic.

"The Humming Swordsman is running around, removing every zombie shadow he comes across!" the spider-mouse cried out, "Out of nowhere, the number of casualties has gone through the roof! Everything's playing out like the terrible ordeal we went through five years ago!"

"Wow, sounds like you were doing a lot of work while the rest of us were running around trying to figure things out," present-day Usopp commented on him.

"Yohohohoh, of course," Brook said proudly. "But, I do wish that I thought to explain a little to you on what was going on. At the least, mention to you all that there were zombies on this island before I left?"

"Hey, it all worked out just fine," present-day Luffy said with a laugh. "And that was one adventure that we won't be forgetting anytime soon! Other than getting our shadows stolen, it was a lot of fun!"

"Well, you're half right," present-day Nami said as she pulled at Luffy's face so that it stretched. "It's a night that we won't be forgetting anytime soon."

"That swordsman…" Hogback growled out. "That damn Humming Swordsman… bastard! That infuriating troublemaker's the only enemy we have who knows the weakness of our zombies." At that moment, Cindry walked over to stand in front of him.

"How did he manage to return here again?" Hogback went on before Cindry stood in front of him again. "What is she doing?" Hogback growled in a whisper to himself before yelling out, "How much damage has he managed to do this time?!"

Cindry stepped in front of him a third time and he finally lost his temper as he barked, "CINDRY! STOP THAT! WHY DO YOU KEEP BLOCKING ME?!"

"No, I like it," Sanji stated. "She keeps us from looking at his ugly face."

"The Humming Swordsman," Perona said as she walked up to Absalom. "I've heard many stories about him. But just what kind of a man is he?"

"Huh? You mean that she never saw you?" Zoro asked in mild surprise.

"No, nor did I ever eyes on her. Though, it can't say I have eyes anymore, Yohohoho!" Brook confessed with a chuckle before adding, "I had only heard about some kind of ghost princess who controlled the little ghosts. But I never saw her face to face. Though, I have no face at all! Yohohoho!"

"You don't mean that you… Perona, are you saying that you've never seen his face before?" Absalom asked in surprise before it seemed to make sense and he reasoned, "I see then, that's probably how he slipped passed your ghost network undetected."

"Ah, so that explains it," Brook said reasonably with a nod. "Her ghost network has eyes all over the island and for miles out at sea."

"I'm guessing that she had been warned to keep an eye out for your ship," Robin offered. "But she was probably more focused on the rest of us when she spotted the Sunny when we first arrived. The fact that she didn't even know what you looked like just worked to your advantage."

"Indeed! What good news for me!" Brook stated happily.

"Yeah, so it would seem," Perona said unusually quiet as Absalom sighed again and walked up to Moria.

"Master, it seems that Humming pain-in-the-ass has returned!" he called up to him, who was still practically drooling over the thought of his new zombie.

"Like I care," Moria said in annoyance. "Don't bother me with such nonsense, idiot. I'm busy!" He then turned and began heading to the larger than life door in the background. "You take care of him!"

"Once again, they are underestimating us," Sanji said with a grin. "That was his biggest problem. That and the fact that he was so lazy."

"H-Hang on!" Absalom called but Moria wasn't listening as the three little zombies began finally opening up the massive door. The wheel on the front turning before it opened up, revealing a long and dark tunnel with pipes that disappeared into the dark. The three zombies apologized for the wait as Moria followed after them, still carrying Luffy's struggling shadow.

At that moment, the spider-mouse appeared at Absalom's side.

"Master, I have news considering the current situation," he said before he began whispering in his ear.

"Why didn't you say so before, fool?!" Absalom demanded before giving the spider mouse a good smack from whatever it was that it said to him. "If that's the case, slowing him down shouldn't be an issue!"

"Why? What did he say?" present-day Usopp asked in confusion.

"He was just informing him that Brook was looking for the zombie samurai," Zoro said, having heard his words. "Looks like they think that he would be more than enough to deal with Brook and didn't think they needed to worry about anything for long."

"Sadly, he had reason to believe that," Brook sighed at the thought. "I was no match for him. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach with shame. Not that I have a stomach…?"

"You did fine," Zoro said firmly. "You survived didn't you? You just need to remember that loss and grow from it."

Brook nodded at the thought, knowing that he was right. He had thought that he would have been strong enough to face such an opponent. But to think that samurai was never fighting seriously against him to begin with… when it took him an extra five years of training to at least try a second fight…? And he wasn't even a challenge for him! He took a deep breath, forcing himself to remember that he had to stay calm and remember what he learned from this fight. He would need to do so if he wished to grow stronger.

"True," the spider-mouse whimpered to Absalom.

"Keep me informed of anymore problems should they arise," Absalom commanded as he folded his arms, soon following after Moria. "Now hurry up and dump Straw Hat on the boat."

At least six spider-mice appeared at his command, and they hoisted the unconscious memory Luffy onto their backs, carrying him straight to the opposite doorway, already heading back to the Sunny.

At the sight of it, memory Nami stuck her face through the unzipped zipper on Kumacy's back as she gasped out, "Luffy!"

"We know you're worried, but giving yourself away would do you or him any good," Robin reasoned and the present-day Nami sighed as she nodded. It was just hard to see her friend being carried away like that. They had no idea where he was being taken or what they were going to do to him next… and he wasn't even awake to defend himself.

Thankfully, memory Usopp's hand came out of nowhere and covered her mouth as he forced her down, whispering, "Idiot, keep quiet." He then pulled the zipper back up as they heard him whisper to her firmly, "He lost his shadow, that doesn't mean he's dead. Remember? Brook said so."

"Oh, suddenly it's Brook again? Not the skeleton?" Sanji asked their Usopp who laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey," he said with a smile, "By this point, I felt that it was safe to say that he was on our side."

"Yohohoho," Brook laughed happily. "Thank you ever so much, Usopp-san! Your words, as always, mean so much to me!"

"Kumacy! Hurry up!" Perona barked at the teddy-bear zombie and the big guy jumped at her voice before he began following her. As he did, they could still hear the three memory Straw Hats whispering inside him.

"We can't just hop out right now," memory Usopp reminded them. "Wait for the right moment. It sounds like they have plans for Luffy's shadow. We need to keep hiding in here so we can find out where they're taking it so that we can rescue it later."

"I hate to say it, but that was the best option for you to do," Zoro couldn't help but agree with a nod.

"At least you were able to tell us which zombie had Luffy's shadow," Franky added.

"Not that it would have been that difficult," present-day Chopper said as he remembered the first word that Oars said when he opened his eyes. Luffy will always be Luffy. Which he liked. He wouldn't change anything about Luffy… aside from his love of going into dangerous areas as adventures instead of death sentences, that is.

They decided that their only option was to follow after the group, with Moria was still laughing as he declared, "I'm looking forward to this!"

"When I first came across this corpse in the land of ice, I couldn't stop shaking!" Hogback declared as he Perona, and Absalom all put on coats so that they would be able to accompany their master into the freezer. "Honestly, I was trembling! It's simply fascinating! To think that there was once such a monstrous creature, alive and breathing while wreaking havoc across the seas 500 years ago! The countries that fell at his hands was taken whole. Under his strength a legendary city of criminals was born! Imagine my surprise when I found myself staring at the demon they called the Continent Puller!"

"It makes me wonder just where he came from," present-day Usopp had to ask. "I mean, even giants are small compared to him."

"I guess he must be a special brand of giant," present-day Nami reasoned. "I mean, normal giants do look human… just extra big. But Oars…? He looked like some kind of monster. I didn't see anything that looked even remotely human about him. But, then again, it could just be what Hogback did to his body after he was done with him."

That was when she remembered that there had been another giant by the name of Oars in the Marineford memories, and she had to wonder if that Oars was this Oars descendant? It certainly seemed possible. They both looked a lot alike. But that Oars who was with the Whitebeard Pirates must have had a kinder side if he was willing to go so far as to lose his leg in trying to save Ace. She wondered what his story was…?

Back in the memory, inside Kumacy they heard memory Usopp shivering as he said, "Man, it keeps getting colder and colder. Where are these guys going anyway?"

"I have no idea," memory Nami whispered back. "But they said something earlier about some special freezer, didn't they?"

"I can't believe I'm going to revive such an extraordinary creature!" Hogback was now practically prancing along. "This will go down in the books of zombies creators—Cindry why do you keep blocking me?!"

"I like this girl's style," Franky couldn't help but laugh when Cindry walked right in front of him again. "She may be his servant, but she is still keeping him in line."

"Yeah, makes me wonder what she was like when she was alive," present-day Chopper couldn't help but whisper. He hoped that Cindry—the real Cindry—was finally able to rest in peace. Knowing that her body was free from Moria and Hogback was enough for him to feel that she may be able to rest. That was when he remembered that smile she gave him and Robin the last time that they saw her…? For that moment he could have sworn that he was looking at the same girl that he had seen in those photos of her… was it possible that it was a message from her? Letting them know that it was alright now?

"Another legend will be brought back to life," Moria agreed as they finally reached another pair of steel doors and he opened them, all of them piling into a large and dark room.

"It's been quite a while, hasn't it?" he asked as the lights went on, "Number 900?"

When the lights came on, there were several surprised shrieks from around the crew.

"I forgot how big this guy was," Luffy said as he looked up in amazement at his zombie.

This was a giant alright… at least four times the sizes of an average giant. He had long and wild blonde hair that flowed from his head and covered his back, with his skin a strange sickly pink color. There were horns protruding from his head, and large fangs that hung from his mouth… he was covered in scars and patches, with his left arm having a number tattooed in black letters: SZ-900. He was also coated in a thick layer of frost while large chunks of ice hung off him, showing that he had been in here for a time.

The three memory Straw Hats chanced another look out of Kumacy's zipper and they gapped in horror at the sight of the zombie giant all chained up and frozen.

"The time for his revival is finally here!" Moria declared joyfully. "Behold the only warrior in history who is ruthless enough to be given the name 'Devil'! This is Oars!"

Cackling the whole time, Moria stepped out onto one of the massive chains that kept Oars tied to the wall, actually walking along it as he stepped closer to Oars' chest. Luffy's shadow was still putting up a fight as it foughted to get free. But there was nothing it could do, they could only watch as Moria stood in front of Oars, and held the struggling shadow.

"Shall we begin?" he called. With everyone's attention on Oars, no one noticed how the three were looking out from behind Kumacy, and how they were watching like they were about to soil their pants. Memory Usopp was trembling from head to foot, and memory Chopper was now sticking so far out from behind Kumacy it was a wonder why he wasn't spotted yet. He was shaking and crying softly as memory Nami tried to tell him to be quiet.

"You could have given us away to," present-day Nami sighed. "Oh, I should just face the facts that practically the whole crew has a big mouth."

"Yeah… I'm starting to see that," present-day Usopp said as he observed the whole thing. "Maybe we should consider working on that. But you have to remember that we just witnessed our friend's shadow being stolen and then seeing a giant that could step on normal giants?"

Present-day Nami thought that all over for a moment. "I guess so," she agreed. "But you think that we would have lost our voices with all the screaming and running we did that night."

"I know that my throat felt like it was being torn out the next day," present-day Chopper couldn't help but point out before he realized what he said and let out a shriek as he placed his hands around his own neck as if trying to protect it. "That's a scary thought!"

"You are definitely spending too much time with Robin," Usopp whispered, really starting to worry for them here.

Meanwhile, back in the memory, Moria started speaking again, this time to Luffy's shadow who was still putting up a valiant fight to get free.

"I see you're just as energetic as your master, little shadow," he said to it before he brought it up to his face and declared, "But now I am your new master!"

At his voice the shadow paused and seemed to fall lifeless in his arms as if some kind of spell was cast.

"Yet, fear not. For I shall grant you a new voice and new body so that you may live on as a zombie," he told it. "Abandon your memories and abandon your remnants of humanity so that you may serve me as an undying solder!"

And to their surprise, the shadow nodded solemnly to the order, silently agreeing to what Moria said.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled before he looked down at his feet and yelled at his shadow, "What were you doing?!"

"It's not its fault," Brook pointed out. "Moria had control over all shadows. Once he steals one, he's able to tell it what to do because it no longer had a free will without you there. It didn't know what else to do. So don't be mad at it."

Luffy looked up, still not happy, but he nodded at that in reluctant understanding.

"Contract completed," Moria said with another laugh, and at that moment, memory Nami also began to shake in fear from behind Kumacy again.

"What's the matter?" Zoro asked their Nami.

"Oh, it's just that… I mean… even if it was your shadow, it was strange to see someone taking orders from someone like that," she told them all before falling silent. But it wasn't only just strange, but downright scary. That had to be the most terrifying thing she had seen on this stupid island—that their stubborn, bone-headed, fearless captain taking orders from someone like Moria. Sure, she understood why the shadow was forced to do what it was told, but it just didn't seem like Luffy. That was why it was putting up so much of a struggle even after it had been cut off.

"I just hope that we never have our shadows stolen again," she decided firmly.

"Don't worry, next time I see Moria, I'll kick his ass!" Luffy declared confidently.

"Really? I heard that Moria had been killed back at Marineford two years ago," Usopp pointed out, remembering how he had struggled to get his hands on every paper he could to try and hear more news about his captain and he could vaguely recall hearing something or other about Moria being killed.

"It is possible," Robin said slowly. "But I wouldn't write him off as dead completely. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who will go down that easily."

"It works like this, Cindry," Hogback said to her, "You're supposed to give up all your memoires, all the ties to your past lives. That means we should be able to eat on plates, right?"

"If you say that again, I'm gonna break the plates in your knees as well," Cindry responded with that dead look in her eyes.

Hogback shrieked before he begged, "Cindry! You're scary! Please stop!"

"Nah, you go girl!" Franky cheered out. "Go ahead and break his knees!"

"And crack his head while you're at it," present-day Chopper couldn't help but mutter darkly under his breath. He deserved it after how he treated her before… just thinking about how he forced poor Cindry to lick the floor like that?

"Cindry is way too hard on Dr. Hogback," Absalom stated under his breath as they turned their attention back to Moria.

"I wish that she crack your knee plates too," present-day Nami couldn't help but add. "Then you wouldn't be able to run around and spy on girls, you disgusting pervert."

"Now…" Moria said before raising up Luffy's stolen shadow and cried out, "AWAKEN! YOUR 500 YEARS OF SLUMBER HAS COME TO AN END!"

And he slammed the shadow straight to the giant's chest as they all began cackling as the shadow slowly began being pulled into the frozen flesh. Slowly its legs disappeared as it sank deeper and deeper like quicksand. Soon the chest followed, and then its shoulders until finally only its head and arms remained as it reached out, trying to grasp hold of anything to stop it from going any deeper. But then its head disappeared as it was pulled in, followed by its outstretched hands.

"This… is weird," memory Usopp croaked out.

"Ya think?" Zoro asked with a tilt of his head. "Is that the best word you could have used?"

"I would have gone for messed up, or… shitty… something like that," Sanji suggested with a shrug.

"The shadow's gone," memory Nami whispered in a hushed, shocked way as she moved her head around Kumacy so that she could get a better look. Moria turned around and walked back along the chain as he rejoined the others and watched with an expectant expression, like a child waiting for a present that was promised to him for a long time.

There was a long silence—one that seemed to press in on their senses in all direction… but then, the room around them began to shake, followed by the loud beat of what may be considered to be a heartbeat… but that couldn't be, for a zombie heart didn't beat, did it?

There was no time to wonder that though. For one of the giants' arms began to twitch, which almost caused memory Usopp to start screaming out loud at the sight of it. Ice began to crack and fall apart as the giant creature slowly began coming to life.

Memory Chopper was choking and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as a scream was threatening to break free. Memory Nami noticed this and pressed her hands over his mouth as she hissed, "Stop it, don't scream."

"Kinda hard not to!" the present-day Chopper whimpered, shivering at the sight of everything happening. This really was the stuff of nightmares. Who comes up with this kind of stuff?! Whoever spent their time thinking up of someone stealing shadows and putting them into someone's corpse to make them move was seriously messed up, weren't they?

Ice chunks the size of boulders soon crumbled and they all waited with baited breath as the empty eyes finally opened. That sight was finally too much for the trio and they all cried out in shock before tumbling out from Kumacy's back.

"Well, you're screwed now," Franky pointed out needlessly.

"Shut up! Give us a break!" present-day Usopp snapped back at him while Moria, who hadn't taken his eyes of Oars, but heard the noise as he asked silkily, "Who's there?"

"AH! CRAP! WE'RE SCREWED! HE FOUND US!" memory Usopp screamed out in panic.

"CAN YOU BLAME ME FOR SCREAMING?!" memory Nami demanded, now crying hard.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" memory Chopper shrieked.

"Well, good thing that they need us alive," Luffy pointed out.

Present-day Usopp glared at him and snarled, "That's not the point, Luffy!"

"KUMACY!" Perona barked in outraged as she marched up to the bear zombie, who was silently trying to explain himself, while leaving the three Straw Hats to scoot backwards along the floor. "DON'T TELL ME YOU WERE CONSPIRING WITH THOSE PIRATES BEHIND MY BACK!"

Memory Nami's eyes turned to even more terror as she saw Absalom standing there, looking delightfully surprised to see her.

"My soon to be bride!" he said, "But… what are you doing here?"

"Not for you!" present-day Nami yelled. "Like hell I'd ever marry you!" She was almost starting to wish that she was a zombie if that was what it took for this jerk to leave her alone. She was glad that she fried him later on at that stupid 'wedding' of theirs.

It was clear from the memory Straw Hats faces that they were planning on running away again, but then the three smaller zombies ran up to try and block their way from getting out.

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" they called out in unison as the three on the ground screamed again.

"Come on, you could just run right on over them," Luffy pointed out.

"Yeah, you'd could step on them and they wouldn't be able to stop you," Zoro agreed.

"Them? Sure," present-day Nami retorted before jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the others as she asked, "but what about the rest of them?!"

"I don't think you need to worry about Moria, he's practically drooling over the big guy," Zoro reminded her as looked over at Moria, who was still staring up at Oars.

Speaking of which, Oars was really starting to move now. He ripped the chains right out from the wall as he pulled himself upwards until he was able to push his frozen body into a standing position. The three on the ground just watched on, frozen in place by fear and tears falling from their eyes.

Oars then picked off another large chunk of ice and it went tumbling down towards Hogback, who was laughing in joy at the sight of his creation standing… and was crushed under the block of ice.

When Oars finally opened its mouth, it then began to growl and then roar before it called out with a voice loud enough to really wake the dead, "MEEEEEAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!"

"Awwww, why'd if have to say meat?" Luffy moaned as he put his hand over his belly at the thought.

"He's got your shadow, part of your personality," Brook reminded him.

"And meat is usually the first word that you say when you wake up anyway," Sanji reminded him with a roll of his eyes. "Really, can't you try some other food? Try a salad or something."

"I'M HUUUUUUNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYY!" Oars roared out, the impact from the wind of his voice alone was enough to push them all back. Most of them had to dig their heels in to prevent themselves from being flung off while others weren't so lucky. Persona's umbrella was blown outwards before she went flying back into Kumacy, who braced her as the wind continued to blow. Hogback was sent crashing into the wall, before he was hit with another large chunk of ice, and then with Cindry landing on top of that so that he was being crushed up against the wall.

The three memory Straw Hats all clung to each other desperately as they tried to hang on, but it was too much and they went tumbling, hitting the three smaller zombies before they were blasted right out of the door. The zombies ended up grabbing hold of the door to prevent them from leaving, but they ended up following after the memory trio, who were blasted right out to another hallway. They rolled but then immediately got back to their feet and started running.

"You know, I didn't think much about it at the time," present-day Nami said as she watched. "But I guess, for just a second, even though it was a zombie, it was kinda like you helped us get away from Moria."

"Really?" Luffy asked as the memory faded around them and he was grinning again. "That's really cool!"

"Well, thanks, I guess, Luffy," Usopp said as he thought that all over.

"Yeah! Thanks a lot!" Chopper added happily as Luffy laughed.

"No problem! Anytime!" he told them truthfully as the memory shifted and the next thing they all knew was that they were at the top of a long staircase. That was where they saw the memory versions of Franky and Robing running up towards them, most likely having just left Brook. Which was made all the more apparent when they realized that memory Franky was sobbing his heart out.

"Listen Franky," memory Robin said, but he cut her off.

"What is it? You're wrong! I'm not crying! I'm not crying, you punk!" he cried with his face in his arm as he left a trail of tears behind him. "Quit looking at me already!"

"That's rude of you, Franky," present-day Robin informed him, though there was no hint of offense in her voice.

"I just couldn't help myself, alright?" he reminded her as his past self continued crying.

"I wanted to know, why did you ask him about that?" memory Robin asked him curiously.

"I just had to ask," present-day Franky said as he glanced over to Brook and said, "Sorry about that bro. It's just that a part of me still thought that we couldn't trust a moving skeleton and it all seemed fishy that you would put yourself through all of that hell. I just had to know your reason."

"Yohohoho, do not worry about it, Franky-san," Brook said in understanding. "I'm glad that you were able to understand everything so well. And where it me, I would have been wondering the same thing. The point is that we're all friends now. That's the important thing!"

"Leave me alone! I had my reasons ok?!" memory Franky yelled before his tears fell even faster. "Ah dammit! I can't help it! I love that damn skeleton! He's the nicest guy in the whole world! It's not fair!"

Memory Robin smiled as she agreed, "That's true…"

"Oh! That's the nicest thing I ever heard!" Brook started to cry. "Your words truly touch my heart! Not that I have one, but thank you all so much anyway! Yohohoho!"

But at that moment, just as they reached the top of the stairs, they heard Oars roar once again and the shock was so great that the entire mansion shook. Memory Robin fell forward onto the stairs, able to hang on, but memory Franky ended up tumbling backwards as he began to fall back down the stairs.

"So that's what happened," present-day Robin said in realization as memory Franky landed hard at the foot of the stairs, sprawled and already grunting in pain.

"What the hell?" he demanded angrily before he pushed himself up.

"Damnit, I don't know who to be angry at for that!" present-day Franky snapped as the memory changed once more, and this time they were back with the memory version of the Weakling Trio, who were all running through the hallway, having just escaped Moria and his minions. Already they had reached the room where Moria had stolen Luffy's shadow and they were heading straight for the door.

"Ok," memory Usopp gasped. "Someone wanna explain this to me?"

"When Luffy's shadow entered that thing, it started moving!" memory Chopper gasped next to him.

"I see that you all are beginning to put the pieces together," Sanji stated as they ran alongside them.

"Yeah, most of it anyway," present-day Nami said as her past self just added, "At least we know how the zombies work now."

But memory Chopper's expression had darkened as he said in stunned disbelief, "It really… it really came back to life!"

"No, not really," the present-day Chopper sighed at that as he thought that all over. It could move, sure, but that's not the same. It was just a puppet who had no will of its own… they weren't even treating the zombies like people.

"There's really only one explanation for all of this!" memory Usopp declared firmly. "That big guy must have Devil Fruit Powers!"

"From now on, if we ever meet up with anything strange or doesn't make sense, I'm just gonna assume it's a Devil Fruit," present-day Usopp decided with a nod.

"The first thing that giant monster said was meat," memory Nami added as she thought it over, "That means that it doesn't just have his shadow, but a part of his personality too!"

"Wow, was it that obvious?" Luffy asked in surprise. "I don't see it."

"You're kidding, right?" Franky asked as sweat drops hung about his head.

"I guess so, huh?" memory Usopp asked, and for a moment, Franky thought that he was commenting on him.

"This is all starting to make sense now," memory Nami declared as they were heading straight for the front door. "It's just like with that penguin we ran into that was acting like Sanji!"

"So you're saying that they put Sanji's shadow inside that thing?!" memory Usopp asked quickly as Sanji's expression darkened at the thought of that ridiculous Denguin that he had been given as a zombie. Whoever the moron who was in charge of the wanted posters should be dragged out into the streets and had an ass-kicking. If only that damn poster had been a photo of him, then none of this would happen.

"That seems to be what happened," memory Nami said as she began panting for air.

"Then the samurai who hit us with the back of his sword…?" memory Usopp added as he thought back with a gasp, "That was Brook! Of course!"

"All the weird stuff that's been happening on this island…" memory Chopper whispered out, his eyes shadowed over by the brim of his hat. "It's all _his_ fault, isn't it?"

"Moria?" Luffy asked as their Chopper shook his head.

"No, Hogback," he added bitterly. "He was considered to be a genius and a hero to the medical community! I remember admiring and looking up to him as a doctor because of all the lives he saved! But now I see that he's even more rotten than any zombie!"

He wiped his eyes furiously at that as Luffy looked down at him sadly, wishing that he could have kicked this Doctor Hog-guy's ass for making Chopper upset like this.

Memory Nami looked down at memory Chopper as he went on furiously, "This isn't giving people a second chance at life… no one would ask for this… no one would want it! He's just playing god! Using humans as puppets!"

Even memory Usopp was looking down at him as memory Chopper finished, "He's not trying to save anyone! He lied to all of us! He's nothing more than another villain!"

"Chopper," memory Nami began sadly.

"I know that it's a lot to take in, Chopper-san," Brook told their Chopper sadly, "But…?"

"No, it's alright," present-day Chopper said firmly. "I wanted to support Hogback's work here on the island because I thought that he was doing it for the right reasons… to save lives and heal hearts. But that was all two years ago. I'm never gonna become like him!"

"Good to hear," Zoro said approvingly.

Sanji nodded as he added, "Just wait a few more years and you'll be an even better doctor than that jerk ever will be."

"Now's not the time to be getting depressed over something like that!" memory Usopp started speaking, bringing them all back to the matter at hand. "The only people we need to worry about are our crew members! I hate to say it, but it's up to us to save them now! We can't just run and hide anymore! We got to go where they're taking Luffy's body!"

"Right," memory Nami said as they reached another flight of stairs, but the front door was in their sights. If they could just get through there, they had a chance of escape. "I think they said he was going back to the ship! They must mean the Sunny!"

"If the same thing happened to Zoro and Sanji, then they might be there too! That's most of the crew, at least!" memory Chopper pointed out.

"I still can't believe they got caught!" memory Nami snapped, for the first time she sounded irritated.

"Hey!" Zoro snapped back, "That wasn't our fault! How were we supposed to know that there stupid mouse spiders watching us?!"

Nami glared at them as she yelled, "You guys are supposed to be the strong, reliable ones!"

"They're supposed to protect us!" memory Usopp also snapped.

"Yes! Exactly!" present-day Usopp agreed with his past self before Zoro looked up to the top of the stairs where he saw a ghostly figure appearing out of thin air.

"Behind you!" he yelled, but it was too late. Absalom appeared and he fired at them both, though they couldn't figure out how he was able to do so for they couldn't see any weapons on him. All they knew for sure was that both memory Chopper and Usopp were engulfed in flames, blasted off their feet and tumbling down the stairs.

Memory Nami stopped dead, staring in horror at the sight of her friends hurt in such away.

"I don't get it, I thought that guy could only turn invisible!" Franky yelled out furiously, wishing that he could give that guy a beat down for what he did to his crew.

"That _is_ all he can do," Sanji said darkly. "He's got the powers of the Clear Clear fruit. He can become invisible, and turn anything he touches invisible, but that's about it. However, he's got weapons strapped to his arms. We just can't see them."

"Clever," Robin said as she thought that over. "You certainly know a lot about this Devil Fruit."

"Let's just say that I had some interest in it," Sanji answered with a shrug, taking care on how he worded everything. "I read a book when I was young that listed all known Devil Fruits, and I happened to remember that one. I figured that a guy like him would use tactics like that."

Just then, Absalom disappeared as the two memory Straw Hats fell the rest of the way down the stairs, landing in a smoking pile on the floor. Memory Nami called anxiously out to them as they whimpered in pain and were left in a smoking mess.

"What happened?!" Nami cried before a ghostly hand reached out and grabbed her around the neck and shoulders before pulling her close. At the sound of her cries, it got the attention of memory Usopp and Chopper, who both forced themselves up to their feet as they struggled to breathe. Memory Nami continued struggling as Absalom gazed down at them.

"Well boys, say goodbye," he purred out before he licked his maw. "Because today… I am gonna marry her."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" both Sanji and present-day Nami yelled up at Absalom.

Memory Usopp pulled out his large slingshot—which he had been hiding since Enies Lobby—and then he began to put it together.

"Don't be stupid," he gasped out as he began to take aim once he was finished. "If I can't even protect one woman… THEN I HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL MYSELF A MAN!"

"Well said," Sanji agreed approvingly. "In a fight, protecting the ladies is always your first priority."

"WOW!" memory Chopper gasped at the sight of it. "USOPP! SO COOL!"

"It sure was nice of Sniper King to give you that weapon of his, Usopp," present-day Chopper said to their Usopp who gulped and began to laugh awkwardly as he waved his hand down at him.

"Yeah," he agreed, already breaking down in a sweat. "He's a swell guy, isn't he?"

"Take this!" memory Usopp yelled. "VIPER STAR SIX!"

The attack fired six projectiles, all of them moving through the air in a wavy motion like a snake so it was hard to tell where they would hit. However, Absalom only grinned as he began to vanish, and memory Nami along with him.

"He's disappearing!" memory Chopper cried out in shock, memory Nami's eyes widening in fear as her body slowly began vanishing.

"No… not me too, what's going on here?" she gasped before she faded from view. The attack landed too late and memory Usopp was left in stunned disbelief. Memory Chopper ran up the stairs even as they heard Absalom laughing and Nami screams for help. He sniffed around, definitely able to smell them, but was having a hard time trying to pick up where they were. That was when she stopped in mid scream and fell silent. Memory Usopp was now shrieking out for Nami, trying to get her to answer him, but all they heard was Absalom's laugh.

"What did he do to you?" Sanji demanded furiously as memory Chopper tried to sniff the air, hoping he would be able to track them.

"I think he choked me out," Nami answered as she tried to think back. "I don't remember much after this. The next thing I know is that I'm waking up at the altar just as he was about to kiss me."

"WHAT?!" Sanji roared out as fire began licking his body at the thought. "THAT BASTARD! I WILL BREAK HIM IF I EVER SEE HIM AGAIN!"

He could only thank god that freak didn't kiss his dear, sweet Nami. He would be the one to taste those beautiful lips of hers; but he could wait until she came to share his same feelings of love and affection. He already felt a nosebleed coming on just thinking about it.

"The rest is up to you, my loyal zombies!" Absalom's voice rang out and that was when they had several uninvited guests in the form the suits of armor starting to move and handle their weapons. "Capture the intruders and deliver them to Master Moria!"

"Damn it! I still can't tell where he's coming from!" memory Usopp cried out as he stared wildly around.

"SAY SOMETHING! NAMI!" memory Chopper screamed out as he looked all around. That was when he noticed the moving suits of armor and cried out in warning, "USOPP! BEHIND YOU!"

Memory Usopp whipped around just in time, forcing him to bend over backwards as another zombie swung an axe at him.

"WHOA! IT'S AN ARMORED ZOMBIE!" memory Usopp screamed before a small army of zombies had come from the stairs, ready to block them off. "CRAP! THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF 'EM!" he added when he realized that they were surrounded.

"My, how are you going to get out of this?!" Brook asked in concern.

"Don't worry," Franky grinned as he struck a pose, "Help is on the way!"

The zombies were clawing at them, their rotting hands reaching out to grab them, telling him that they wanted their shadows. The two Straw Hats were trying to fight them off, but the problem was that there were just too many of them. At one point they were surrounded and covered with zombies but then memory Usopp crawled out from under their legs, with Chopper hanging onto his tattered cape as they tried to escape. It took the zombies a moment to realize that they were gone before they began to give chase.

More and more kept coming even as the two of them tried to climb the stairs, only to go tumbling down a second time and into a massive pile of zombies. It really looked like it was all over. But that was when memory Franky and Robin both appeared, and were more than able to lend a helping hand.

Memory Franky grabbed one at a time by the throat and forced them to swallow salt before their shadows were released, and memory Robin purified several at once as she used her arms to hold them down and force their jaws open before shoving salt into their mouths.

"Get your filthy, rotting hands off my bros!" memory Franky yelled out as he cracked several zombie heads together. "I ain't gonna warn ya again! Got it?!"

"We love you guys!" the present-day versions of Usopp and Chopper both cried as they watched this. "We thought that we were goners!"

At the sight of their crew there and all the shadows escaping, memory Usopp and Chopper both ended up crawling up to them over the terrified zombies, tears falling down their faces in relief at the sight of the friendly and non-rotting faces of their crewmates.

"FRANKY!" memory Chopper cried, joyfully.

"And Robin, too!" memory Usopp added, sounding like he had never been happier to see them there.

"Damn, we're too late," memory Franky said as he looked around. "They took Nami, huh?"

"Yeah, we just missed ya, sis, sorry about that," present-day Franky said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Damn, if only we got here another minute earlier…?"

"It's ok, we'll save her," memory Robin said with a sunny smile before asking the other two in a motherly way, "Right, you two?"

"We'll follow you anywhere!" the two present-day versions cried as their past selves went straight to Robin and sobbed in joy as they hugged her. She just smiled back and petted their heads as they told her what a bad time they had. It took a few minutes to calm them down before they all began heading to the door again, memory Franky telling them that they need to get out of here for now.

"We were told that they use this staircase to transport people whose shadows have been cut," memory Robin informed them as they ran outside and were on another long flight of stairs.

"That makes sense," memory Usopp answered, "They took Luffy here. We were heading this way too until Nami got kidnapped."

"This whole islands is built like a maze," Nami stated as she looked around. "How could we not notice this before?"

"To be fair, the fog hid a lot of things from us," present-day Robin answered her. "But you're right, this whole place seems build to keep people going around in circles. Probably to keep them distracted long enough for them to be captured."

"I gotta hand it to Moria, he knew how to set up good traps, if nothing else," Sanji said with a shake of his head. Damn, and he was the first to walk into it and have his shadow stolen, wasn't he? He could only thank his lucky stars that Moss Head didn't realize that yet. He would never hear the end of it.

"I'm so worried about her, do you think she'll be ok?" memory Chopper asked in concern.

"We really did try, you know!" present-day Chopper added to Nami worriedly. "But once he was invisible…?"

"It's ok," Nami agreed. "I know that you didn't let him take me without a fight. I'm still not happy about it, but I don't blame you. Usopp on the other hand…?" she added with a playful grin to Usopp.

"Hey!" he yelled back, "I tried really hard too, ya know!"

She just laughed at the indignant look on his face as memory Usopp went on, "Yeah, but if they wanted her dead, they wouldn't have captured her. We'll get her back, no doubt!"

"Best thing we can do for now is to get back to the sunny," memory Franky stated firmly, a plan already in motion. "We'll regroup there, wake up the other guys, and take back their shadows!"

"It wasn't like we could leave the island without them," Zoro added, still shaking his head at how he could have possibly let his guard down for even a moment. He remembered during the last two years when Persona would remind him of that whenever she got the chance, just to 'put him in his place' or so she called it. Mihawk had found the whole thing very amusing when she told him about it, and commented that a real swordsman would never have let that happened.

If that jerk had wanted to try and goad him into training harder, it certainly worked.

"This place is crawling with zombies!" memory Chopper pointed out. "This won't be easy!"

"Oh, yeah!" memory Usopp said. "I forgot to ask, how'd you beat those zombies anyway?"

"It's another one of those secrets that skeleton guy told us about," memory Franky answered as he reached under his shirt and held up the tiny sack of salt that Brook gave him earlier. "Check it out."

He then quickly told them about the salt and their run-in with Brook, which took them both by surprised that such creations could be taken down by nothing more than ordinary salt.

"So by throwing it in their mouths, it purifies them?!" memory Usopp repeated in awe, like he had just been told the secrets of the universe.

"Yep, you just saw it in action," memory Franky reminded him.

"If you think about it, it seems so simple," present-day Usopp said, having kept a few salt balls on standby since their trip to Thriller Bark… just in case. They didn't know if Moria was dead or not, but in case they did ever come across his zombies again, they would be ready.

"By the way," memory Robin cut in. "Do you have any idea what that monstrous roar was we heard earlier? We couldn't see anything."

"Yeah, we were trying to see where it came from when we ran into you two," memory Franky added.

"We should have known," present-day Franky laughed. "Just head towards the most dangerous source on the island and we're bound to find a few members of the crew hanging around!"

"That roar was Luffy," memory Usopp said, taking them both by surprise. And as they ran, Usopp told them everything that happened and how they saw Luffy's shadow stolen and how it was put into the body of the giant zombie.

"Man, why does my zombie get to have so much fun?" Luffy demanded hotly as he thought about what it would feel like to be a giant that big. "That would be so cool, ya know?!"

"I prefer you at this height," Nami informed him. "You cause us enough trouble even on the small side. But as a giant you practically destroyed that mansion over there."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be cool to be able to grow that big?!" he asked excitedly.

"It would be helpful in a pinch," present-day Robin agreed.

"You already can eat enough to fill a giant," Sanji said in annoyance. "I don't want any nightmares on how much you'll be able to eat if you were that big!"

"You said this thing was bigger than a giant," memory Franky repeated. "What is it? Some kind of monster?"

"Yeah, that huge crash you heard and that crazy yelling came from the same creature!" memory Usopp explained. "In other words, Luffy's zombie is going on a rampage!"

"Well, just this once, I think that it's a good thing that you were running wild like that," Nami couldn't help but speak up. Anything that caused trouble for those guys was enough for her.

They kept running until they finally came to see the tops of the masts of the Sunny from over the wall, meaning that they were almost out of there. They ran up the last flight of stairs that took them just over the entrance to Thriller Bark.

"I see," memory Franky said as he looked around. "So that's the way it works, huh? Land right here on the island, take a little stroll through this gate and up the stairs…?" He then looked back to the mansion behind them and finished, "And before you know it, you're walking into the boss's room and serving him your shadow on a silver platter."

"Indeed," Brook agreed. "I suppose you could say that that all the paths are connected. Like you all said before, it is very much like a maze, but eventually all the different ways meet and circle around to right where you came from. It's getting there that's the problem."

"Huh, is that so?" Sanji asked as he tossed his used up cigarette on the ground and went for a new one. "Not sure how much of those paths are left after we left this place behind though. Wonder whatever happened to it?"

"It's probably empty and still drifting around in the fog," Brook answered back. "Though I've seen enough of that place to last me a lifetime. Though, I guess in my case, it would be my second lifetime! Yohohoho!"

Memory Usopp had already found a ladder and took it to reach the dock, looking even more worn-out and exhausted than ever. But he still had enough energy to start looking around to see what had been going on since they left the ship.

"Somebody lowered the stairs on the Sunny," he said in surprise when he saw the stairs connecting the ship to the dock. "I'd wonder why they'd do that?"

As the others climbed down the ladder to join him, memory Usopp went up the stairs to check things out; only to cry out in shock when he got up there. "I don't know what happened while we were gone," he called to the rest of them, "But they totally wrecked the place!"

"Yeah, it looked like they had one hell of a party while we were away," present-day Franky agreed as he shook his head. "Damn, I was up the whole next night trying to fix it all."

"This is the zombie's work," memory Robin said as she looked down to the dock to see the dirt left behind, "Their footprints are everywhere."

"At least they were easy to track," present-day Chopper sighed as his past self asked her in worry if she thought there were still zombies around. That didn't seem the case though as they boarded and got their first sight of the full damage.

"Oh, what did they do to her?!" present-day Franky moaned when he saw his beloved ship in such a state. The deck alone was littered with garbage and empty crates after the zombies went through everything and cleaned them out. There were broken furniture and items that had been carelessly tossed aside—anything that the zombies weren't interested in getting were left behind… unfortunately that didn't leave much but the bare bones.

"I wonder what they were trying to do," memory Usopp said as they looked around.

"They tore through all our stuff," memory Franky answered obviously, "Joke's on them, we don't have anything worth taking."

"I suppose that's one good thing about being broke," Zoro shrugged at the thought.

Memory Chopper was sniffing the air carefully before he announced, "I don't smell any zombies."

"And believe me, I could tell if they're around," the present-day Chopper added as his nose wrinkled at the thought of rotting flesh.

They all began searching everywhere for their friends, with memory Chopper calling out, "HEY, LUFFY!" he called. "ZORO! SANJI!"

"ARE YOU HERE OR NOT?!" memory Usopp added. "HUH?! ANSWER US!"

"They probably placed them in one of the cabins," memory Robin suggested logically.

"Why would they do something like that?" memory Chopper asked innocently.

Present-day Usopp nodded as he realized that they had a lot to catch each other up on as memory Robin answered, "They have to protect Luffy and the others. If they die, then their zombies die as well."

"I see," memory Usopp said in relief before he began barking orders, "Ok! Franky! You and Chopper check out the first floor! Robin and I will check things upstairs! There may still be some zombies hanging around here, so be careful, ok?"

They all agreed and began to spread out, searching all over the ship, where it was the same everywhere… a big mess. It looked like the zombies tore everything apart, trying to find anything worth of value, and weren't afraid to look for it.

The Straw Hats didn't get any luck until memory Usopp came out of the kitchen and yelled down at them, "HEY! LOOK! THEY'RE RIGHT UP HERE IN THE DINING ROOM! ALL THREE OF THEM!"

"Right, I forgot about this part," the present-day Franky laughed as he went up the stairs.

"What is it?" Luffy asked as he followed. Soon they came to the kitchen and dining room… only to find what it was that Franky had found so funny. They found the Monster Trio alright… but…?

It was sad… but also funny when they entered the kitchen. The three of them were all propped up in chairs, their heads resting on the back of their seats while they all had chopsticks up their noises and their mouths as well as having their hair tied up and tape that kept them all held upright.

"What… the hell?" present-day Zoro asked as Luffy and Sanji stared on at their past selves while the rest of the crew laughed.

"What the hell…?" memory Franky gasped out when he came in, "Is this?"

"You took the words out of my mouth," present-day Zoro asked as he stared at himself. "What happened?"

"Maybe they just wanted to make you all comfortable?" present-day Robin smiled as her past self just watched on in silence.

"Those zombies really had a field day with them while they were knocked out, huh?" memory Usopp asked.

"It's hard to look at," memory Robin commented.

"Yes, please, slap us awake," present-day Sanji muttered as he began to turn red. "This is humiliating."

"Humiliating? You want to know what's even more humiliating? The fact that I couldn't wake you idiots up with my fists," present-day Franky criticized as memory Usopp went straight to Luffy and began to try and shake him awake.

"Wake up already!" memory Usopp called loudly. "This isn't the time to be taking a nap, ok, come on!"

When he didn't move, memory Franky stepped up. "Leave this one to me," he said as he cracked his knuckles and he went to town on beating them up.

"GET OFF YOUR ASSES, DAMMIT! WE'RE IN A LOT OF TROUBLE HERE! TAKE THAT CRAP OFF YOUR FACE AND GET WITH THE PROGRAM!"

"Really? You did that? I thought I could hear a ringing in my ears," present-day Zoro watched as all that memory Franky managed to do was smash the chairs that they were propped up on.

"Damn, I was losing my edge," present-day Franky muttered as the memory versions of Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji lay on the floor, all of them sporting large lumps on the back of their heads.

"Still didn't do it, huh?" memory Usopp asked.

"So you punks wanna be lazy, do ya?" memory Franky asked, sounding frustrated. "Alright then." Franky armed himself with his arm bazooka and told the others to step back, preparing to fire.

"Whoa now, that's a bit extreme, don't you think?" Brook asked in worry.

"Yeah," Nami agreed. "I'm not concerned that you'll leave much of a dent in those three, but what if you blast a hole in the ship?"

"I didn't think that anything less than a big boom would get them up," present-day Franky offered. "Desperate times, desperate measures and all that, ya know?"

"Oh, Nami, you're so cute when you're so indifferent over our well-being," present-day Sanji sighed lovingly before memory Usopp stopped Franky, telling him that he knew just what to say to get them up.

"I have a more delicate solution," memory Usopp stated. "In times like these…" He stepped forward as he took in a deep breath to scream out, "THERE'S A _BEAUTIFUL LADY SWORDSMASTER_ WITH A WHOLE BUNCH OF _MEAT_!"

At the key words, there were shivers going down the three men's backs and they all pushed themselves slowly to their fours.

"A Lady?" memory Sanji asked, a chopstick hanging from his nose.

"With meat?" memory Luffy asked as he began to drool, one eye still shut.

"And swords?" memory Zoro finished, where his one eye was shut where the scar would one day be.

"YOU GUYS ARE HOPELESS!" memory Chopper yelled at them.

"Indeed they are," Nami agreed. All the fists and firepower in the world wasn't going to wake them up, but a few words for their single-minded interests was? Men… just what kind of species were they?

"I really need to work on that medicine that can cure hopeless idiots," present-day Chopper sighed as the three were all still very groggy at what happened. Memory Luffy was the first to get his memories back and he was in a towering rage, looking ready to go charging back to that place before memory Franky calmed him down because Moria wasn't here. That was when they realized they weren't in the mansion anymore but they were all ok. More or less anyway…?

"No, we're not," present-day Luffy pouted as his stomach rumbled. "And they took all our food!"

"It's not like we had time for a snack anyway, Luffy," present-day Usopp pointed out.

"There's always time for a snack, Usopp-san," Brook offered before he laughed at his own words.

"Exactly!" present-day Luffy nodded.

"We're back on the Sunny," memory Franky answered as memory Luffy's eyes widen and he turned to run to the storage where they kept the food, and memory Zoro was asking them what happened before he noticed that his own shadow was gone.

"That was a surreal moment," present-day Zoro confessed as he looked down at his feet to where his own shadow was. "Imagine looking down and not seeing you cast a shadow? It was like you weren't… complete."

"It certainly was a… interesting experience," Robin admitted carefully. "Not one I wish to repeat, but fascinating to say the least."

"If that's your idea of fascinating, I'd hate to see what you would consider to be exciting," present-day Usopp muttered darkly as memory Luffy came back with only a handful of cheese as he told them that all their food was gone. Once the others were filled in on what happened, they were looking humiliated that they let their guard down like that. That was when memory Sanji realized that Nami was missing and was demanding to know where she was. The memory versions of Chopper and Usopp were standing far back, as if terrified that they would be on the receiving in of Sanji's anger if they told him. But with no other choice, they reluctantly told him everything that happened, including that Nami had been kidnapped by the 'invisible man'.

In his rage, Sanji charged forward and grabbed Usopp by the front of his shirt and was soon yelling out so loudly that everyone on the island must've heard him, "SHE WAS KIDNAPPED?! WHY DIDN'T YOU GET HER BACK?!"

"There's no need to yell at them, Sanji," present-day Robin said soothingly. "Getting her back was important, but you know they wouldn't have just handed her over like that."

"We did try," present-day Chopper said timidly. "Honestly."

"I know, Chopper," Nami reassured him with a soft pat on the head. "I saw that you did. I got away in the end though, so don't worry. I mean, it's not your fault that you just stood there and let me be kidnapped."

"We're apologizing! You don't have to make it sound like we handed you over on a platter!" present-day Usopp hollered before he sniffled. "We really did try."

Memory Usopp apologized over and over as he explained what happened and begged that they at least hold on before they heard everything. Once memory Sanji calmed down slightly, memory Usopp cleared his throat and said, "Alright, let's get this all straight. There are two things here that we can't afford not to take back!"

"Food… Nami… and our shadows!" memory Luffy counted off, "That's three things!"

"You can live without food for one night, can't you?!" Nami demanded of their Luffy, who was taking a few steps back away from her like he was afraid that she would start hitting him if he wasn't careful.

"One of those things doesn't matter!" memory Usopp snapped, unknowingly voicing Nami. "Let's focus on Nami and our shadows for now."

Memory Usopp then went out onto the deck as he explained everything that happened after they crashed the Mini Merry. It was hard for them to hear about how easily they were able to deal with the other zombies on the island while they were forced to run for their lives.

But memory Usopp went bravely on as he told them about how they were taken up to Hogback's mansion, where memory Chopper went on to tell them more about Hogback and how he was the one who was creating the zombies before they were caught and were going to be handed over to Moria before they were able to escape.

That was when Robin and Franky stepped in by telling them that the one who stole their shadows was Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords. And when they found out, both memory versions of Usopp and Chopper shrieked at the thought of them up against a warlord all this time. Memory Robin told them that Moria had the powers of the Shadow Shadow Fruit and that was how he was able to steal shadows and control them. By placing the shadow into a corpse, he was able to create a zombie minion. But thankfully because they needed their victims alive, they weren't allowed to kill them and so they send their victims back out to sea to hide in the fog.

But they also informed them about the zombie's weakness of salt since it holds the power of the sea and the shadows were under the control of a Devil Fruit. The zombies would be purified and the shadows would return to their owners. Still crying over the news of them going up against another Warlord, memory Usopp spoke up sorrowfully how he had seen them do it. They were attacked by all sorts of zombies, but they had found Sanji's… a dog-face penguin zombie—who protected Nami when she was being attack and even claimed that he would never harm a lady even when he was given an order to do so.

That was when memory Usopp finally told Sanji about Nami was kidnapped by Absalom right after they had seen Moria take Luffy's shadow and went inside this freezer where they had found seen a zombie giant. The biggest giant he had ever seen and that he put Luffy's shadow into it. But as they were making a run for it, memory Nami was grabbed by the Invisible Man just before they reached the exit and proclaimed that he was going to marry her.

 _'What a brave man,'_ all of the men minus Sanji were thinking to themselves once again. They knew that they had said it before, but really… who other than a brave man would want to marry Nami? Just the thought made them shiver with fear.

Memory Sanji however looked ready to start choking at that word. "M-M-MARRIAGE?!" he roared out, bursting into flames, "ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! DAMN THAT BASTARD TO HELL!"

"He must be brave if he wants to marry Nami," memory Luffy said, glancing at them in an impressed way.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Nami shrieked. There was nothing that could be done to help him… the present-day Luffy received a hard pounding for that remark even if it had been over two years since he said it.

"I'b do dorry!" he whimpered through swollen lips as he was slammed straight into the ground by Nami's fist.

"Poor guy…" present-day Usopp cried silently as he watched Luffy suffering for his moment of bravery.

Memory Luffy, who was unaware of the pain in his future, went on speaking as he asked, "And I'm a giant?! How'd they do something like that?!"

"So that means we know who has Luffy's and the cook's shadows, right, Usopp?" memory Zoro asked coolly as both memory Usopp and Chopper continued to sulk on the ground with tears at the discovery of another Warlord, and muttered how scared they were all of a sudden.

"What's up? You guys were all business a minute ago?" memory Franky asked in surprise.

"WE DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER!" the two yelled at him as memory Usopp seemed to remember something important and went running off to get something.

That was when memory Luffy said that he saw Zoro's zombie. Upon hearing that, memory Zoro stiffly asked him what he was like.

Luffy thought it all over for a moment before he admitted, "It kinda felt like you, and he even sounded a bit like you, but he didn't look like you, at all."

"How could he tell?" the present-day Zoro muttered sarcastically.

"I think we talked about this before," present-day Robin whispered to him as the others were watching their present-day captain slowly push himself back up to his feet, his face a swollen and bloody mess—causing present-day Chopper to shriek that he needed a doctor before he remembered that he was one. "You both think the same way," Robin went on to Zoro quietly, "You have a strong bond and he was able to sense your shadow in there. So, of course he could tell."

"Be quiet," Zoro responded with a slight blush to his cheeks that made her smile.

Memory Zoro then summed up that all they had to do was find their zombies and throw salt into their mouths to get their shadows back. Memory Franky confirmed this as memory Usopp dragged his mini Usopp Factory out so that he could start making his salt projectiles for the zombies. And it was then that he confessed that the only reason they knew this much was because they ran into Brook on the island, and he was able to tell them what was going on.

That was when he told them that the moment that Luffy asked him to join the crew, he confessed that he didn't like the idea. But after he talked with him about his 'reason' for living, memory Franky declared that he was a real man.

The others in the memory were confused and he told them that he asked Brook what it was that kept him going. The reason that Brook stuck it out all these years was that he made a promise to his crewmates. That they sailed the seas fifty years ago yet were forced to leave behind a baby whale at the entrance to the Grand Line, promising that they would one day come back to him. Even though it had been fifty years, if there was even the tiniest chance that Laboon was still there waiting for them, then Brook had to at least try to make it back.

He had said that when a man makes a promise he doesn't stop fighting for it until he fulfills it. Death never counts as an apology. As soon as memory Franky said Laboon's name, the four men in the memory were staring at him in shock.

"Laboon," memory Luffy whispered and Franky blinked in surprise to see his expression and then was looking around at the other three who had met the whale, unable to believe what they heard. That was when memory Luffy went on, and they could tell from the look on his face that he was thinking of the day that they arrived in the Grand Line.

They then told them that they knew that whale that took the three of them by surprise. Memory Chopper and Franky's eyes widen as wide as dinner plates and even memory Robin looked surprised to hear those words.

"You know him?" past Franky repeated in shock. "Why? What do you mean?"

It was memory Sanji who told them that after they first entered the Grand Line from the East Blue, they almost ended up crashing into the whale… who was so large they thought that he was a mountain… and were swallowed because of Luffy.

"And that's Laboon, yes?" past Robin asked curiously. Memory Sanji confirmed it before he told them all about Crocus, who lived inside his stomach and treated the whale, for he kept bashing his head against the Red Line as he waited for his crew to return, never giving up that they would keep their promise and return to the cape.

"It's an unbelievable story," memory Usopp said, and when they looked at him he looked up with probably the first smile he had since landing at Thriller Bark. "They've been keeping their promise for more than fifty years!"

"Of course! Promises are sacred things!" Brook nodded firmly. "To break a promise is like betraying your friends! A real man must do whatever it takes to see that promise fulfilled."

"You said it, bones!" present-day Franky sobbed out as he wiped his eyes.

"Yeah! I'll always keep my promises!" present-day Chopper cried out as well as he tended to present-day Luffy's injured face.

"And I'm a man who turns his lies into truths!" present-day Usopp added, truly touched by Brook's devotion. "And that will include promises!"

After hearing this new revelation, memory Zoro glanced up to the mansion as he muttered, "To think that one of the crewmates that Laboon was waiting for… was that skeleton."

To their surprise, the memory began to change and the next thing they knew was that they were back in the familiar passageways of the castle. They soon heard a light humming noise with a familiar voice and they looked up to see that memory Brook was there. He was carrying his sword cane as he was humming Binks Brew to himself. That was when the Surprise Zombies chose that moment to burst out of their paintings and hiding places, ready to strike. But Brook didn't even flinch at the sight of them as he held his cane up… and then…?

It all happened so fast that it was difficult to keep up. But he managed to slice up the zombies, and shot salt into their mouths, moving so fast that they didn't even see the salt until the shadows began bursting from their mouths and their corpse were left on the ground.

They all clapped at the sight of it.

"Wow! That was amazing Brook!" Chopper cried out with sparkles in his eyes. "And you weren't the least bit afraid of them!"

"Oh, no, I was afraid," present-day Brook answered happily. "But I just moved so fast that I didn't have to look at their faces."

"Huh? Really?" Usopp asked in surprised as he looked up to see that memory Brook took a deep breath and replaced his sword. Once he sighed in relief… he seemed to finally realize where he was.

"THAT WAS SCARY!" he screamed as he turned around began flailing about as he ran back the way he came.

"Wow… never saw a delayed reaction of running away in terror done like that," Sanji couldn't help but say.

"Hey, if it gets the job done," present-day Brook pointed out.

They ended up following right after memory Brook until he reached another staircase and began panting hard at what just happened.

"That was terrifying!" his past self panted hard as he stopped to catch his breath.

"All of that was bad for my heart," present-day Brook commented before he realized what he said and added, "Ah, not that I have a heart! Yohohoho!"

But when the next flight of stairs caught his attention, he slowly began heading towards it, climbing up the steps.

"Nothing will stop me," they heard him whisper to himself. "I'll see this battle through no matter what! I won't run away! I'm taking back my shadow!"

"Why were you talking to yourself, Brook?" Usopp asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm used to being alone," present-day Brook informed him. "I talked to myself a lot during those fifty years I was lost. Force of habit."

"Brook…" Chopper said sadly as he looked up at him; only for their Brook to pat him on the head.

"No need to worry! Nothing to be down about now, right?" he asked happily. "We can now talk whenever we want and that makes it all worth it! Yohohoho!"

They followed him up the stairs, where memory Brook continued to calm himself down with every step he took. But eventually they all began to hear a familiar song being sung and memory Brook began to sprint up the stairs at the sound of it.

"Is that your shadow singing that?" Luffy asked him as they began to follow after memory Brook.

"Of course! I couldn't think of anyone who would be singing 'Yohohoho' in this dump other than Brook," Franky pointed out.

"Hey, I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not," present-day Brook said to himself before he felt his body begin to freeze at what was coming. He was breathing hard and felt terror going through him at the thought of confronting such a dangerous foe. He was not going to lie to himself in that he knew that he was afraid of this guy. He lost to him twice… his own shadow used against him… who could have easily have killed him both times. He hugged his body tighter before they reached the top step, which actually led to Hogback's lab… they recognized it by the sliced apart doorway that the samurai had finished with earlier.

When they reached the door, they peeked inside and they saw him… the zombie samurai, who called himself Ryuma, was sitting in a chair, his back to the door and seemed to be sipping a cup of tea… apparently having been waiting for him the whole time.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Ryuma asked him casually.

"I'll never quit!" memory Brook panted. "Until I reclaim what I lost, I'll keep fighting!"

"Yeah! You tell him!" Luffy cheered at the declaration. "Take him out!"

"I wish I could," present-day Brook whispered softly, feeling another wave of cold going through him.

The samurai slammed the end of his sword on the floor next to him before he asked sharply, "Don't you remember who I am? Men cower in fear at the mention of the swordsman Ryuma."

"You're not really him though," Zoro couldn't help but add as he continued watching. The former owner of that body, the real samurai, died long ago. He was just a puppet who had no will of his own. A true swordmaster needed a strong spirit and a heathy body… both of which a zombie no longer had.

"SILENCE!" memory Brook screamed out furiously. "YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN MY SHADOW!"

"Yohohoho," Ryuma chuckled darkly, all of Brook's cheerfulness and joy having been sucked right out of it until it didn't even sound remotely like his former laugh. "And yet my body is much stronger," Ryuma reminded him.

"I will return you to where you belong," memory Brook declared. "Beneath my feet!"

Ryuma sighed as he got to his feet. "It'll be just like before," he stated as he began to pace the room and memory Brook fully stepped inside and out of the shadows, "You talk big but then you'll end up begging for your life while screaming 'Anything but the afro! Anything but the afro'!"

"He was attacking your afro?! Does he not know that you should never disrespect the afro?!" Sanji demanded.

"Yeah! That is low!" Usopp yelled.

"Now I really wish I could have given him an ass-kicking!" Luffy added furiously.

"Your hair really is your treasure, huh?" Zoro asked their Brook, who nodded back.

"My afro… if it's cut it won't ever grow back," present-day Brook told them as he reached up to feel his precious hair. "It's all that I have left… since I came to the grand line, I lost my crew, my friends, even my face… even if I made it back to the Twin Capes, Laboon won't even recognize me like this, would he?"

"Of course he would," Luffy said with a smile. "You're both best friends! It won't matter how different you look, he'll be sure to recognize you. But your afro is still really cool."

"You really think so?" present-day Brook asked him slowly.

"Well, let's just say that you have one unforgettable personality," Nami reminded him. "I know that we won't ever forget you even if we tried."

"Yohohoho! Thank you! That is so kind of you to say so!" present-day Brook laughed out happily.

"WRONG!" memory Brook shouted as he pointed his sword at him. "THIS TIME IT'S DIFFERENT!"

"I've never seen such a pitiful scene," Ryuma went on, chuckling darkly at whatever memories he was thinking of and the present-day Brook started to shiver.

"You're… really afraid of this guy, aren't you?" Franky asked him as he sighed out, his happiness deflating like a balloon.

"Just my pride," he confessed. "He was frightfully strong. I trained so hard for five years to defeat him, but that still wasn't enough. I hate that. If you all hadn't come in and helped me when I needed it most, I fear I may never have been able to regain my shadow."

"It's alright," Robin reassured him. "There is no reason to continue dwelling on all that. You're here with us now and you have your shadow."

"Right, that's enough moping around, Brook!" Usopp grinned. "Just make sure that you never lose it again."

Present-day Brook looked up at them before he smiled, well, he would if he still had a face, but he laughed again as he declared, "Indeed I shall not! I shall keep an eye on it from now on!"

"I don't care what you say," memory Brook said as he unsheathed his sword and charged. It became a swordfight, both trying to avoid the other's blade as they charged at the other. So far they made no contact, at one point memory Brook sliced a table in two.

"During these past five years, I've been thinking of nothing but this second chance!" he went before he bellowed out, charging at Ryuma once again, "AND I TRAINED TO BECOME STRONGER!"

The two continued their battle, both of them seemingly on even ground. It was amazing to watch the battle, though it was harder for some members of the crew to ever tell, those more experienced in battle could see that there truly was a difference in their strength. Ryuma tended to move about gracefully, making it difficult for Brook to attack, though Ryuma was having trouble with Brook's speed and lightness.

Yet he was easily able to parry Brook's attacks, while it took all of Brook's strength to try and fend off Ryuma's blade. It would not be long before Brook got tired, and the longer the fight went on, the more sluggish his movements seem to become.

"Yohohoho, I won't deny that you've gotten stronger over these past 5 years," Ryuma admitted at one point, sounding like he was starting to enjoy himself. "But so have I!"

The blade came close to taking off some of Brook's afro, and memory Brook had to dodge it while catching his top hat before it went slipping off his head.

"And remember," Ryuma warned, "I already know every move you're gonna make!"

He then stabbed his sword right into Brook's side, sending him flying back and crashing into the floor. The others watched on a angrily as Ryuma laughed, a mixture of his former laugh and Brook's… making the whole thing sound so wrong coming from his mouth.

"You care more for that damn afro than the skull beneath it," Ryum informed him as memory Brook struggled to reach his sword and get up. "Too bad for you it's the biggest target on your whole body."

"SHUT UP!" memory Brook roared as he pointed his blade at him.

"You're gonna be ok, aren't you, Brook?" Chopper asked anxiously.

"I survived, and my beloved afro remained intact," present-day Brook nodded before he looked to Zoro and added, "Which I have to thank you for again, even if you don't like it."

"Don't mention it," Zoro said as he kept watch on the samurai's movements, wondering just what it would be like to be able to battle his swordsman when he was alive and in the Wano Country. He wondered just how many other strong warriors were there? He hoped he would be able to see it one day.

By then, Ryuma stabbed memory Brook in the heart, though it wasn't much point since he no longer had any organs or blood—but it did take memory Brook off-guard for a moment before their blades began to clash once more. At one point Ryuma struck his blade across memory Brook's eye socket and left a deep crack there. Memory Brook backed away, falling to his knees as he gasped for air. But still he got back up as Ryuma attacked him, the two came close, their faces almost touching as they pressed on their blades…

They both began to laugh and it sent chills up all their spines at the sound of it. There was just something ghostly at hearing the same laugh from two different people… especially if one was a skeleton and the other a mummy. Ryuma force memory Brook away from him, sending him crashing into the table behind him, causing the candle on the table to shake from the impact. Ryuma was far from over though and managed to pin memory Brook to the floor and began to stab at the afro, causing several angry cries from the Straw Hats at the sight, before memory Brook got angry and forced his blade away, snapping furiously, "Keep away from the afro!"

Ryuma was forced to jump back as Brook struggled to get back to his feet before they charged once again. But Ryuma stabbed him right in the place where his gut had once been and almost ended up cracking him in two, which caused him to drop his sword.

"Oh, that looked like it hurt!" Usopp cringed as he saw tiny pieces of bone go flying off and a loud cracking sound.

"I guess I should just be thankful that I am nothing but bones, and therefore the wounds I suffered weren't as bad as they looked," present-day Brook stated before the memory faded, causing several frustrated cries from around them, for they wanted to keep seeing the battle. When the memory reappeared, they were back on the Sunny, where memory Franky was now howling with more tears falling.

"I love that bone-head and the whale!" he cried out.

"SHUT UP!" memory Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp yelled, their ears covered from the noise. But it was just decided by memory Luffy who jumped to his feet, laughing the whole time as he declared, I'm all pumped up! He's a musician! A talking skeleton! Has an afro! And he's Laboon's friend! Even if I end up dragging him onboard, he'll join us on this ship!" he decided, "And join our crew! Anyone have a problem with that?!"

"None of you minded, correct?" Brook asked them, as if worried that he had been discourteous.

"Well, even if we did, not much else we can do about it now?" Nami asked with a chuckle. She wasn't the only one, for memory Robin was smiling as she asked memory Luffy sweetly, "Even if we did that wouldn't change your mind."

"I want him to join us!" memory Usopp said completely in agreement. "With Laboon!"

"COMPLETE APPROVAL!" past Franky sobbed out.

"ME TOO, YOU BASTARD!" past Chopper yelled, also crying, "I'M NOT AFRAID OF SKELETONS ANYMORE!"

"YOU'RE ALL TOO KIND!" Brook cried out joyfully as he spun about, wanting to give them all one big hug. "TO HEAR THOSE WORDS MAKES ME SO HAPPY! THANK YOU ALL!"

But that was when the full weight of what was waiting for them came back when memory Sanji stood up. He then declared, "Before something that simple…" with fire licking his legs… "I HAVE A WEDDING TO STOP!"

It was all decided and they were ready to go.

"Alright!" memory Luffy yelled to them all, "This is it! Prepare for the counterattack! We're gonna take down Thriller Bark!"

And everyone—present and past—cheered at those words… that was something they could all get behind without any problems. Everyone quickly finished their preparations in just a matter of minutes and soon they were on the deck and about to go charging in when memory Zoro pointed out that looking for the zombies who had their shadows in them was going to be a lot of work and they were short on time.

With a new determination in them all, they set about their plans. Memory Luffy would go after the big man Moria, himself and kick his ass. Hopefully, that would be enough to release everyone's shadows. Memory Luffy then turned to memory Sanji and told him that he would leave rescuing Nami to him, which Sanji agreed without any complaint. The cook vowed that he was going to kick that invisible bastard out of this mist.

"I can honestly say that if I ever marry, it will be for love," Nami nodded. "Or money. Whatever comes first."

"Really?" present-day Sanji asked, his eyes melting into hearts at the thought. Could… could Nami be trying to tell him that she was in love with him? Oh, he felt light-headed for a moment.

If they thought that memory Sanji needed any extra motivation to kick Absalom's ass, memory Usopp added that the guy had also spied on Nami when she was taking a bath.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" memory Sanji roared at the top of his lungs, the fire on his body was burning hotter and his face was so red that he looked like the devil. "HE DID?!" And then his anger was so great that he seemed to explode in a great fireball.

"That is impressive," present-day Franky said as he moved his sunglasses down to shield his eyes from the fire, which burned so bright that it seemed to light up the mist around them.

"Don't add more fuel to the fire," memory Zoro hissed to Usopp. "He's kinda eccentric."

"I may be eccentric, but at least I'm not stupid!" present-day Sanji retorted, having heard him.

"WHAT? WELL IN THAT CASE, AT LEAST I'M NOT A PERVERT!" present-day Zoro yelled back, the two back to their usual glaring contest.

While they fought, memory Usopp declared that he would go with Sanji, saying that he felt responsible for not being able to help Nami, and that he wanted to help get her back. At least he clearly muttered under his breath that he didn't want to risk running into Moria either. Nami hit their Usopp over the head at that comment and he whimpered that he was sorry.

"But, I did my part fighting against these guys, isn't that enough?" he couldn't help but ask as his past self began putting more of his salt balls into little sacks for them all.

"Sure, but you don't need to go on talking about stuff like that out loud," she retorted. "At the least, keep your thoughts to yourself!"

"Alright! I'll remember that!" he promised, holding up his hands in surrender.

Once that was decided, memory Franky stated that he was concerned about Brook, and that he would find him. Brook, who was touched by his newfound concern, thanked Franky for his help before he added more words of gratitude to their Zoro when his past self offered to go with him, saying that he was interested in fighting this samurai.

"Why thank him? You heard him, all he wanted was to fight a samurai mummy!" present-day Sanji couldn't help but ask.

"Maybe, or not…" Brook said happily. "It's impossible to know how another man's heart works. But even if that were true, I am truly grateful to him… to all of you… for helping me to get back my shadow."

"Aww… you don't need to say such nice stuff, Brook," present-day Luffy laughed as he continued watching the scene happily.

Memory Chopper was still worried about fighting Moria, reminding them all that he was still a Warlord of the Sea. Memory Luffy wasn't helping things as he pointed out that so was Crocodile.

"HOW IS THAT 'ALRIGHT'?!" memory Chopper demanded in a scream, "HE ALMOST KILLED YOU, DIDN'T HE?! I'M BEGGING YOU! BE CAREFUL! AND REALLY, I TOLD YOU BEFORE THAT YOUR ZOMBIE'S FREAKIN' AMAZING!"

"Really, Luffy, you need to get a better habit of taking care of yourself," Nami poked their Luffy in the back of his head. "I know you like going off and risking your life, but the rest of us don't! Don't think that we forgot all the crazy stuff you did before!"

"Fine, fine," present-day Luffy answered before Usopp and Chopper joined in on poking him until he cried out, "OWW! Ok! I get it! I promise to be more careful!"

"You better," Nami said before her eyes sadden. She hoped that he would stay true to that promise at least. She didn't know… she wouldn't know what to do if something happened to Luffy. He was the very heart and soul of their crew, and they would be lost without this idiot around them. She would have to keep a closer eye on him from now on. And judging from the other serious expressions on everyone else's faces, they were all thinking the same thing. They were going to make sure that Luffy doesn't kill himself even if it killed them!

Their past selves only stayed long enough for memory Usopp to hand out the pouches filled with the salt balls, calling them his special Zombie Death Salt Balls. They were all as ready as they would ever be. They all made sure they understood that they had a time limit. No matter how many places there were to hide in, there was no guarantee that they would be protected from the sunlight. They had to get back their shadows no later than sunrise.

"Good thing we did too, no way in hell I was gonna run in terror of a little sunlight," present-day Zoro declared stubbornly.

"Well, for once I agree with you," present-day Sanji muttered. "That would have been stupid."

"What? And you both rather walk out into the sun and die?" Nami demanded. "What is wrong with you?"

"This is a matter of pride, my sweet Nami," present-day Sanji explained as he coolly breathed out a breath of smoke. "I rather die than live in disgrace."

She just rolled her eyes.

Memory Luffy punched his fists together. "I got it! Not getting anything to eat before sunrise is the worst!" They all looked up to the mansion. "We're gonna make you regret picking a fight with us, Gecko Moria! We'll make him give back twice the food before dawn!"

"I meant getting our shadows back before sunrise!" memory Usopp yelled at him as they all went running off. "Oh, whatever!"

"He got the important message of beating up Moria before the sun rose," present-day Franky added to their Franky. "Just be happy for that much."

"Right, right…" present-day Usopp sighed as he nodded.

They all began running after their memory selves, who were already breaking up into two groups when they reached a stairway that went up, and a bridge that took them downwards. Memory Luffy took Sanji, Robin, Usopp, and Chopper up the stairs while the memory versions Zoro and Franky left them at the lower bridge. The present-day Straw Hats chose to go running up with Luffy's group, with both memory Luffy and Sanji kicking the asses of any zombie stupid enough to try and stand in their way.

"WHERE'S MORIA?!" memory Luffy screamed as he continued to run a rampage around the place and the zombies all seemed to be crying out in fear at the sight of them all there and running over them. "GET THE HELL OUTTA OUR WAY!"

"You know, you think he would have come out sooner just to get us to stop wrecking his mansion," present-day Robin offered.

"I don't think he minded to be honest," Nami couldn't help but said. "He seemed more interested in messing with all of us than if this place was knocked down."

"It was tacky anyway," present-day Usopp couldn't help but speak up as he thought of the Surprise Zombies in the manor and shivered. Really, it was no lost to the world if that was buried under rocks, was it?

More and more zombies kept appearing, with now memory Sanji getting angrier with every second that went by. They weren't even bothering to use salt on them, instead they were beating them up with anger alone as they continued to force their way upwards and into the mansion. As they ran upwards, they could hear the fighting below them, and they knew that both memory Zoro and Franky were doing their rolls well in taking down the zombies who were trying to stop them.

But just as this group could see the top of the stairs, they had someone else standing in their way. Perona appeared with her ghosts, ordering them to go through the memory versions of Luffy and Sanji… which were very effective on them. Both crumbled to their knees, turning into sad shadows of their former selves.

"That is scary," Franky couldn't help but whisper sympathetically. He had only been hit by one of those ghosts once, but it was not a fun experience.

"Yeah, I just can't get over seeing you like this," Nami couldn't help but add. How were you supposed to react when these two, who were monstrously strong, were reduced to whimpering, broken souls was worse than being chased by zombies.

As the ghosts fluttered around, repeating the word negative over and over, as two zombies came over and picked up the two sorrowful members of the Monster Trio.

Memory Robin explained what was happening to Usopp, who took charge. He fired several Lead Stars at the zombies, forcing them to drop the boys. With that taken care of, memory Chopper carried Luffy as memory Usopp carried Sanji, all of them now running passed the stunned zombies, knowing that all they had to do was keep going until these two were able to snap themselves out of their depression.

"Go! Go! GO!" Brook cheered for them. This was really getting exciting… however, Perona's ghosts were giving chase, and would soon catch them if they didn't think of a way to get out of this problem. But they soon had something far, FAR, bigger to worry about.

"And I thought that the ghosts were bad enough," present-day Usopp sighed as something came crashing down from above. It was as if a mountain had suddenly dropped in out of nowhere and the entire castle was being smashed to pieces. The noise, alone, was enough to cause them all to cover their ears in pain. Whatever it was that crashed through had destroyed the staircase and it was crumbling fast… the memory versions of Luffy, Robin, and Chopper were miraculously able to make it to the top in time. However the memory versions of Usopp and Sanji weren't as lucky.

"I thought that you could run faster than that," present-day Sanji couldn't help but yell at their Usopp over the noise. The stairs gave way and they watched as the past versions of Sanji and Usopp went falling down the hole with whatever it was that downright destroyed the castle in the process.

"SHUT UP! I COULD HAVE MADE IT IF I WASN'T HAULING YOUR DEAD WEIGHT AROUND!" present-day Usopp yelled back as the zombies that had been chasing them had all went falling in after them.

"Was that…?" Luffy asked loudly.

"Your zombie? Yes," present-day Sanji muttered. "I gotta say, it's hard to say who did more damage to the island. Us, or Oars. Though… isn't that the same thing, really? Since it is your shadow?"

The stairs were gone now, and they knew that there was no turning back now. Memory Luffy asked what had just happened and all memory Chopper could answer was that the zombies, along with Usopp and Sanji had all fallen down there and the memory faded as the staircase continued crumbling.

After that, the memory seemed to be splitting up all over, but they found themselves falling down after with Usopp and Sanji, they let out startled cries as they were forced to follow. It turned out though that they weren't alone. Their fall hadn't been nearly as hard as they thought it would be… both memory Usopp and Sanji were alive, but their heads were buried in the stone and their feet were sticking out of the bridge like a couple broken columns. Present-day Sanji glared as Zoro laughed at how ridiculous they looked. To make matters worse for him, it turned out that they had landed near the memory Zoro and Franky, who were still looking for Brook.

"How did you survive that fall?" Robin asked impressed as she looked up. "It was like… a wall came tumbling down with you?

The fall was so fast none of them had a clear idea of what just happened. As the memory version of Sanji and Usopp began picking themselves off the ground, moaning in pain all the while, the memory versions of Zoro and Franky went up to see them.

"Suck it up," present-day Zoro stated.

"Screw you!" present-day Sanji retorted bitterly as memory Zoro asked them what just happened.

"Looks like we reached a dead end," answered memory Franky as he looked up at the strangely red wall.

"Is that…?" Chopper asked, sweat forming on his face as he looked upwards, realizing just what it was.

"Oh, yes…" present-day Usopp nodded grimly. "Once again, Luffy… you caused us a lot of trouble."

"What did I do?" Luffy demanded.

"Not you, your zombie!" present-day Usopp snapped back. "Which, by extension, is your fault!"

Memory Zoro, who hadn't realized what was going on, went up to the wall and stabbed at it with one of his swords, trying to cut through it. However, instead of a slash of breaking stone, he ended up drawing blood from it.

"What the hell…?" Zoro mumbled, questioningly.

"I really wouldn't," Nami whispered out before memory Franky went and fired a bazooka at it this time to try and make a dent. When he realized what was going on, memory Usopp looked up with horror on his face.

"What the hell are you two doing?" he shouted out in panic.

"What's it look like? We're trying to bust our way through this wall," memory Zoro began before memory Usopp cut in.

"THAT'S NOT A WALL!" memory Usopp corrected. "THAT THING IS LUFFY'S ZOMBIE!"

"Oh, our bad," present-day Zoro said as if it was a mistake that anyone could have made.

"Idiots!" Nami whimpered as she shook her head as Robin laughed.

"Maybe, but they're our idiots," she offered as Nami sighed.

 **(This would have been up days ago but there has been a lot of internet problems here lately and I'll be going on a film shoot next week. But spring break is the week after next, so I'm hoping to get more work done then.)**


	18. Floor 17: Usopp's Negativity and Sanji's

**Floor 17: Usopp's Negativity and Sanji's Dream**

"Hard to believe that someone dreamt up a giant of that size," Robin couldn't help but speak as she watched the towering giant's monstrous form. "I have no idea what kind of giant he is, but it certainly is fascinating."

"Fascinating?!" present-day Usopp barked at her. "That thing almost killed us all that night!"

"Doesn't mean that I can't be intrigued by it," she answered back with a shrug.

"You know, I really worry about you," present-day Usopp sighed as he shook his head. This woman wasn't normal. While he knew that for a long time now, he couldn't help but be slightly afraid of her even if she was a friend. How could she be so interested in such things? And have such a morbid mind? She's scarier than any zombie, isn't she?

But that wasn't the problem now. They were watching how their past selves were all standing on the broken bridge as Oars stood above them all. The memory versions of Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Franky were all staring up in shock at it as Oars slowly began moving.

Memory Franky, especially, wasn't wasting time in expressing his feelings about this whole thing.

"THIS THING IS TOO FREAKIN' HUGE, BROTHER!" he hollered in terror as he stared up at Oars. "AND LOOK AT THOSE HORNS! DID IT CLIMB UP FROM HELL OR SOMETHING?! I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS!"

"Wow, you sound freaked out," Luffy pointed out.

"Hey! I knew that your zombie was a giant, but I didn't expect him to be so huge!" present-day Franky snapped back. "How could I not freak out?!"

"And you yelling would have only got that thing's attention," Nami pointed out worriedly as Oars seemed to have been stunned by the fall. "If you're gonna yell, do it quieter."

"Oh, like you would have fared better if you were in our place!" present-day Franky snapped back. Maybe he was freaking out here, but hell, that thing was so big they didn't even realize that it wasn't a wall at first! He had met with giants before at Water 7, and he was expecting something along the lines of Oimo and Kashi. But this guy could step on those two giants and not even notice it. As for them? They were the size of cockroaches to him and he could have easily crushed them.

"Is it really a zombie?" memory Franky gulped down in fear. But he wasn't the only one either, for the memory versions of both Zoro and Sanji were looking up with nothing short of fear in their eyes as well.

"Holy crap," memory Zoro muttered.

"Luffy?" memory Sanji whispered.

"It's all over! He's gonna grind us up and make meat pies outta all of us!" memory Usopp cried out, already abandoning hope and ready to say his last words to them—all of which seemed to be along the lines that they were all gonna die. Not really something you wanna hear when you're about to kick the bucket… especially since they were so obvious.

But at last, Oars's one eye slowly turned to look down at them. Memory Usopp freaked out and ducked behind a large broken slab of stone when Oars spotted them—or at the least spotted the human-shaped flies below him. Oars then very slowly reached over their heads, forcing the three memory versions of Sanji, Zoro, and Franky to ready themselves for anything. But the massive hands, which could have crushed them under a single finger, instead grabbed hold of a giant piece of broken stairs.

"What is he gonna do?!" memory Usopp cried out as he was unable to stand up anymore. The others all readied themselves for the fight of their lives, ready to do something should the big guy try to use the stone to smash them.

"Is he really gonna…?" Chopper gasped in horror at the thought and he burst out crying, "HE'S GONNA FLATTEN YOU LIKE PANCAKES!"

"Not quite," present-day Sanji said firmly. "Luck was still on our side, at least for this moment."

Chopper was about to ask what he was talking about, but that was when Oars held the slab of stone, over his head. But to their shock he didn't even spare the Straw Hats a second glace as he actually planted it onto the top of his head. They all stared up at him, completely taken aback.

"There we go," Oars said and they could hear Luffy's voice mixed in with that thing as he punched the air. "OK! NOW I LOOK LIKE THE REAL THING!" He then turned around and went marching away, "How can I be King of the Pirates without an awesome hat?"

"Huh… you know, he's right," Luffy couldn't help but point out. "He does look good with it."

"Oh, shut up you!" Nami yelled at him.

"Man, that sure was scary when that building fell down," Oars added as he continued moving away and wandered off to who-knows-where.

"Scary? Imagine how we all felt!" present-day Usopp yelled after him, feeling braver since he knew that walking nightmare wasn't really here.

"Just be glad that he's leaving," present-day Zoro reminded him darkly.

"What just happened?" memory Usopp gasped out, looking like he couldn't believe that they were still alive. "Are you telling me that thing didn't even notice us?"

"Wouldn't surprise me since we're so small compared to him," Robin stated. "And he does have Luffy's attention span. He probably wasn't interested in you."

"It's hard to believe but it really does act like Luffy, doesn't it?" memory Zoro asked slowly, really starting to show the worry in his face at that moment. "Something that huge with his fighting power is gonna give us hell."

"You think?" Luffy asked as he looked after Oars, who was making the ground shake with every step that he took.

"Guys like you are hell to fight," present-day Sanji reminded him. "You're too stubborn to give up. Thankfully, this zombie wasn't able to keep up with all of us."

"You think that we could have bribed him with food or something?" present-day Usopp asked suddenly. "You know, tell him that we'll give him a whole bunch of meat if he left us alone?"

"Huh, you know we tried everything but that," Nami said as she thought that over. "Doubtful, but it would have been interesting to see his reaction."

"Besides, that meat would have been mine!" Luffy declared firmly.

But suddenly, it looked like everything that they were up against seemed to hit memory Usopp at once and he fell to his knees again, looking like he was about to be sick.

"Come on, let's just get outta here," he whimpered. "You guys don't need your shadows right?"

"LIKE HELL WE DON'T!" memory Zoro yelled furiously behind him.

"EVEN IF I DID GIVE UP ON MY SHADOW, WHICH IS STUPID BY THE WAY, WE STILL GOTTA RESCUE NAMI! SO GET YOUR ASS UP!" added memory Sanji as he roared just as loudly.

"You were all raring to go a minute ago," Chopper said slowly, unable to believe that Usopp was willing to give up so easily. "What happened, Usopp?"

"What…? You… ah… can't take a joke or something?" present-day Usopp chuckled awkwardly, sweat forming on his face. "Come on! Like I'd abandon my buddies right when they needed me most!"

"Really? Oh, that's a relief to hear," Chopper said innocently as he gave Usopp a big smile.

But as for the memory Usopp, now that he was left with the choice to either face the giant or face an ass kicking from the two powerhouses behind him, he slowly pulled himself up to his feet, still looking like he was about to cry. But that still left the problem of where were they supposed to go now. The bridge that connected them to the manor was now in pieces and there was a large gap that one couldn't hope to cross without being able to fly. As the memory versions of Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were discussing on where they should go from here, memory Franky just stared over at the other end of the bridge, like he was lost in thought.

"The problem is now we're stuck down here," memory Sanji reminded them grimly, gazing up above them to where the stairs had once been, "The stairs were the only surefire way to get to where we were going and now they're destroyed. And even if we changed our route and take this passage," he added as he looked down at the bridge they were standing on, "We're still screwed because the bridge got taken out too. Meaning, we can't get to the mansion with the mast either way."

"Looks like Oars did more damage from that fall than I thought," Robin said as she looked around. "But I guess that should have been a given, judging the state of things when we left Thriller Bark."

"Yeah, nothing left but rubble," present-day Sanji agreed as he lit up another new cigarette. "But to be fair, this place was already looking pretty tacky anyway. I don't see the problem."

"And it's way too far for us to jump," memory Zoro added bitterly as he mentioned the destroyed bridge.

"No need to worry brothers," present-day Franky grinned. "If you lot just paid attention, you'd see that our problems with the bridge are already dealt with."

"What do you mean?" Nami asked as she turned around, just as memory Usopp mumbled, fear in his voice at the thought, "We had a shortcut laid out for us. Now we've got through some scary way with zombies."

"Just give me thirty seconds, I got this," memory Franky said as they heard the sounds of hammering. They all turned around to see what he was talking about and they saw that he had just finished completing… not only a bridge, but one complete with railing and even elaborate decorations on the pillars.

"I'm not happy with how this railing turned out," memory Franky grumbled as he looked over his work.

"Yeah, if only had I another minute or two," present-day Franky as jaws were dropping all over.

"YOU BUILT A BRIDDDDGGGGGEEEE?!" the three memory selves screamed as memory Franky stood back to admire his work.

"ALL IN JUST THIRTY SECONDS?!" Brook, Chopper, Luffy, and Nami all finished crying out in amazement.

"That's impressive," Robin couldn't help but said as she looked over it. "I especially love all the little detailed work you put into it. You've got the heart of an artist."

"You think?" present-day Franky asked with a grin. "Thank you. You must always take pride in your work! After all, you don't want to get a bad reputation about doing a crappy job, right?"

"I'm kinda wondering just what kind of bridge you can make if you had ten minutes, or even just five," Nami couldn't help but ask. Maybe they should go into construction together if this pirate life didn't work out. She was sure that they could make a lot of money if he works this fast.

"There was wood and scraps everywhere," memory Franky answered back proudly, like there was never any doubt that he could come up with something. "If I couldn't throw together a bridge or two, I'd be a damn disgrace."

"I mean, if you say so," memory Usopp said as he looked at the railing and added, "But for a make-shift bridge, you sure put a lot of effort into the details."

"You saying you want me to do a half-assed construction job?!" memory Franky demanded.

"Nah, you won't hear me complaining," memory Sanji said with a grin. "Anyway, thanks a lot! Let's go!"

But just their luck, the memory faded and the next thing that they knew was that they were back with memory Luffy's group, who had been reduced to just him, memory Chopper and Robin. They were still safe at the moment, having climbed up the stairs far enough to avoid falling like the others. Memory Chopper shifted to his walk point so that he could run faster, but he kept looking back with worry on his face.

"Usopp and Sanji fell, are you sure it's ok to just leave them down there?" he finally asked.

"You shouldn't waste time worrying about us," present-day Sanji said firmly. "We were just fine. You should have been more focused on making sure Luffy gets to Moria."

"Don't worry, they made sure I got to that overgrown onion," present-day Luffy grinned for a moment before he frowned again and added darkly, "Not that the jerk would stand still. He kept running away from me!"

"I think that his main goal was to buy time," present-day Robin stated as they ran. "He knew that if he could make it to sunrise, then he would win, in a matter of speaking. But all in all, I just think that he didn't believe us to ever be able to defeat him. That's why he didn't take any of us seriously until right at the very end."

"Yeah, I guess seeing his big, bad monster taken down right in front of him before we kicked his ass would do that to a guy," Franky laughed as he punched his fists together. "That's what you get when you mess with this crew and don't take us seriously! You're in a world of hurt!"

"Hell ya!" Usopp and the present-day versions of Luffy and Chopper all cheered on.

"Don't worry about it," memory Luffy answered back to Chopper with confidence, "Those two can take care of themselves."

"Well, I know I sure can," Sanji stated. "But were you talking about Usopp too?"

"Hey!" Usopp snapped at him furiously as they continued running. "At least I didn't get my shadow stolen that night! Maybe you can take some survival lessons from me!"

"What? You mean like running away and crying?!" Sanji snapped back. "No thanks!"

"You both need a lot of help, if you ask me," Nami sighed as she shook her head. Really, these guys were the ones who were coming to save her? Not that she needed their help. She showed that bastard of a 'fiancé' of hers who's boss.

"And besides if we're gonna go after Moria we better hurry up!" memory Luffy added as they continued running down the corridor, where not even the rubber-brained captain could have gotten lost. Though, knowing Luffy, he would have taken that challenge. "We gotta take that big onion by surprise while we can!"

Present-day Robin smiled slightly at that. Once again, when it comes to a fight, Luffy is the one who's the most clear-headed of them all. As some of the others would say though, it's because nothing's ever happening inside his head so of course it's always empty. Even if that was true, she liked to think that his straight-forward mindset was one of their greatest strengths in this crew.

"You said it!" memory Chopper smiled as he ran, ready to fight Moria if they came across him. "The faster we beat him the faster we can get out of this creepy place!"

"You won't get any complaints out of me," Nami panted. "I had enough of this place to last a lifetime! I've been saying that we leave this place even before we embarked here."

"Oh, but you didn't have any fun at all?" memory Luffy asked in surprise. "There were some parts that were great!"

"Don't confuse your twisted idea of 'fun' onto me!" she snapped back angrily as she gave him a slap to the head as they ran.

"Up ahead is that big dance hall place where you lost your shadow," memory Chopper informed them, recognizing the hallway that they had run through before the last time that they were here. "If we keep going forward after that, we'll hit a giant freezer! That's the last place we saw Moria!"

"Good thing for us that he was too lazy to leave," Zoro couldn't help but speak up. "Otherwise we could have been running around this whole manor looking for him."

"Isn't that a lot like what we did?" Usopp pointed out.

"Yeah, but that would have used up time we didn't have," Brook added. "If we had defeated Moria even a minute later, then it would have been too late for the rest of you. You were disappearing right before our eyes as the sun rose! Not that I have eyes, Yohohoho!"

"Sounds good," memory Luffy said as they turned into the room, only to see they weren't alone. They were back in the dance hall alright, looking much emptier without Moria in his chair. But there were still two who were waiting for them.

Hogback and Cindry.

But they both looked just as surprised to see their uninvited guests come bursting through the door.

"I thought that Perona was supposed to take care of you miscreants," Hogback snapped as both Choppers narrowed their eyes.

"I think that she would have had we not run into such a 'giant' problem," present-day Robin said in amusement. "I think that Oars helped us more than he did with them. At least for this first part."

"Dr. Hogback," memory Chopper hissed, and Hogback looked very surprised to see a talking reindeer there, having not recognized him as Chopper.

"Huh? A reindeer?" he asked in bafflement. "But why is it talking?"

"Because he's awesome!" present-day Luffy cheered.

"Oh, stop it you!" present-day Chopper scolded as he blushed. "I don't care if we're friends, I'm not gonna take that as a compliment! You idiot!"

"The infamous Dr. Hogback, I presume?" memory Robin asked.

"I think you mentioned it before, but you really heard of this guy?" Nami asked their Robin. "It's not just some story that he's supposed to a famous doctor?"

"I've heard stories of how he had saved so many people," she confessed slowly. "But it seems he's most famous for the fact that he mysteriously disappeared without a trace."

"Good," present-day Chopper nodded darkly. He hoped that will be the only thing that Hogback will be remembered for anymore. If only he could have let the world know just what kind of scum he really was. No real doctor would treat life in such a disgusting way.

Memory Luffy gazed at Hogback, his memory looking like it came back as he said, "That guy was hanging out with Moria." He then began to wind up his arm as he said, "Guess I better kick his ass too!"

At the sight of him really getting ready for a fight, Hogback immediately broke into a sweat and it was clear that he didn't have any better idea how to fight than a rock would. "L-Let's not be hasty now!" he stuttered out imploringly.

"Don't do it Luffy!" came the unexpected order from memory Chopper. Luffy looked surprised as he turned to face his doctor who went on firmly, "I got a bone to pick with this guy, let me fight him."

"You, Chopper-san?" Brook asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it had to be me," present-day Chopper nodded firmly. "I had to deal with him. It was personal. I wanted to at least hear why he was doing all this, even if I didn't like it. Maybe I was looking for him to have at least one redeeming quality. But in the end, it turned out that he really is as rotten as the zombies. Maybe even worse than them."

Nami looked down at him sadly as she muttered, "I'm sorry, Chopper. I know that you really looked up to him before, and I'm sorry that you had to find out what he was really like over something like this, but…?"

"No, I'm glad," present-day Chopper decided as he looked up. "Better I know now than consider to see him as a hero or amazing doctor, which I now know that he's not."

"Good for you, Chopper," Sanji nodded. "You're three times the doctor than this loser will ever be anyway."

Memory Chopper then drew his attention back to the open 900 vault behind him and said, "See that big metal door behind you? That leads to the freezer, go on ahead."

Memory Luffy looked worried for a moment, as if he wasn't really sure if he should leave memory Chopper here to face Hogback on his own. But there was no fear or hesitation in Chopper's face as he continued to look firmly at Luffy, showing that he had made his choice and for him not to worry about them. His job was to find and take down Moria, and leave these two to him and Robin. It was a message that memory Luffy understood clearly when he saw that resolve shining in those eyes.

He grinned as he turned immediately to the vault's doors, calling out, ""Ok, you got it!"

And he then went charging ahead to the door. But at the sight of it, Hogback snapped at him, "How rude! You can't just ignore me and waltz your way to Moria!"

"I don't want to hear you lecturing about manners, you bastard!" Sanji yelled after him.

"Besides," present-day Robin added thoughtfully, "I don't think that he rather have Luffy stay and kick his ass. He should be glad that he's leaving."

"Just so that he can get his ass kicked by you two?" Usopp asked. Either way, this guy was screwed.

"Get them Cindry!" Hogback ordered as Cindry suddenly had a stack of plates in her hands. "No mercy!"

"As you wish," she replied mechanically and she threw two plates like Frisbees. Memory Luffy managed to evade getting hit by them, but he was knocked down onto his butt as she readied to throw a third plate. But that was when Robin's arms grew out of her body and stopped her dead by grabbing hold of her arms. As she struggled to get free, Hogback realized where the arms came from.

"It's you!" he snapped at her as she merely smiled back.

"Go on ahead, captain," she said to Luffy, her arms still crossed as she readied for another fight.

"Oh, Robin, you are the picture of beauty and grace even when you're restraining someone," Sanji cried out adoringly. "My beloved muse! I am struck by inspiration! The next meal I make will be in honor of you!"

"You got it!" memory Luffy called happily as he jumped back to his feet and went back to the door. "Thanks a lot, Robin!"

"I told you to stop ignoring me!" Hogback yelled furiously after memory Luffy.

"He should be used to that, though," Franky pointed out as he remembered all the times that Cindry kept standing in front of him so that he was ignored.

"Guess that he's finally sick of it," Zoro shrugged.

"Hey, Hogback!" memory Chopper's voice yelled. Hogback twisted around in surprise at the sudden angry voice and looked back to see that memory Chopper was back in his usual form as he glared furiously at him.

"You have no right to call yourself a doctor anymore!" memory Chopper declared. "I've lost all respect for you!"

"Huh?" Hogback asked as he got a good look at him and then he began to laugh. "I didn't recognize you at first, Dr. Chopper! So you have Zoan-Type Devil Fruit powers, do you? I must admit you're a fascinating creature. I don't know how you managed to escape after they carried you through Perona's garden, but that's irrelevant now."

"Yeah, because you're about to be introduced to a whole world of hurt!" Franky called out suddenly, earning some chuckles from around his crew. But as Hogback turned his gaze at him, they saw how his sunglasses reflected Chopper's images as well as any mirror.

"I found you again and I won't let you get away a second time," Hogback said slowly and in a darker voice than ever before. "Your shadow will be mine." He thought it over for a moment though before deciding, "No, rather I should have that interesting body of yours turned into a marionette!"

"LIKE HELL I WAS GONNA BECOME ONE OF YOUR ZOMBIES!" present-day Chopper shrieked out as memory Robin gasped softly and his past self took a step back when two other zombies suddenly appeared before them.

"No…" Zoro groaned, recognizing who these two zombies were right away.

"Of all people…?" Sanji groaned out as he slapped his face with the palm of his hand.

"And I'll have your 'friends' help!" Hogback laughed as they watched as the old man zombie came lumbering into the room, looking even more pathetic than the last time they saw him before Luffy was captured. But still, less pathetic than the little denguin, who was waddling inside as well.

"The penguin," memory Chopper gasped. "That's the zombie with Sanji's shadow."

"And it's already been a few hours since your shadows had been put into those zombies," Brook added worriedly. "It's true that the zombies are often very difficult to control when they're first made—for it takes time for them to adjust to their new forms. But soon the shadows start to forget who they once were. And they will not hesitate to attack anyone, even former friends. This could be dangerous if you two were up against Zoro-san and Sanji-san's strength."

Zoro frowned as he thought that over before muttering, "While I don't want to know if my shadow lost to someone, I don't want to see either of you have to get hurt having to fight them. I mean, it's not like it's really us in there?"

"I'm not sure," Nami said as she thought about it as well. For it wasn't at all difficult for her to want to see that giant zombie taken out even though she knew that Luffy's shadow was in there. Maybe it was because she was just so used to hitting him but she also knew that any damage dealt to the zombie wouldn't hurt the shadow. Maybe that was what made it easier for her to fight it no matter how big he was?

"Then the one with the swords must be…?" memory Robin began as they looked to the other zombie in understanding as he glared back at them with his dead eyes.

"They say that scars on the back are the shame of the swordsman," the old man zombie said.

"See, it sounds just like you?" Luffy said to Zoro, who continued to look on sourly.

"Shut up," he hissed back in irritation.

Well, not everyone seemed to think that way.

"IT'S NOTHING LIKE HIM AT ALL!" memory Chopper screamed out in shock.

"You don't think?" memory Robin asked him as if she was asking for a second opinion.

"Yes, I could see what Luffy meant, it felt like I was looking at you, but I knew it wasn't you," the present-day Robin added to their Zoro. "My, what a strange sensation that was."

"I guess I get it, even if I don't like it," Zoro nodded as he thought back to when he realized that giant was acting like Luffy. While it may not have looked like him in the least, he could have sworn that he was looking at Luffy, even if it was just for that briefest moment.

"Now mop the floor with their faces," Hogback ordered the two new zombies.

"Of course, Dr. Hogback," the two of them said as they marched forward, ready to carry out their orders, which earned groans from Sanji and Zoro.

"Now you know that something's wrong," Sanji sighed. "It's bad enough taking orders from Luffy, but that jerk?"

"So, which one is first?" the old man zombie asked.

"The crappy reindeer," the denguin answered back as if it was obvious.

"Yep, even as shadows, we're getting along, this is beyond twisted," Sanji sighed. "I swear, it's like watching a bad nightmare."

"Everything about this island was one big nightmare," Usopp muttered darkly as the memory unexpectedly faded away so that they were back on the newly constructed bridge with memory Franky and the others. They had just ran across it, and, it looked strong enough to carry a normal giant across without any effort. Once they reached the other end, they went through the doors and were in another long corridor.

It seemed they were in one of the lower parts of the manor, a place where none of them had been in before, but somewhere below where the dance hall was where memory Luffy just left the memory versions of Chopper and Robin to deal with Hogback. They were left with little choice but to continue following the corridor and hoped that they ran into someone soon. There wasn't a person around—living or zombie—at least until they reached the end of the corridor where it opened up into a large, circular room.

The room was like that of a little girl's decorated with stuffed animals, but not in the cute and sweet kind—more like patchwork ones were different stuffed animal parts were stitched together creatures and added things like devil horns and tails. There was also a large bed that had flowing curtains and a chandelier full of candles that looked like a birthday cake; in short, it looked like a room fit for a princess… a ghost princess.

"What room is this?" Robin asked as she looked up and realized that there were more of those ghosts drifting around close to the ceiling and she frowned immediately, knowing that they were bound to be in trouble with those creatures again.

"I remember this," present-day Zoro growled furiously when he realized where they were. "It's Perona's room."

"So in other words…?" Nami gasped as she looked around just as memory Sanji started speaking.

"What? Does a princess live here?" he was asking, like he wasn't sure what he should be thinking of at the sight of this room.

"I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this," memory Zoro said before he noticed they weren't alone. "What the…?"

Perona was in the room after all. She was sitting in a chair off to the side like she had been waiting for them all, and didn't look the least bit surprised to find them standing there. All the while, her little ghosts were flying around, laughing softly to themselves.

Perona gave a ghostly laugh before saying, "I was gonna have my zombies grab you on the stairs by the bridge, but I suppose that plan fell through. Oars was just reborn and already he's a nuisance." Her strange eyes glared over at them as she warned, "My patience is very thin tonight."

The four men all froze, not wanting to get on the wrong side of those ghosts—knowing full well what they were capable of.

"Oh, no!" Brook gasped out. "How are you going to get out of this? All she has to do is touch you with those things and you're helpless!"

"Don't worry about us," present-day Franky said. "We got a secret weapon that we didn't even know about. Hell, it's probably the only person alive who could contend with her powers."

"Really?" Chopper asked in surprise. "What is it?"

But before he got his answer, memory Zoro was eyeing the ghosts with no small amount of hesitation as he hissed, "So it was her, controlling them all this time? What the hell are those things anyway?"

Perona got to her feet as she laughed again as asked sweetly, "Oh, my. Is that fear I sense in your voice? I wouldn't blame you after what happened last time?" At the reminder of how easily she had reduced them to whimpering idiots, there was anger all around the crew.

And just then out of both of her hands burst tiny little glowing orbs. They rose up into the air and soon began to grow until four new ghosts were born.

"I can create ghosts at my command with the power of the Hollow Hollow Fruit," she explained. "You can think of them as a sort of extension of myself. They can empty your heart and crush your spirit." She laughed once more as she added, "This should be fun… for me at least."

"So, she can create these little Hollows, which are immune to physical attacks," Robin said as she thought that over. "If I had to guess, they seem to be some kind of manifestation of her own spirit. Maybe even something along the lines of how you can remove your soul from your body, Brook?"

"I have to admit that I don't know much about the Hollow Hollow Fruit, Robin-san," Brook answered her. "I never saw her the first time I came to Thriller Bark. Or even got a glimpse of her the second time, now that I think about it. At least until I saw these memories. All I ever saw were her ghosts floating around the island. I do know that she can control them in such a way that they are her eyes and ears. But that's the extent of what I know, I fear."

"So no way of knowing how to defeat those ghosts, then," Nami summed up grimly. "I mean, I guess that she and Zoro have some kind of truce or something. It could be a problem fighting them in the future because I doubt that even Haki will be able to get through to them."

"Don't worry," present-day Sanji said with a small smile. "Believe me, what happens next takes us all by surprise."

"That's right," present-day Usopp grinned as the four ghosts that Perona just made were turning their way to their memory selves with identical evil grins on their faces. "That's what happens when you dare to underestimated the awesome powers of Captain Usopp!"

"Really?" Nami asked with her eyebrows raised, "You dealt with her?"

"Just watch and see!" he declared proudly.

"While I am glad that Usopp is immune to her powers, it's not exactly something to be proud of," present-day Zoro couldn't help but point out. Most of the others were looking at them with confusion and wondered what they were talking about.

But memory Sanji was now lamenting the discovery of where the ghosts were coming from.

"I can't believe this little cutie is the one making all those annoying ghost creatures!" he mourned.

"Really?" Nami sighed. "That's what you're upset about?"

Though, she supposed that she really shouldn't be surprised.

"SAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR ANOTHER TIME!" memory Usopp screamed out, "IF WE GET HIT BY EVEN ONE OF THOSE THINGS IT'S ALL OVER FOR US!"

"HE'S RIGHT, WE GOTTA RUN!" memory Franky added, having no problems with the idea of running.

"I don't wanna lose my dignity again," memory Zoro muttered, looked torn between running and staying. But the problem was, he would be admitting that he was running away from a girl with pink pigtails. How do you fight someone like this and not make it look pathetic?

"RETREAT!" memory Franky yelled as the other three all turned and began to run. But Perona was ready for them.

"Negative… HOLLOW!" she cried and the ghosts flew right at them. Memory Zoro didn't budge an inch from where he stood as he was hit with the ghosts and the other three Straw Hats soon followed suit. They all soon fell down to the floor, quivering shamefully.

"Why didn't you run?" Nami demanded of their Zoro, who watched on with his arms folded and a look on his face like he just tasted something bitter.

"How am I supposed to run away and look cool doing it?" he demanded as their past selves were already falling to their knees. "I couldn't figure it out. So I compromised."

"Compromised?! You went and stood there while a ghost was thrown at you!" Chopper snapped. "Why didn't you at least dodge?!"

"I'm dumber than a mackerel, I should just die," memory Sanji whimpered, his limbs shaking with the effort to try and stay on his feet.

"Why? Why did it have to be such a cutie doing this?" the present day Sanji muttered as he smacked his face with the palm of his hand in exasperation.

"I know, bro!" memory Franky cried as he fell to his knees, causing the present-day Franky to shake his head in embracement that he was acting like this, "I wish a stray dog would just step on me!"

As for memory Zoro, he was already on all fours as he muttered, "I should just crawl around on the ground like a worm and eat dirt."

Present-day Zoro just kept watching, this time with a muscle going in his head as he muttered, "Someone is going to pay for making me watch this."

And then there was memory Usopp, who was hit before spun around before he fell over, muttering that it was all over. Through the crowd of pathetic whimpering and crying, it really did look like it was all over for them. Perona only looked on at her handiwork with a grin before she called in her Wild Zombies. It was hard to believe it, but those patchwork animal zombies looked even worse in this light.

"Well, that was easy," she said as she looked back at them. "Capture them," she commanded and the zombies went charging forward. "All that's left is the three above us."

"You mean she was planning to come after us?!" Chopper gasped in realization.

"Don't worry, she won't get the chance," present-day Usopp said proudly as he looked to his past self.

Just as Perona was about to leave the room, at that moment, they heard Usopp's voice crying out, "GATLING SALT STAR!"

She spun around in time to see at least a dozen of her zombies had salt fired into their mouths and were crumbling. Their shadows were breaking free, and their bodies were empty husks once again as they collapsed.

Perona gasped before demanding, "Who did that?!"

Standing there was none other than memory Usopp, his slingshot at the ready. He was breathing hard as he snapped, "That's my crew, you know! I won't let you hurt them!"

"Wow! You did it, Usopp!" Chopper cheered out in awe.

"B-But how?!" Nami asked in wonder. "Did she miss you, or something? I could have sworn that you were hit?"

"Oh, she did," present-day Usopp stated with a firm nod and jabbed his thumb at his chest in a bragging way as he proclaimed, "There's just no point, since her Negative Ghosts can't hurt me!"

"But how?!" Luffy asked with his eyes bright. "That's really awesome, Usopp!"

As the present-day Usopp laughed, grinning at the attention, Robin slowly began to put two and two together. Was it possible the only way to fight off those ghosts was to be…?

"Lucky punk!" Perona yelled back in anger. "You acted like you got hit just so that you could surprise me!"

Memory Usopp just glared at her as she narrowed her eyes and held up her hand as she said, "But don't worry, I won't miss a second time."

It was a standoff for a moment before Usopp braced himself and she cried out another, "Negative Hollow". This time she sent the ghost right through his chest. He staggered at the attack, almost falling over, but he managed to regain his footing and stood tall.

"Whaaaaat?!" she gasped, unable to believe it.

"You really are immune!" Brook gasped. "How did you do that, Usopp-san?"

"Oh, it just takes someone will nerves of steel!" present-day Usopp laughed out proudly.

"More like one that's like a wet sponge," present-day Sanji corrected, causing Usopp to glare at him.

"My name is captain Usopp," memory Usopp muttered, his head down.

"I don't get it!" Perona cried out in bafflement, not understanding what was going on, "Why don't my attacks work on you? I know I didn't miss that time! What is this? What kind of power do you got?!"

"Power has nothing to do with it," he answered with his eyes still shadowed over by his hat. He then looked up as he said, "I'm just…" and then he cried out loudly, almost bragging about it, "ALREADY NEGATIVE!"

"WHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTT?!" Luffy, Brook, Chopper, and Nami all cried out in shock.

"You mean you're so negative that even negativity can't bring you down?!" Chopper gasped out.

"How does that even work?" Nami asked with her jaw falling open.

"Well, you can't break someone's spirit if they're spirit is already as low as it could possibly be," present-day Zoro shrugged. "I don't see how you could practically brag about it though, Usopp."

"Hey! At least I'm not on the floor saying that I should be eating dirt!" present-day Usopp retorted, only to shut up as Zoro glared back at him.

Present-day Franky thought it over before saying, "I guess someone whose own self-esteem is just so low could possibly be immune."

Meanwhile, Perona's face was suddenly very similar to how Eneru looked when he realized that his electrical powers didn't work on a Rubberman. Perona went bug-eyed and slack-jawed in horror before she fell back.

"WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!" she screamed as she stared at him.

Robin could only chuckle as she shook her head in wonderment. Their crew really was something else weren't they? Usopp constantly has a pessimistic outlook and truly does have a naturally negative personality - his confidence, outlook, and expectations are always set at rock-bottom by default. He is the counteragent of Perona's Hollow Hollow fruit powers. Her natural born enemy.

Even the zombies were shocked by this whole thing and were all muttering to each other.

"He's even more negative than the Negative Ghosts!"

"He's a real piece of work!"

"No! Mistress Perona!"

Perona's shock was so great that she slowly fell backwards and was a mess on the floor before she started crying. She sat on her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks. But it wasn't out of fear, it looked more like… pity.

"Don't give up," she whispered as memory Usopp blinked in confusion.

The zombies blinked in confusion for a moment before they seemed to get into it as well and they all cried, "Don't give up!"

"DON'T GIVE UP!" Perona then screamed as she got back up and soon they all began to cheer for Usopp.

"DON'T GIVE UP! DO YOUR BEST! DON'T GIVE UP! DO YOUR BEST!" they all began to chant out.

"That's sad when even your enemy feels bad for you," present-day Franky said as he started laughing. "What kind of heart do you have, pal? Is it just so full of negativity that even the ghost princess feels bad for you?"

"DON'T PITY MEEEEEEEEEE!" memory Usopp roared out as, at that moment, the memory versions of Zoro, Sanji, and Franky began to snap out of their depression.

"Come on you guys, time to snap outta this!" memory Usopp barked suddenly, taking control here. "You gotta go rescue Nami and get those shadows back before it's too late!"

At his words, the others seemed to force themselves to snap out of it and slowly began to raise their heads.

"No matter how strong you guys are, you don't stand a chance against her," memory Usopp went on once the others were able to get to their knees. "All you can do is run. But don't worry! I'll take care of her for you!"

"That's so cool! You're really amazing, Usopp!" Chopper cheered.

"Yeah, but now I'm kinda afraid for him now," Nami muttered as she watched on. Is there any ray of hope inside him for him to be able so unaffected? Just the thought seemed to be bringing tears to her eyes. "I feel so sorry for you, Usopp."

The other three memory selves could only stare at him in shock, unable to find anything to say to what they were seeing.

"I can't… believe it," memory Franky gasped.

"Usopp…" memory Sanji began as he caught his breath, "Actually looks cool for once."

"Hey, what do you mean for once?!" present-day Usopp demanded. "You ungrateful jerks!"

"Is his heart… really that empty?" memory Zoro asked in wonder.

"Oh, you poor thing," Brook sniffled as he patted their Usopp's shoulder. "You know we're here for you! Don't give in to despair, Usopp!"

"SHUT UP! I'M JUST FINE!" he roared back.

"Little turd!" Perona snapped.

"Oh, but ah… please defeat all the zombies before you go," memory Usopp added meekly to his crew.

"And there's our cowardly sniper," present-day Sanji nodded, knowing that this sudden surge of confidence wasn't going to last long. Though, he supposed that in this case, it was a good thing.

"Valiant though I may be… I must conserve my energy for…?" memory Usopp began before the others all began to run through the door, already leaving him there alone.

"Alright see ya later!" memory Sanji called.

"What? No! Wait! The zombies! You gotta defeat the zombies first! I can't do that part on my now!" memory Usopp yelled after them as they ran back out through the door. "WWWWWWAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!"

"Oh, but someone as valiant as you wouldn't need help from the likes of us, would you, Usopp?" present-day Franky laughed.

"You jerks! You left me completely outnumbered!" present-day Usopp yelled. "Some friends you guys are!"

Faster than blinking, memory Usopp was left all alone with Perona and her zombies. Now that she had seen this shred of fear in him at the thought of facing the zombies, she was confident again, and she had the numbers to back her up.

"That's fine I'll just pound you to death," she said as Usopp gulped and readied himself for a pounding.

Memory Usopp trembled as he stared at everything that he was up against. Perona was still ready to go up against him, and she had a small army of ghosts and zombies backing her up whereas Usopp was on his own.

"I still can't believe that the ghost's negative power doesn't work on him," they heard one of the zombies state.

"What kind of a man is he?" another asked.

"I've been asking that question for years," Nami couldn't help but speak up. "I always thought that Usopp was one of the few people who I could relate to by being, you know. Human. But seeing this…? It really makes me wonder."

"Hey!" present-day Usopp retorted. "Don't hate me because I'm awesome!"

In the memory, it was now a stand-off, Usopp vs Perona and the Wild Zombies. While it was easy to see how Usopp felt about all this, clearly wishing to be anywhere else but here, it was a little more difficult to figure out how Perona felt. She was obviously taken aback by the thought that she won't be able to use her ghosts to fight, and her Wild Zombies seemed rather hesitant at first to go near him after he took care of so many of their zombie brethren before.

"I still can't believe it," Perona said grumpily at long last. "No matter how I think about it, I can't believe that someone is ineffective by it!"

"Well, it sure looks like that's the case here," Sanji offered, already guessing what she was planning on doing. "Some people never learn."

"What are you talking about?" Chopper asked curiously as Robin frowned.

"I think she's going to try using more than one ghost," she said slowly as she thought over the consequences of this. "Usopp may be able to fight off one, but how he'll fair with more…?"

"Don't you worry!" present-day Usopp said proudly. "Just watch and be amazed!"

They watched on like he said and that was when Perona produced four more ghosts out of her hands and declared, "There must have been some kind of mistake before. But if I hit you with four at once, then you should lose the will to live!"

"Four times the affect?" Brook gasped. "Will you be alright, Usopp-san?!"

"It wasn't a tickle," present-day Usopp confessed slowly, "But like I said, there's nothing that I can't handle when it comes to negativity!"

Perona sent all four flying right at him, and at first it looked like it worked. Memory Usopp was holding back a cry of pain and it looked like he was going to fall forward, but he was able to keep himself upright by leaning on his slingshot staff. He was gasping for air, looking like he just ran a marathon and was just barely clinging to consciousness. The zombies all thought it worked, at least until they saw the four ghosts now on the ground and seem to be moping.

"The Negative Ghosts lost in regards to negativity!"

"Wow! How did that happen?!" Chopper gasped out.

Robin seemed to be both impressed and fascinated by this as she asked, "How could you be so negative that it can bring down negativity itself? Is your spirit so broken that not even a spirit is immune to it?"

"You do know that we are here for you, Usopp-san?" Brook asked him in concern.

"Yeah, don't give up, Usopp!" Luffy agreed and he actually sounded a little choked up. "You can do it! We'll help you in whatever way you need it."

"SHUT UP!" present-day Usopp screamed at them.

But it turned out that the ghosts weren't the only ones who were depressed. Perona was also on the grown now and whimpering out apologies to Kumacy for being so hard on him. The zombies were now in an uproar, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What kind of a man is he? A wizard? A saint?"

"He's neither of those, so that should narrow it down," Nami whispered.

But then memory Usopp gave a dark chuckle as he regained control of himself and spoke up, bragging about it at the top of his lungs, "Listen up, you punks! There is nobody here who can… BEAT ME IN NEGATIVITY!"

"WHAT A HORRIBLE SOURCE OF SELF-ESTEEM!" the zombies all cried as they stared at him.

"I hate to agree with them," Zoro pointed out, "But they got a point."

"Whatever works for you, I'd say," Franky added. "Hey if it prevents him from being turned into a crying wreck of a man… I'd say, what the hell. Go for it, bro! Be the best at being negative as you can!"

"Why are you all picking on me?!" present-day Usopp demanded as his past self kept laughing as the zombies only watched him.

"Well, mostly I think to the fact that you're slowly disappearing," Sanji pointed out. And it was true, the whole time he laughed, the more he kept moving backwards, trying to get as close to the doorway as possible before he would try to make a run for it.

"But why is that he is so confident, yet he looks so small from here?" one of the zombies asked slowly.

"Oh, is he trying to escape?" another asked curiously and at those words it began to dawn on them all. With roars they gave chase, forcing memory Usopp to lose any of the confidence he had at that moment as he shrieked.

"Crap!" he croaked, "They figured me out!"

But he reacted instantly by firing more salt stars into their mouths, taking out at least another dozen more.

"You think they would close their mouths?" Franky couldn't help but point out as he watched the zombies all stand there with their mouths wide open.

"Well, their brains are rotting, so I guess it's only to be expected," Robin offered with a shrug.

"Oh, so they're like Moss Head here?" Sanji asked.

"More like you," Zoro retorted with a glare.

The Wild Zombies all crumbled, the shadows escaping their bodies and began flying free. But their cries were enough to snap Perona out of her depression and she got to her feet.

"You bastard!" she cried in outrage. "How dare you do that to my cute zombie animals?"

"Again, what is cute about any of them?!" Nami demanded. "I know that she must have a twisted sense of 'cuteness' but how is a zombie in any way cute?!"

"I don't know," Robin said as she observed some of the zombies with a critical eye. She supposed that she could start to see what Perona was talking about. Some of them did have a kind of 'cute' air to them, though maybe she was just over-thinking it?

"Get back!" memory Usopp warned as he loaded up more salt into his slingshot. "Salt Star!"

He sent more of his Salt Stars at them, but not before Perona called to the remaining zombies to cover their mouths. Which they did so at once, which caused Usopp's attack to fall short. They managed to escape that, and were now angry before Usopp panicked and began running around the room, with the zombies still giving chase.

"That was totally against the rules!" he yelled in panic, "I shouldn't have said Salt Star!"

"Come on, Usopp! You can take them out!" Luffy cheered for memory Usopp, who kept running around. "You know how to beat them now, you just gotta get them to open their mouths. And then you…"

But memory Usopp was still running as the zombies gave chase.

"Without him, Perona will rip them apart!" one of the zombies shouted.

"Ok, but let's watch out for the salt!" another shouted and still they chased him around the borders of the room as Perona stood in the middle to watch. At one point, memory Usopp noticed this and he seemed to be frustrated despite his fear.

"Damnit, I'm the only one who can beat that girl," he muttered, "But I can't do anything with her minions around! This was supposed to be my chance to shine! STUPID ZOMBIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!"

"Well, you can't really expect them to be fighting fair, do you?" Sanji asked their Usopp, who sighed despairingly as he watched how 'uncool' he was looking here. Seriously, why couldn't they have thought to take out the zombies for him while he dealt with Perona?

"You did come out of this in one piece, so I won't worry too much about it," Robin reminded him.

"Yeah, just barely!" he retorted angrily. But after another minute or so of running, memory Usopp surprised them all by stopping dead and allowed himself to be hit by a train of zombies. He rolled over and hit the ground hard several feet away.

"Ow… you got me…" memory Usopp gasped in pain.

"Oh, no! Usopp!" Chopper cried out in horror. "Are you ok?!"

"It didn't look like you got hit that hard?" Franky pointed out.

Nami watched on in interest as she asked, "What do you have planned here?"

Present-day Usopp only grinned back as the zombies all thought that they won here.

"Aright!" a zombie that looked like a cross between a monkey and a rabbit declared.

"Idiot," the koala zombie with the stripped body warned as they looked at memory Usopp still lying there with cation. "Don't open your mouth like that! It could be another trick!"

"Really? You were only pretending to get hurt?" Chopper asked their Usopp before sighing in relief. "That's good. For a minute there, I thought that you got hurt!"

"Oh, please, it will take a lot more than that to finish off yours truly!" present-day Usopp bragged.

"You wouldn't think that with the way you were running and screaming," Zoro pointed out.

"HEY! CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE ME THIS ONE MOMENT?!" memory Usopp yelled back. Seriously, why did they always give him such a hard time? He was trying his best here, but he wasn't some freakishly strong monster like they were! Give him a break.

"Right," another zombie said with a nod. "He's probably plotting something."

"You can't trick us!" a dog-faced zombie with the body of a giraffe and the horns of a bull added as they all covered their mouths again in case he tried to fire more salt at them.

It seemed to be the case for memory Usopp held up his slingshot and took aim. "Salt…" he began.

"But they'll just bounce off again," Luffy pointed out worriedly.

"Oh, ye of little faith," present-day Usopp said firmly. "I learn my lesson the first time around. Watch and learn! I am the king of liars!"

"How do you expect to hit us with those when our mouths are covered?" the koala zombie asked though he didn't dare move his hands away from his mouth. But memory Usopp sent several packages of salt at them, which exploded into tiny puffs of dust.

"Just kidding," memory Usopp grinned. "Pepper Star!"

"I see," Robin chuckled. "Very clever, Usopp."

"Do zombies sneeze?" Sanji asked as he thought that over. It seemed so for all at once, the zombies started tearing up and sneezing uncontrollably, their mouths suddenly wide open and an open target for Usopp. Memory Usopp got back up to his feet and began firing into their mouths once again, no problems at all, and at least half the zombies dropped before the sneezing stop.

"Don't know what your problem was, you seem to be doing a fine job of taking care of the zombies without our help," Zoro pointed out to him as present-day Usopp glared back, not sure if he should be happy or not about that comment.

"That was great, Usopp!" Luffy grinned out, "Take them all out!"

As for Perona, all she could do nothing but watched as her 'cute' zombies were reduced to empty shells.

"Y-You cheater!" she cried out. "No fair!"

"I call that fair play," Franky said as he folded his arms. "We're pirates anyway. We're not known for playing fair."

"She had him outnumbered anyway," Sanji added. "This evens the playing field. But I wouldn't get to cocky yet, Usopp. You still have some zombies to take out before you can deal with her. And if I find out that you harmed a lady then I'm gonna…!"

"Hey, no! No!" present-day Usopp said as he shook his hands at him quickly. "I didn't hurt her! Just watch and see!"

"You're too gullible," memory Usopp said before grinning. "I'm the king of snipers and lies!"

"You tell her, Usopp!" Luffy cheered out as he jumped around with excitement. "Come on! How do you take out the other zombies? This is getting good!"

Present-day Usopp just grinned as he rubbed underneath his long nose and said confidently, "Just watch and see!"

"Don't get cocky with me, human!" one of the zombies yelled as the others let out outraged grunts.

The few remaining zombies charged, ready to make him pay for that that last trick. But memory Usopp was waiting for that as he fired a Firebird Star right at them. Unfortunately, the zombies had the sense to duck as the fire went right above their heads and flew up to the chandelier instead. The zombies laughed as memory Usopp turned pale and could only stand there as he was railroaded by the laughing zombies. He landed a few yards away and remained down as the zombies clearly thought that they won. At least until the fire from Usopp's Firebird Star spread up to the chandelier and began burning around the ceiling, eventually causing it to fall right on top of the zombies and exploded in a wildfire. The zombies ran around in pain as the fire burned their behinds, not even listening to Perona as she tried to give commands.

"Wow, did you plan that? Or was that just a happy accident?" Brook asked in awe. "Either way, that was amazing, Usopp-san! You got the rest of the zombies in just one shot!"

"Ah… well, I mean, of course I planned it!" present-day Usopp said at once with a laugh. "I knew that there was a good chance they would cower from my attack, so I had to take them by surprise."

But memory Usopp was back on his feet as he took careful aim at Perona this time. She gasped at the sight of it until Kumacy stood right in front of her to protect her from whatever attack that Usopp had planned next.

"Get out of the way!" memory Usopp warned. "Or I'll set you on fire too, bear!"

"Yeah, I doubt that you'll be able to get salt into his mouth with that mask on," Franky said with a frown. "But… come on, how tough can an overgrown teddy bear be?"

"I have a feeling we're about to find out," Nami said slowly. Sure the bear couldn't even reach the zipper on his back, but she wouldn't put it past it to find out that he may be a little stronger than he looked. After all, he seemed to be serving as the personal bodyguard to Perona, at least that was the feeling she got since he was always the one zombie that seemed to be constantly at her side.

But Perona had enough of this; she finally turned and ran through one of the two exits in the room, dropping her umbrella in the process. But Usopp was right on her heels as they entered an enormous hallway that was filled with columns and seemed to stretch on forever in all directions.

"What is with this guy?!" they heard her cry as she ran. "This isn't fun anymore! Can't he leave me alone and go and bother someone else?! I'm tired of fighting!"

"Now she's singing a different tune when she doesn't have zombies or ghosts able to back her up," Nami panted as they ran. "I don't think that we could have had a better person fight against her than you, Usopp."

"Yeah, you're doing an incredible job, Usopp!" Chopper cheered out. "And now all you have to do is take care of this bear zombie before you can deal with Perona! You can do it!"

"Yeah, and you know what?" present-day Usopp asked with a grin. "I did! That ghost girl didn't stand a chance in the end!"

"I'd give up if I were you!" memory Usopp warned as Kumacy ran right behind him. "FOR THE RECORD! I'M REALLY GOOD AT RUNNING TOO!"

"That's true! No one can run faster than you, Usopp!" Luffy said with a grin.

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment," Nami muttered, but here, the more that Perona ran, the more confident that memory Usopp seemed to grow that he could take her out. At least until the bear zombie made his presence known as he continued chasing after them.

Kumacy groaned out angrily before Perona yelled, "GET RID OF THAT GUY ALREADY, KUMACY!"

"NO, DON'T!" memory Usopp screamed out.

"STOP RUNNING!" Kumacy yelled in warning.

"NO, YOU STOP RUNNING!" memory Usopp hollered back before adding to Perona, "YOU TOO GHOST GIRL!"

"If you aren't going to stop, I doubt that she will," Brook couldn't help but point out. Why is it that whenever you tell someone to stop running, they only run faster?

"NOT UNTIL YOU STOP!" she yelled back and a lot of the Straw Hats were laughing at this, glad to have some more comedy going on after all this seriousness. You can always count on Usopp to lighten the mood, huh?

"I won't let you lay a finger on Mistress Perona!" Kumacy declared before he jumped, actually flying at Usopp, who ducked just in time. Kumacy went flying into a column and caused it to shatter, bring down a part of the ceiling on top of him.

"Wow, what is that guy made out of? He just took out that stone pillar like a rampaging bull or something," Franky said, startled by this sudden show of strength. "Forget what I said about him being a teddy bear."

"Hope you got something special planned for this guy, or else he's going to just keep chasing you," Zoro said to their Usopp in warning.

"Just you wait and see," present-day Usopp nodded firmly as he looked on. He may not have looked so cool while he was fighting Perona, but he was the only one who could fight her! And in the end, he did succeed in taking her out! That was something to be proud of, wasn't it?!

"For such a fluffy stuffed animal, that thing really packs a punch doesn't it?" his memory self asked as he wiped his brow and got back up. "He can't unzip his own zipper but he sure is good at jumping around and wrecking stuff."

But through the rubble, Kumacy got back up and though it was hard to tell from his big eyes, he was now angry as he declared, "Now I'm angry!"

"Hey, it's not Usopp's fault that he went crashing into that thing," Luffy pointed out. "He did that on his own."

"Yeah, but rather than admit that, he rather just blame him," Sanji offered.

"THAT WAS A COMPLIMENT! GIVE ME A BREAK!" memory Usopp cried as he ran, trying to avoid Kumacy's paws and eventually running through all the columns and it began a hilarious round of watching him zig-zag through the pillars as lunacy could only give chase. It was funny watching how they key turning in and out of the pillars, often getting confused on who was supposed to be chasing who.

The Straw Hats were all laughing good-naturedly again at all of this. Even present-day Usopp was having a hard time trying to keep a smile off his face. At one point it got to where Usopp was running round and around a pillar in a big circle while Kumacy chased him, until it was hard to tell who was chasing who. Finally, Kumacy got angry and went breaking through the pillar, forcing memory Usopp to continue running again, and quickly catching up to Perona, who screamed when she saw him there.

"STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she wailed as she ran even faster with him right at her heels.

"I CAN'T HELP IT! HE'S CHASING ME!" he yelled back.

Luffy cheered before he ended up groaning at the sight of seeing the memory fading around them, going to one of the other Straw Hats. He had wanted to see more of Usopp's fight. He rarely ever got to see his crewmates get to fight like this, and he was really starting to enjoy it. But he was glad to see that they were back outside in the forest once again, with the three memory selves of Franky, Zoro, and Sanji running through Perona's garden not moments after leaving Usopp behind.

"Hey, who would have thought that Usopp's negativity would come in handy?" memory Zoro asked as they ran, making a beeline for the mansion in front of them.

"Yeah, I guess… we should say thanks," present-day Zoro said to their Usopp.

Present-day Usopp only grinned on before he rubbed his long nose and said, "Anytime."

"If it weren't for him, the rest of us would have been done for," memory Franky agreed.

"Now that's what I call a frightening ability," memory Zoro added as he thought that over.

"Just to be clear, which ability are you talking about?" Robin asked their Zoro. "Perona's ghosts? Or Usopp's own negativity?"

"Both," present-day Zoro couldn't help but snort out with laughter as Usopp glared on.

"Fine, if we ever see her again, I'll just leave her to all of you!" he responded furiously as he followed behind them. "And when you're all on the ground, crying for your mommies, don't come running to me to save you!"

"Hey," memory Sanji said, getting their attention and they looked to see that with his eyes shadowed over by his bangs. "I'm going to split off here and find Nami."

"Alright, go for it," memory Franky told him as darkness seemed to be emanating from Sanji. "We'll leave it to you!"

"Hey yeah!" memory Sanji said as flames burst out of his body. "I am the knight of eternal love here!"

With that, Sanji, surrounded with flames of fury and ran off to the nearest side of the bridge before he jumped off.

"I'M COMING, NAMI!" he cried. "YOU'RE BRAVE KNIGHT IS ON HIS WAY!"

And he was out of their sights.

"Wow, talk about dedication," Brook said in wonder. "Your flames of resolve are so bright that it hurts my eyes looking at you. Ah! Not that I have any eyes anymore! Yohohoho!"

"He jumped," memory Zoro said though he sounded like he couldn't care less. "Hey, aren't we up pretty high?"

"Well, I heard that when people get their blood pumped," memory Franky offered, "pain doesn't seem to be the first thing that comes to mind."

"Well, either his sense of direction is as messed up as Zoro's or something happened to him on the way to the church," Nami whispered to Robin with a roll of her eyes. "Maybe it would have been better if he just stayed with the others?"

"Oh, let him go," Robin chuckled. "It will give him a chance to save you from something."

"But I didn't need help," Nami answered back. "When I woke up, I was already at the altar and that jerk was trying to kiss me. I took him out with a good thunderbolt."

Really? That seemed a suspicious to Robin. Not that she could see any reason why Nami would lie, but she didn't see that this Absalom character would be taken out with just one bolt, especially since he was still standing the first time that Nami tried to use that attack on him in the cemetery.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter, we're heading for the top floor of the mansion," memory Franky added as he pointed up to the top of the mansion.

"Why the top?" memory Zoro asked.

"That's where the skeleton-guy is!" memory Franky added as they continued onwards.

"Yeah, you did seem to be heading that way when we last saw you, bro," the present-day Franky told their Brook. "Seemed like the most reasonable place to check."

"I see," Brook nodded as he thought that over. "How observant of you, Franky-san."

He grinned back as his memory self grabbed hold of memory Zoro, who tried to run off in one direction as he yelled, "I SAID THAT WE GO THIS WAY! DON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?!"

"Seriously, we should give him a compass or something for him to carry around with him," Nami sighed as the memory faded and they all stopped running. "Wait, Zoro, can you even read a compass?"

"Why would I need a compass?" he demanded as she rolled her eyes, wondering why she tried sometimes.

The memory faded once more, causing groans at how they were cut out just when things were getting good. But this time, they were back in another long corridor, but this one was coated with pipes and a thick layer of ice and frost.

"Hey, does this all look familiar?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah, this is the tunnel that we took to get to Oars when Moria stole Luffy's shadow," Nami said as she recognize all of it. "Guess we're gonna see Luffy go up against Moria again."

It certainly looked like they didn't miss a beat, for at that moment, memory Luffy came running up from behind them, having left Robin and Chopper behind as he went charging forward, searching for Moria.

"Right, I can't wait to kick this guy's ass!" present-day Luffy declared as he punched his fists together. "He's history!"

They ran after him, soon coming back to the large room that looked like it could have fit several Marine battleships. And they saw the massive hole in one of the sides, showing that Oars must have gone bursting through it in a great hurry… it looked like this all happened just after he escape and he may have already destroyed the bridge outside. In any case, he didn't seem to be around here. Well… not yet anyway.

But looking off to the side, they saw that Moria was sitting right up against the doorway, leaning back with his feet up like he was about to fall asleep, at least until he spotted memory Luffy there.

"I found you!" memory Luffy yelled in fury at the sight of Moria.

"So," Moria said coolly, "You came back?"

"No, you're dreaming," Sanji replied sarcastically. "You're just dreaming that he came back to kick your ass. Of course he came back! Why else would he be here?! For tea?!"

But before anything else could be said, the entire room began to shake a little like there was an earthquake going on.

"Oars again?" Sanji asked knowingly.

"Don't know what else it could be," Zoro said as he braced himself from the shaking. In fact, memory Luffy was looking around as more drops of ice fell from the freezer due to the quake and he asked what was going on, what was making the whole place shake.

"The ship's probably got caught in an ocean current or something," Moria stated casually. "But I bet it's probably your fault." He then laughed to himself as if he had just made a funny joke before he looked back at him and asked, "So why did you bother coming back here?"

"Oh, just for decorating tips," Usopp said with a roll of his eyes. "Why do you think he came back? To kick your ass and get everyone their shadows back!"

"YEAH! COME ON! I WANNA FIGHT HIM!" present-day Luffy yelled and he stretched out his arm, throwing a punch… only for it to pass right through Moria like he was made of air.

"Forgot that nothing here is real?" Robin asked him with a smile as he pulled his arm back, looking frustrated.

With a pout, he turned around and sat down cross-legged on the ground as he said grumpily, "Stupid memory."

"I hear ya, captain," Zoro agreed. "Believe me, there are no shortage of people here that we wished that we could take out. But we'll just have to wait until we meet them again on the seas." His mind was cast back to Akainu and Blackbeard and how much he had yearned for the chance to fight them when he saw what they did to Luffy and Ace.

He hoped that Luffy had picked out which one of them he wanted to fight though, because then he would take out the other. Though it may be a hard call since it was personal for Luffy to deal with them both.

He glance down at his pouting captain and felt a tug of a smile on his mouth before looking up to Moria again. It may not come right away, but payback will be coming for both of those bastards.

Meanwhile, memory Luffy barked, "What do you think? You're gonna pay for taking my shadow with that lamp earlier. I'm gonna take it back. Along with Zoro's, Sanji's, Brook's, and everyone else's too! All of them!"

"A bit greedy aren't you?" Moria asked him smugly.

"You're one to talk about greedy," Chopper yelled out angrily as Moria finished by asking. "Tell me, how do you plan on doing that?"

Luffy pulled his hat, which was hanging on his back, on his head before he answered, "By kicking your ass."

"Go for it!" Usopp cried out as he and Chopper were starting to cheer, arm-in-arm and chanted, "LUFFY! LUFFY! HE'S OUR MAN! IF HE CAN'T DO IT NO ONE CAN!"

Moria only chuckled as Franky opened up a part of his arms and released sparklers and confetti as he and Brook began to cheer as well.

"You really think you can beat me?" Moria asked.

"You got that right!" memory Luffy said confidently.

"I just wish that this guy would hurry and get up to fight already!" Sanji sighed as Moria began to tell them that it didn't matter even if Luffy was able to beat him, or even kill him. Even if the zombies lost their master, they wouldn't return to their owners.

"He must be really confident if he's just coming right out and telling you how to fix all of this," Usopp said to their Luffy. "That or he's just dumb."

"While I wouldn't put it past him to be a few brain cells short, I think it's just over-confidence that's letting him tell you all this," Franky said as he folded his arms. "He thinks that you won't be able to stop him and so he sees no reason why he should keep it all secret since he thought that he was going to win hands down."

Moria bragged to memory Luffy, informing him that if he really wanted him to give them back their shadows, all he had to do was force him to give the command. If they could make Moria command the shadows to go back to their original owners, then they would.

"If I do that, all the shadows will return?" memory Luffy asked.

Moria laughed. "That's right," he answered, "Simple ain't it? But first you have to weaken me to that extent. But with your level of strength I doubt you'll even be able to touch me!" And to add insult to injury, he yawned as if bored and shut his eyes as if he was going to sleep.

"Oh, make up your mind!" Usopp complained when the memory changed once more. "I'm really getting tired of jumping around all over the place here."

"A lot is going on at this time," Robin reminded him. "We're looking at more than just one person's memories this time around, it's to be expected that they would be blending together." But even she was having a hard time trying to keep track of everything as the memory disappeared and reappeared almost instantly.

"Where are we now?" Chopper asked in confusion as he looked around.

"It looks like… some kind of church?" Robin said. It certainly seemed to be the case. For all around her there were aisles and aisles of empty pews all set up. There were stain glass windows up above them, and an altar right at the front where a priest would normally stand. However, it seemed that this place had been abandoned for several long years.

There were broken bits of rubble scattered across the ground, and the walls were all faded and covered with dust or cobwebs. There were parts of the roof that were starting to break apart and the trembling was continuing to shake the island was making dust fall around them, making them fear that the ceiling could give away at any moment.

But what really got them was that Absalom was standing there, dressed in a long black coat… and Nami was in a beautiful white dress, and being held up like some kind of mannequin by a zombie.

She was still out cold, and it looked like Absalom had hoped to marry her while she was still unconscious.

"THAT JERK! AND I THOUGHT THAT HE SAID THAT LOLA TRYING TO KNOCK HIM OUT AND MARRY HER WAS LOW!" present-day Nami shrieked at the sight of her being held up like this. But hey, she had to admit, they did pick out a beautiful dress for her to wear.

"Oh, is that an angel?" Sanji asked as he stared ahead at Nami in her gown. He blinked hard before rubbing his eyes. "Oh, no. It's Nami… that's a relief. For a moment I thought I was seeing heaven?"

"I got to admit, they did have a good fashion sense for you, Nami," Robin pointed out. "Maybe if you ever do get married, you should wear a dress like that?"

"Maybe," present-day Nami agreed. "But I know that if I do get married, he's not invited. If I had to guess, this is there where I finally wake up and deal with this guy."

But she had said that almost at the same time that Sanji spoke up, "I wish that I kicked his ass harder here."

They both looked at each other.

"What are you talking about, Sanji?" Nami asked, "I don't think you ever met him in person?"

"Oh, no, my sweet Nami," Sanji told her. "I came here to save you, just as I promised. But…?"

Absalom, who was wearing a long black coat for the ceremony was looking horrified and baffled

"Wiped out?!" Absalom's voice demanded and they looked up to see the horrified and baffled look on his patchwork face. He was staring at another zombie as he barked, "Am I to understand that the guys who just left his place a little while back, were all just…?"

"Y-Yes," the zombie said nervously. "They were all… flattened."

"Probably by Oars again," Robin reasoned with a chuckle. "It certainly looks like your zombie did a fine job of taking out so much of Moria's army for us, Luffy."

"Yeah, at least until he came back to fight with us," Usopp hissed under his breath.

"Hey, chill out! We took him on, didn't we?" Franky laughed. "And we will be able to watch ourselves fight him all over again. I could watch us taking out that big guy over and over!"

"Those guys were this islands strongest zombie soldiers!" Absalom yelled at the zombie like it was somehow his fault. "We're talking about General Zombies here! They can't all have been taken out!"

"B-But they were!" the zombie stated fearfully. "In an instant!"

Absalom was staring at him with wide eyes as he gasped out, "Impossible. Isn't Oars supposed to be under our control?! Why is he going wild on his own?! Zombies aren't supposed to be capable of acting against orders! If we continue to let him do whatever he wants…? Thriller Bark will be reduced to rubble!"

"That's pretty much what happened," Zoro said as he remembered walking through the ruins on his way to the ship the day that they were leaving.

"Yeah, and maybe they should have expected as much if they took the shadow of someone with a 300 million bounty on his head," present-day Nami added with a look over at their Luffy. "We have a hard enough time trying to keep him out of trouble when he's small."

But at that moment Absalom turned to the door of the church and they saw memory Sanji standing there, having found them at long last.

"Wow! You made it bro! How'd you know they were here?!" Franky asked curiously.

"Simple, my good man," present-day Sanji said coolly before his eyes melted to become hearts and he cried out, "It was love! Love was what led me here!"

They all just looked at him, some of them had sweatdrops around their heads again.

"I'm sorry I asked," Franky sighed. He should have known that he would have gotten such an answer back.

"NAMI!" memory Sanji cried lovingly when he spotted her. "YOUR ETERNAL KNIGHT OF LOVE HAS COME TO RESCUE YOU!"

"One of the Straw Hat Pirates, I presume?" asked Absalom before he began growling like some kind of wild animal at the sight of him there. Memory Sanji didn't even waste his time answering for at that moment he began to spin around like a tornado, passing by the other couple zombies and Absalom like they weren't even there as he left behind only a strong wind, until he was only a few feet away from the altar and began to skip the rest of the way there.

"Why, is that Nami, I see?" he asked before he delivered a swift kick to the zombie's gut and sent him crashing into the wall behind him. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"

The zombie who had been holding onto memory Nami dropped her, but before she hit the ground, memory Sanji stretched out his hands and caught her, save in his arms.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said as he looked up, acting all suave. "But your knight has arrived."

"Nice one," Robin said with a chuckle. "Now what do you say, Nami?"

Nami, who was frowning at the thought that she didn't remember any of this and was still confused as to how she woke up just before that patched-up mess of a 'fiancé' had tried to kiss her. But still she said, "Thank you very much for the save, Sanji."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Nami-dear!" present-day Sanji swooned at her kind words. "I'm so sorry that you had to wait for so long! But I arrived in time to put a stop to your wedding!"

"Well, I can't wait to see how this guy takes his special day being ruined," Franky laughed at the look of fury on Absalom's face.

"It's ok," memory Sanji said as he looked down at memory Nami, who continued sleeping on with no idea of anything that was happening around her. "Everything's…" but all of a sudden, memory Sanji gasped as he looked at her. "Wait… this is… a goddess?"

"What?" Zoro asked before shaking his head in pity. He would never admit to it, but the truth was… he felt so bad for the brain-dead cook.

"I have to admit," present-day Nami stated as she smiled, "But I look gorgeous in that dress. Maybe I should wear white a little more often?"

"Oh, you look beautiful in just about everything, Nami!" present-day Sanji cried out adoringly, "I swear, I thought that I was face-to-face with a heavenly maiden!"

"Heavenly maiden?" Luffy repeated in confusion, "Who?"

But Usopp covered his mouth quickly before Luffy could go on.

"Just let it go," he hissed in his ear, "Really, Luffy. The last thing you want to do is to disagree right now. You barely survived the last beating you took from Nami."

"Ok, ok," Luffy hissed back before throwing Usopp off him.

There was hearts in memory Sanji's eyes as he looked on but he blinked and he seemed to come back down to earth. "No, wait a sec, I got confused. It's definitely Nami. Just calm down. Man, that's crazy… what a surprise. It's just that, she's so beautiful that for a sec there I thought I rescued some goddess by mistake there."

Zoro was dying to say something about that. But it was taking everything he had not to burst out laughing at those words. A goddess? She was the furthest thing from a goddess as possible. More like some kind of demon.

Memory Sanji sighed in relief as he wiped his forehead. But then he made the mistake of looking down at her again and gasped, "A princess? No wait, it's that Goddess… No, wait, its Nami just like before."

He continued talk to himself, trying to reason why it can't be a princess or a goddess. Something that more than a few members of the crew were privately thinking to themselves as they watched.

"What the hell is he mumbling about?" Absalom demanded to himself as he walked forward. "This guy's outta his mind. Hey! You're a member of that pirate crew, aren't you?!" But then he looked down at her and he gasped just like Sanji did and he croaked out, "It's a… angel!"

"Oh, no… it's spreading," Zoro muttered in exasperation. The last thing they wanted was for whatever disease that the cook was carrying that made him act like an idiot, to be contagious.

Soon though, Absalom had hearts in his eyes before he shook his head and snapped himself out of it as he said, "No! No, it's just my bride! My mistake! That scared me!"

"Oh, I'll show you scary when I wake up," present-day Nami hissed furiously as she held up her fist, wishing that she could punch this guy.

"I know, right?!" memory Sanji asked good-naturedly. "I feel you on that one, man. I mean, it's like the only things that look good in white are Nami and rice."

"Ok, that's sad," Usopp muttered as he watched how well those two seemed to be getting along.

"Amen, brother," Absalom agreed. Soon they were both laughing together over how cute they thought that Nami was.

"Yeah, I know that I'm cute, but come on, Sanji," present-day Nami moaned out. "Get to the part where you kick this guy's ass already! I don't want to get married!"

The two zombies, who happened to be in the room behind them, were looking on with confusion, as to what they should do. But soon Absalom realized that his wedding was suddenly interrupted by an objection.

"Enough chit-chat! Don't you try to get friendly with me!" he yelled before he held up his hand. With the invisible cannon on his shoulder, he was able to fire at him, but then memory Sanji vanished with Nami, taking Absalom by surprised when the blast missed them and only left a giant hole in the wall instead.

"Hey," memory Sanji barked, reappearing behind him and causing Absalom to growl. Memory Sanji's his eyes were looking pretty dangerous as he snarled at him with suppressed rage, "You almost hit Nami with that. Attacking me is one thing, but show some damn courtesy when there's a lady around."

"The manners of a wild animal," present-day Sanji stated in disgust. Sure, some members of this crew could use more than a few lessons on manners, but he knew that they would never stoop so low as to attack someone who wasn't even conscious.

Absalom turned to face him as he asked, "Oh, by the way, your shadow, its gone isn't it?" He looked down to see that his shadow was indeed missing as he went on, "Yes, that's right. One of the new zombies we created was strangely attached to my bride."

"Stop calling me your bride!" present-day Nami yelled at him, wishing that she could send a thunderbolt his way. "God, if he's my best option for marriage, then I'll happily stay single forever."

"Well, maybe not forever," present-day Sanji offered hopefully as he thought of him standing there at the altar as his beloved Nami walked down the aisle to him. Oh, just the idea made him swoon with love and he began to twirl about happily.

"What's wrong?" Usopp whispered as they watched him.

"What's he thinking about now?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Something tells me we're better off not knowing," present-day Nami sighed.

"It seems that the will of his shadow hadn't faded yet so he wasn't quite obedient to us yet," Absalom went on as he thought over about that denguin zombie. "That must have been your zombie. How pathetic. They didn't even bother putting your shadow into a zombie general. And if that's the case, I'm assuming your fighting skills are pretty weak."

"Well, he's right about that much," Zoro commented reasonably.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for you," present-day Sanji stated as he came out of his blissful state.

"Hey," Zoro demanded, "What'd you mean by that?"

"Well, just that if I'm so pathetic and my fighting skills are weak, what does that make you since you'll never be able to beat me in battle?" he asked with a grin. Zoro's eye flashed red as he pulled his sword and struck at him, leaving Sanji to block with his foot.

"What'd you say?!" Zoro demanded.

"Just what it sounded like, Moss Head!" present-day Sanji retorted.

"Oh, is that right, Mr. Nosebleed!" Zoro snarled and the two were now growling at each other, looking like it was going to break out into a full out brawl until Robin had enough with their fighting and restrained them both with her hands, refusing to let go until they both agreed that they would stop. Well, Zoro agreed, Sanji just had hearts back in his eyes as he looked down at her arms that were growing out of his body.

Meanwhile, memory Sanji didn't even bother to answer Absalom as he gently put Nami into one of the empty pews and safely out of the way. The whole time Absalom continued insulting him.

"Both of you are overdressed weaklings who run your mouths off way too much!" he barked at him, thinking that he wasn't a threat since he didn't think that he had a bounty on his head or that Moria didn't think that he was strong enough to have him in the body of a zombie general.

"Once again, I have to agree with him on that," Zoro stated, unable to stop himself as present-day Sanji glared daggers at him.

"I am one of the Mysterious 3!" Absalom bragged as if he were one of the rulers of the earth, "All of the zombie generals are under my command! You really think you stand a chance against me?"

But by that point, memory Sanji was looking at memory Nami again and struck once more by how cute she looked.

"Seriously? This is getting old," Zoro said, not sure how much more of this he could take. At least watching Luffy's memories was entertaining. This was just getting stupid because he was watching the cook.

"Oh," memory Sanji said, "It's Nami again. This is really messing me up. Geez."

"And this is really making me sick," Zoro added.

"Shut up you Moss Headed monster!" present-day Sanji barked back just as Absalom realized that he was being ignored and yelled, "PAY ATTENTION TO ME DAMNIT!"

"You know what, Nami?" memory Sanji said lovingly to the sleeping Nami. "You're even better than all of the goddess and princesses, and angels in the world!"

"Awwww, that's so sweet of you, Sanji," present-day Nami said, and decided to pull a Hancock and gave him a cute wink… which shocked him so much that he turned to stone.

"NO! SANJI!" Chopper cried out in horror as he went to work to try and snap him out of it.

"Wow, I really want to have a few lessons from Hancock now," present-day Nami couldn't help but state as she thought it all over. Just think of what she could learn from a master like her?

"Get away from my bride!" Absalom yelled, really losing it here. "That's it! I'm already pissed that you ruined my special day just shut up and let me kick your ass so that I can kiss her!"

"Not in this lifetime you won't!" present-day Nami hollered, her entire body shivering at the thought of those lips anywhere near her own.

"Actually, you know what?" Absalom went on with a new idea, "I'll be generous, if you drag your sorry, shadowless carpus out of here right now and never come back, I'll let you go!"

"He really doesn't think that you're a threat?" Chopper asked, actually start to grow worried for Absalom. Doesn't he realize the serious amount of danger that he was in right now? He would be lucky to walk away with all of his teeth intact!

"Blame my stupid wanted poster," present-day Sanji said darkly. "But either way, it just sounds like to me that he's trying to get out of fighting me. Talk about a coward."

Memory Sanji didn't even seem to be wasting his time listening to his threat as he slowly turned around and lit up another cigarette, preparing himself for an ass-kicking.

"The thing is I'm really busy right now," Absalom went on, still not realizing the danger that he was in. "Your stupid captain's stupid zombie went on a rampage and smashed up some of my best men. But before I deal with that, I'm kissing my damn bride! AND THAT'S FINAL!"

"Can someone please shut him up?" present-day Nami demanded furiously. Just listening to this guy was pissing her off. There she was, out cold, and she wasn't able to do anything to this guy to get him to stop dreaming about marrying her. Well, even if the unthinkable happened, and he did marry her, she was going to make his life a living hell.

And the divorce money she got from that would have been pretty sweet now that she thought about it.

"You follow me?" Absalom demanded, "I'm running very low on patience! I can't waste my time fighting with some…"

But he never had a chance to finish, for memory Sanji finally had enough and delivered a swift kick right to his face.

"Thank you," present-day Nami said, glad for the moment of silence from that big mouth's speech.

"And you say _I_ talk too much, you creeper!" memory Sanji shouted as the kick sent him right back into the wall.

"Seriously, he was starting to give me a headache," Franky nodded. "I was starting to think that he was never gonna shut up."

"Well, you're welcome," present-day Sanji informed him.

The two zombies shrieked out their master's name at the sight of the beating.

"Master Absalom!" one cried.

"No way!" the other screamed. "He weighs more than 600 pounds and he got knocked back just like that?"

"Seriously? He weighs that much?" Chopper asked with wide eyes. "But he doesn't look fat or anything at all!"

"I'm guessing that it has something to do with the animal parts that were stitched onto him," present-day Sanji stated.

"Oh, do I want to know what else is stuck to his body?" present-day Nami groaned at the thought.

"I know that I sure as hell don't!" Usopp said. Having the mouth of a lion is bad enough, he didn't want to know what else this guy had attached to his body.

"So his is he big, bad invisible man that Usopp was talking about," memory Sanji said as he slowly began to walk forward, and when the dust cleared they sat that Absalom was now moaning in agony, the kick had definitely done its job and they could see the whites of his eyes, as though he was struggling not to pass out.

"You hit him pretty hard there, Sanji-san," Brook said lightly. "I almost feel bad for the guy. He'll be feeling that in the morning."

"I think he's feeling it now," Usopp corrected.

But as soon as memory Sanji got close enough, Absalom held up his palms and shouted out, "HANDS OF THE DEAD!"

But memory Sanji jumped up, avoiding the attack by jumping onto his arms and forcing them apart, where the attack went firing off at the ceiling instead. The shocked expression on Absalom's face was priceless before it was replaced with pain as memory Sanji began a series of hard kicks, sending him flying like he was a rag doll all over the place.

"YOURE THE GUY WHO SHOWED UP ON THE SUNNY AND DRAGGED YOUR FILTHY TONGUE ALL OVER ROBIN, AREN'T YOU?!" he hollered in outrage as fire burned in his eyes and present-day Robin suppressed a shudder at the thought.

"AND I HEARD THAT YOU WERE PEEKING IN ON NAMI WHILE SHE WAS NAKED IN THE BATH TOO!" memory Sanji added as he delivered kick after kick, looking like he wanted to break every single bone in this jerk's body.

"AND WHY THE HELL IS NAMI UNCONSCIOUS? YOU BETTER NOT HAVE DONE ANYTHING WEIRD TO HER!" he continued shouting over every kick and finally sent him flying back into the wall again. "YOU CALL THIS CRAP A WEDDING?" he demanded as the fire burned even hotter, "YOU SAY THAT TO MY FACE AGAIN AND I'LL POUND YOU INTO A CROKET, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"You took those words out of my mouth," present-day Nami stated. "I hardly call this a wedding if I'm not even awake to object to it."

"That is why you have me here, Nami," present-day Sanji promised her as he got down on one knee and said, "I will always be here to protect you! I am but a humble knight whose duty is to ensure the safety of the fair maidens of this world! I am the knight of love! And no pervert will stop my sacred duty!"

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Zoro muttered to some of the others, "He's a pervert too."

"Right, but hey, at least he wouldn't knock a girl out and try to marry her while she's unconscious," Robin reminded him. Sanji was a lot of things, but he was a gentleman at the heart.

Absalom was looking like he was having trouble just trying to keep himself from blacking out, but they were surprised that he hadn't started bleeding yet. A normal kick like that from Sanji would be enough to cause a lot of serious injuries, such as internal bleeding. Either this guy was tougher than they first thought, or he was very good at hiding his pain.

"Looks like I better pull back for a second," Absalom panted before he began to fade away. But it looks like Sanji was ready for this, as they heard him mutter, "Time for Usopp's salt balls."

"But salt won't work on him since he's not a zombie," Chopper pointed out before he remembered the stitched on lion muzzle and added, "At least I don't think he is."

"Yeah, but I discovered another use for them," present-day Sanji nodded and they watched as he held up a handful of the salt balls and began to use his thumb to flick them out in all directions in a circle until one of the balls collided with some kind of invisible wall.

"There you are!" memory declared as he turned to face Absalom who was coughing and demanding to know what that was.

But memory Sanji finally dealt to him a series of rapid-fire kicks and sent him flying back, this time causing him to crash into one of the empty a pew before smashing into the wall a third time. Memory Sanji barely took a step forward as he crushed a piece of wood from the broken pew under his foot.

"You said you were running low on patience?" memory Sanji demanded, fury ringing in his voice, "I'm well passed that, buddy. I'M SO PISSED OFF I'M ABOUT TO EXPLODE!"

And his body erupted into a massive fireball at those words, actually reaching from the floor to the ceiling in its intensity.

"Wow!" Luffy cried out with amazed eyes. "Look at all that fire!"

"I'm a cook, of course fire and me would get along," present-day Sanji said as he breathed out a breath of smoke.

"Still, what's wrong, Sanji?" Robin asked as she felt that she was missing something here. "It's almost like you're taking all this… personally."

"Oh, believe me my dear Robin," present-day Sanji told her calmly. "I have every reason to take this fight personally."

The two zombies who happened to have been in the room were both staring at memory Sanji in shock as Absalom continued to try and catch his breath, memory Sanji went on.

"This isn't just about Nami either, oh no," memory Sanji went on as his eyes burned with anger.

"Although that was just the number one reason why I wanted to kick his ass," the present-day Sanji added to Nami sweetly as she looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"There's an issue. A little something between the two of us," memory Sanji growled as his eye narrowed with anger as he finished, "It goes back a long way."

"Huh?" Luffy asked in surprise as he tilted his head. "Sanji? You mean you know this guy?"

"I can't believe that you knew a guy like him before," Franky added as he rubbed his head. "You met him in the East Blue or something?"

"Of course not," Sanji declared as the memory faded, "But there is something that he did to me that I had to make him pay."

"What was that?" Usopp asked in confusion. Sure he could understand Sanji's anger at how Absalom treated Nami and Robin, but this seemed really personal. Like Absalom did something to Sanji long before ever coming to this island. He couldn't figure it out.

But Sanji didn't answer as, just at that moment, the memory faded and reappeared at once to see that they were back in the lab with memory Brook and Ryuma still going at it. Everyone was really starting to get frustrated at all these different battles that were going on all over the place, but not able to see any of them through to the end, at least not yet. But when they saw how the battle between Brook and Ryuma was going, they temporarily forgot about it.

Present-day Brook gasped at the sight of it, and his entire skeletal body seemed to tremble as he stared at it. It looked like it was picking up where they last left off, however, while it was clear that the battle was really taking its toll on his memory self. His skull was cracked along his right eye socket, and he seemed to have lost a tooth or two—all the while he had to breathe hard for air—doing his best to stay on his feet as he parried Ryuma's attacks. Ryuma on the other hand was still going strong, not even faltering as he seemed to be toying with memory Brook.

Ryuma was the one on attack and laughed as he remained so, forcing memory Brook just to try to block his sword. More than once, almost ended up getting slashed with it, but at last, one powerful blow was enough to send him flying back and crashed into the floor. Completely exhausted, having spent all of his energy, only for him to realize that this zombie was still out of his league.

He just laid there on the ground, panting desperately for air as Ryuma lowered his sword.

"Come on, Brook! You can beat this guy!" Luffy said, feeling anger at how this Ryuma was hurting his friend like that. Damn, if only he was there… he wanted to take him out.

"I wish I could," present-day Brook sighed as he shook his head. "But I know when I am beat. He was far stronger than I ever was. I have grown much stronger myself over the last two years, but I struggle to believe that I would have stood a chance against him even as I am now."

"Brook," Luffy said slowly as he looked over at him and then back to memory Brook. Man, this guy really hurt Brook's confidence, didn't he? He didn't like him. Even if he was a zombie and had Brook's shadow.

"It looks like… it's over," Ryuma stated calmly. "Why don't you just accept your defeat like a man?" He then laughed. But that laugh seemed to have given memory Brook enough energy to push himself back up into a sitting position, and actually took Ryuma by surprise.

Ryuma chuckled once more before admitting, "I must admit. It's almost as if you were a phoenix or a zombie yourself! After so many blows, you shouldn't be able to even sit up!"

"I want to think of myself as a man," the present-day Brook declared proudly. "Although, I am only half the man that I once was after all the weight I lost. Yohohohoho!"

But it looked like they may have spoken too soon, it seemed that memory Brook was having trouble even just climbing to his feet.

"Well," Ryuma said, "I can fix that. Soon, I'll sever your spine so you can no long move again! Then, you'll never return here and attempt to recover your shadow again. But first, I think I'll cut off that ridiculous hairdo with my Arrow Notch Slash!"

"Hey! You leave it alone!" Luffy yelled furiously. "That's a dirty move! You know how much that afro means to Brook! It has nothing to do with the fight!"

"Yeah! That's right! You gotta go through us first if you want to attack the afro!" Chopper added as he punched the air.

"Yohohoho," present-day Brook laughed, sounding a little happier than he did before. "Your kind words, as always, mean so much to me everyone! Thank you all so much!"

"Don't mention it!" Luffy grinned as Chopper blushed.

"My afro is the only thing that I have left of my former self," present-day Brook went on softly as he looked down at his boney hands. "I can hardly remember a time when I had skin and blood anymore. I was fortunate enough that my hair survived, but if it's cut, it won't ever grow back. It is my treasure, though I know that many would say that it's foolish."

"No it's not," Luffy reminded him. "We all get it! We won't let anything bad happen to it on our watch!"

"What he said!" Usopp nodded with a grin.

"Thank you," present-day Brook told them gratefully and he bowed low. "All of you! It looks like my string of bad luck had ended the day I met all of you! Yohohoho! Maybe I should go to a casino and try the slots and see if it my luck has improved?"

"Nothing," memory Brook finally gasped out, getting their attention. "You know nothing about it. Don't you dare use that name!"

Ryuma looked surprised by his words as memory Brook found his voice again, his face dark as he said, "The high speed from that attack that I mastered during my days in my Kingdom's Assault Team, was named…'Requiem La Banderole'."

"That's a funny name," Chopper couldn't help but speak out.

"Yohohoho, indeed," present-day Brook confessed. "I always found it to be rather elegant and graceful. But I suppose my old crewmates felt that it sounded a little funny as well and gave it a different name."

"My comrades praised my swordsmanship and went as far as to re-name the move. 'Three-Verse Humming: Arrow Notch Slash'!" memory Brook stated furiously. "Even if you do have my shadow, even if you have my attacks and personality… I don't want someone who had forgotten his true memories to use that name!"

But Ryuma just laughed as he asked, "If you insist on saying that your techniques are the real deal, then why don't you try and challenge my so-called 'fake' skills." Ryuma tightened his grip on his sword as he warned, "This will be your last chance."

Memory Brook seemed to freeze up in fear at those words, but he slowly staggered to his feet as he found his sword. They stood there for a brief few seconds, or it might have been hours, it was hard to say. The tension in the air was so thick that they could feel it, you could cut it with one of those swords… it was so quiet though they could hear their own heartbeats.

And then, the two slowly began to walk forward, towards the other. They matched each other, step by step, neither looking away as they held onto their swords tightly as the rest of the Straw Hats watched—some of them even holding their breaths the closer that they got. They paused for just a brief moment as they passed by the other, but then they walked away.

"W-What happened?" Nami said as she blinked in confusion.

"Simply put? I lost," present-day Brook confessed sadly.

"You mean you both attacked at the same time?" Robin guessed, even though she didn't see anything, as he nodded grimly.

"Yeah, I saw it," Sanji stated as Zoro and Luffy nodded as well.

"No way," Usopp gulped as he looked at the two of them, actually feeling sweat beginning to form on his brow again. "I didn't even see either of you raise their swords and you're telling me that you both struck?!"

"Only one of them landed a critical blow though," Zoro pointed out as present-day Brook sighed. "The attack that Brook dealt would have finished off a normal person with no problems if he had time to finish it. But a mummy?"

"Yeah but…?" Nami tried to reason, about to point out that both were still standing, temporarily forgetting how fast Brook was.

Meanwhile, Ryuma raised his sword to rest it against his shoulder, "Three-Verse Humming," they both said as they slowly began re-sheathing their swords.

But before memory Brook could finish his move…?

"ARROW NOTCH SLASH!"

Memory Brook fell forward, a slash across his bones did severe damage even though there was no flesh to cut or blood to spill. Chopper and Usopp both shrieked at the sight of it as memory Brook fell with a crash to the floor, his sword falling from his hands with a loud clatter.

"The warriors of Wano are to be feared," present-day Brook whispered as he watched on quietly. "If that is the power that one wields when they are just a zombie, I can't begin to imagine what he must have been like in life. Though I suspect that he would have destroyed me. Reduced my bones to dust and in half the time."

"Don't sell yourself short," Zoro said to him. "You did an admirable job. You fought on even though it was hopeless and you never gave up. And you are much stronger now then you were here. Just don't forget the lessons you learned here."

"Agreed," present-day Brook nodded as his past self laid there, no longer having the strength to even move.

"W-What lessons?" Usopp gulped hard in fear.

"That I still have much to learn when it comes to battle," present-day Brook answered back simply as he remembered what went through his mind at that moment. Though he didn't really have one anymore, did he? But joking aside, the only thing that he had been thinking of at that moment was how much he wished to live and return to Laboon's side. If nothing else, he wished to apologize to him for making him wait for so long. How lonely must he have been?

How lonely that he, himself, had been until the day he met the Straw Hats. He could feel tears starting to well up in his empty eye socks at that moment though, for he was suddenly feeling so happy despite all of this heartbreak they were watching… he was so thankful to be alive.

As his past self laid there, Ryuma causally walked over to him, his wooden shoes clacking on the floor. He suddenly laughed darkly as he said, "Now then… where shall I begin to dismember you?"

To most of the Straw Hats fury, they watched as Ryuma grabbed memory Brook by his afro and held him up, his blade now being held to his hairline, his intension very clear as he asked, "I know, how about we be rid of this foolish afro?"

"No…" memory Brook croaked out, his entire body was shaking with fear and horror, but he was unable to do anything to save his precious hair at this moment.

Luffy's eyes were practically aglow with anger as he watched this. With a frustrated roar, he threw out his arm, trying to punch Ryuma away from Brook, but once again, his hand just went through him as if passing through smoke.

"Damnit!" he cursed as he brought his arm back. "Hey! You leave him alone!"

"Yeah! It's bad enough that you beat him, don't you dare go and insult him like this!" Usopp warned out, ready to fire a Pop Green if this guy cut off a single hair.

But just before he could perform the deed, the floor began to shake, and just then the mansion felt that it was being turned on its side. It took Ryuma completely off guard and he let go of Brook as he tried to remain on his feet. Brook however went rolling, hitting the wall hard as Ryuma glared up at the ceiling, demanding, "What the-? The mansion is shaking? What the hell is going on?"

"Is that…? Oars again?" Nami asked nervously as she looked at the shaking walls.

"What do you know, he helped us out again," Franky whistled out. "Another few seconds and we might have arrived too late to help you or your afro, dude."

"Really?" Luffy laughed. "Glad to hear it."

"Yeah, makes me wonder how much longer that he'll be running wild before he goes back to Moria though," Zoro said as he remembered how much hell it was to deal with that giant. All he could say was that it was a good thing that it was just the zombie and not the real Luffy. Though he had to admit, he liked the idea of being able to fight against Luffy sometime.

That was when they heard a familiar voice outside in the hallway ask, "Hey, is that the Research Lab up ahead?"

"Isn't that…?" Usopp began, but at that moment, memory Brook's weak form could barely turn his head to the door. But when he did, memory Franky came sliding inside.

"He's here!" memory Franky yelled in surprise, "Hey, Skeleton-guy!" He went over to Brook's unmoving form as he asked, "You okay? C'mon, Bones! Talk to me! You're alive, right?"

"Y-You…" memory Brook croaked out, unable to believe that they had come here. "W-What are you doing back here?"

"What do you think, you bone-head?" present-day Franky laughed as he clapped their Brook on the back. "We came here for you!"

"Oh, happy day!" present-day Brook sobbed out happily. "Words can't begin to describe how joyous it felt at that moment!" And it was true. Though he didn't officially join the crew yet, he felt hope rising up inside him at the sight of the Straw Hats, and he knew that for this battle at the least, he didn't' need to worry about fight alone.

Memory Franky just grinned as he knelt down and began to try and help him sit up, but he was so exhausted that he could barely raise his head up on his own.

But then the slashing sound of a blade caught their attention and they looked up to see Ryuma standing there with his blade still drawn.

He laughed Brook's laugh once more as he said, "This won't do at all, letting you freely aid the loser."

"He's not a loser!" Luffy declared loyally. "Damnit, Brook. Can this guy really have your shadow?"

"Yeah, he seems a lot meaner than you," Chopper gulped down.

"He did have many of my characteristics," present-day Brook nodded. "But he still retained much of his personality of the samurai who was once the original owner of that body. As well as being in control of Moria…? But I know what you mean. I, too, found it difficult to believe that we were connected by the same shadow."

But just then, Ryuma charged at memory Franky, at least until memory Zoro came rushing in through the door at the last moment and stood between the two of them, barely drawing his own blade out of its sheath as he stopped the attack dead in its tracks.

"Damn, that was cutting it a bit too close," present-day Franky said as he wiped his own brow as he thought back. "Seriously bro, why'd you keep us waiting? Don't tell me you got lost? You were right behind me when I pointed out the door?"

"Huh… wouldn't surprise me if that's what happened," Sanji said as he thought that all over.

"Quiet, both of you," present-day Zoro hissed. "I was waiting for him to attack before I jumped in. that's all I have to say."

He charged right at them, but then memory Zoro came rushing in through the door, and stood between the two of them, his blade barely drawn out of his sheath as he stopped the attack dead on.

"Yeah! Just in time!" Usopp applauded.

"Hold it right there!" said memory Zoro with a smirk. "Are you the legendary samurai who cut down a dragon years ago?" Ryuma didn't answer as memory Zoro raised his head, an evil look on his face as he stated, "I wanted to meet you."

"You wanted to meet a zombie?" Chopper asked him with wide eyes.

"No, I wanted to meet the samurai," Zoro said as he rolled his one eye. "I would have liked to have seen him in his home country and had a chance to fight him while he was alive, but what can you do?"

Ryuma pulled his blade back, ready to go for another blow, but memory Zoro saw what he was planning right away, pulling out a second sword to block it. Ryuma then backed away with speed that was almost unnatural.

Memory Zoro just stood tall as he positioned himself between the memory versions of Franky and Brook, acting the part of a human shield.

"Amazing," memory Brook croaked out, trying to raise his head as he stared at memory Zoro. "He pushed Ryuma back. Who exactly is he?"

"Oh, just a reckless, tripe sword user, Pirate Hunter Zoro," memory Franky answered back as if it wasn't a big deal. "He's a lot stronger than he looks, so if your pride will allow it… think you'll let him fight this samurai in your place and get your shadow back for you?"

"What do you mean I'm 'tougher than I look'?" present-day Zoro demanded of their Franky.

"No offense bro, just trying to make it sound cooler," present-day Franky laughed and waved his hand down at him. "But you got to admit, I thought that I did a pretty good job of describing you there."

But at the offer of letting someone else take over the battle and get back his shadow, memory Brook gasped softly.

"My shadow? Do you mean it?" memory Brook asked like he couldn't believe his stroke of luck. "Please, please I'm begging you. If you could get my shadow back for me I would be forever grateful…?"

But before he could finish asking, memor Zoro turned back and barked furiously at him, "SHUT UP! KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"

"Why did you yell at him like that?" Chopper demanded. He couldn't see any reason why Zoro would be so angry here.

Present-day Zoro huffed angrily as he turned around, muttering, "It's a pain asking for help. I went there to beat that guy and take his sword. The fact that I got his shadow back for him was just an added bonus."

"Really?" Luffy asked in surprise, "Looked like to me that you wanted to help Brook."

"Luffy, shut up," present-day Zoro hissed back. But present-day Brook only laughed happily at that.

"Yohohoho, well, whatever the reason, I am truly grateful to you, Zoro-san," he informed him. "I hope that someday I'll be able to return the favor. Though, hopefully it won't be because you had your shadow stolen."

"Hey, don't worry about it," present-day Zoro said, waving off his gratitude. "You saved us plenty of times that night as well. As soon as we left this stupid haunted island behind us, we were all even. That's how I see it."

Memory Brook however just gasped, surprised at Zoro's sudden anger before he promptly fainted, startling memory Franky, leaving him to try and wake him up. But as that was happening, memory Zoro turned back at Ryuma, eying his katana.

"You there," he added, looking at the black sword that Ryuma still held in his bandaged hand, "That looks like a nice sword you're using there."

Ryuma chortled at those words and said, an air of pride in his voice, "You seem to have eye for swords, my friend." He then held up the black blade for them to see as he answered, "This blade is extremely fine, and has unrestrained length… after all, it is one of the 21 great, legendary blades, Shuusui. It is not a sword that has been seen by many."

"There are 21 legendary blades?" Chopper asked with eyes sparkling at the very thought.

"What's so great about them?" Usopp asked curiously.

"It all depends on who either forged them, or wielded them," present-day Zoro explained, as his hand came to rest upon his own swords. "Oftentimes, both. These swords are one of a kind, and only a true master of the forge could ever hope to construct similar blades."

"And you're using that same one, now?" Luffy asked impressed. "That's really cool."

"And just you wait," present-day Zoro grinned as he gripped his Wado sword especially tight. He was going to make sure that these swords legendary status will only grow to be even greater. He wasn't going to stop until his name reached the heavens themselves. Maybe if he did… _she_ could hear it and know that he was putting her sword to good use.

"So it's a legendary sword, eh?" memory Zoro repeated in an impressed way. "Looks like I stumbled upon something good here. Since you're a samurai and all, I expected as much. So…what do you say you hand it over?"

"What?" Ryuma questioned, and he sounded insulted at such a thing.

"WOW!" Chopper gasped out, eyes sparkling as he looked up to his hero. "YOU'RE SO COOL, ZORO!"

But memory Brook woke up just at those lines and he cried out, "OH, YOU'RE JUST TOO COOL!" and he promptly fainted again.

The crew laughed at that, and even present-day Brook couldn't hold back his amusement at how easily star-struck he was acting here. The memory faded, much to their disappointment, and they went climbing up the stairs to the next floor to see what would happen next. Unbeknownst to the Straw Hats, however… was back down on the ground floor of the tower…the door to the outside world suddenly opened.

Wind and rain blew inside as a storm began to rage on. But with the thick walls cutting everyone inside it off from the world, it was impossible to know that any of that was happening. But that was when the lone figure who opened the door stepped inside…

The same little girl who had been from the village had appeared. She didn't show any emotion as she looked around, nor did she seem to be fazed by the storm that had threated to blow her away the whole way here.

She just looked right up at the ceiling right above her head.

"I see," she said at last. "As I thought, you all began to take the tower's test. But you are less than halfway to the top at this point. But even then, I suspect that you all must have long since forgotten what this is all for."

She looked grimly down at the water that was beginning to seep inside the room. And it wasn't water that came from the violent rain, rather it was from the sea.

"But you must not continue to allow yourselves to go too deep into your memories," she whispered as she shook her head. The girl turned around and began to head back to the door and outside to where the storm was causing trees to be knocked over, and the flood to rise ever higher.

"Can't you see that is the purpose of this place?" she asked in that same quiet voice, still not remotely fazed by all that was happening. "It's meant to distract and lead you off the path you are supposed to be going. The further you go in, the less chances you have of ever emerging from your own memories."

She glanced down at her hand… and gave a sad smile as she thought about the nice pirates from before.

"I wish that you would leave. You don't have much time. The water will only continue to rise. This tower will soon sink into the sea," she said softly. "And as it should. But if you don't learn to see through the ruse that you are being shown, then you too will go with this place."

She turned back to look at the dark room as she whispered, though her voice was lost over the thunder that rang overhead, "Can't you see it? This is a trap. And you have all walked right into it."

 **(Hello, sorry that it took awhile, but I'm no longer able to watch the series online and I had to order the DVD's of the first few seasons of One Piece before I could continue. I want to add as many detail as possible, but I haven't had a chance to be able to write them down since I didn't have the episodes. But I didn't finish my film shoot, and I'm glad to say that it turned out pretty good. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and we'll be finishing up the battles with Usopp and Sanji at the very least. See you then!)**


	19. Floor 18: All-Out War on Thriller Bark

**Floor 18: All-Out War on Thriller Bark**

The present-day Straw Hats watched as memory Zoro began to face off against Ryuma. They both turned to face the other, each one sizing the other up, wondering who would make the first move.

"Yeah! Take him out, Zoro!" Luffy cheered, eager to see this fight happen.

"Was he really strong?" Chopper asked softly as he watched with wide eyes.

"You felt his blade before, didn't you?" present-day Zoro asked him calmly. "The only reason his attack didn't kill you outright was because he used the blunt side of the blade."

"You're right," Usopp whispered as he put his hand to his stomach where he could still feel the pain from that attack before he was knocked out. Even so, that attack could have easily killed all three of them in that instant. He guessed that they were lucky that Moria needed them all alive if he wanted their shadows. This guy was no joke. And while these guys had no problems fighting off a lot of the weaker zombies, this samurai wasn't going to be nearly as easy to deal with.

He then turn his gaze to the black blade that Zoro wore at his side and realized that was the same sword that almost killed him, Chopper, and Nami once. It sent chills down his spine at the sight of it there

Just then, Ryuma began to chuckle again at the thought of a new opponent.

"So you think you can take my black blade, Shuusui, away from me, do you?" he asked like he highly doubted that could ever happen.

"Oh, I'm taking it," memory Zoro confirmed. "I'm about to cut you down and wrench it from your cold, dead body."

"Wow, Zoro!" Chopper gasped out with sparkling eyes at how cool his hero was.

"It shouldn't be too hard for you to do that since he is a zombie and already has a cold, dead body," Robin also added lightly.

"Girl, you are scarier than any zombie on this stupid island," present-day Franky sighed.

"Oh, I see," Ryuma said in more amusement before laying again. "Feeling cocky today, are we?"

"Woah, easy, it's not a good idea to provoke him," memory Brook croaked up from his spot on the floor.

"Yes, I learned that the hard way," present-day Brook added as he reached up to touch his precious afro as he finished, "He did not like that at all."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't underestimate me," present-day Zoro reasoned lightly as he watched his past self grip his swords tightly, getting ready to charge in.

"It looks to me that you already have three swords," Ryuma pointed out, noticing how Zoro had yet to draw the third sword that still hung at his side.

"True. But… one's broken," memory Zoro answered briskly. "And I got used to carrying three. So it feels weird not to. See, I use three-sword style."

"Right, that sword got broken back at Enies Lobby, didn't it?" Robin asked, feeling a twinge of guilt inside her at the thought.

"It's alright," present-day Zoro sighed as he gripped Shuusui and said, "I got a pretty good replacement for it. If I hadn't lost that sword, I never would be able to use this one, now would I?"

She smiled back at him, glad to see that their attempt to rescue her didn't cost him much for too long.

"Three swords style, huh?" Ryuma asked as he let those words wash over him. "Never heard of it. Is it some sort of circus act?"

"I think so," Sanji couldn't help but state. "I mean, seriously, how'd you come up with the idea of using three swords? Carrying another around in your mouth like that? Who dreams up things like that?"

"Oh, shut up," present-day Zoro snapped back. "I have my reasons for using three swords. How about you? You only use kicks to fight."

"What's wrong with that?" Sanji demanded, wanting to give this guy a good kick right now. "I'm a cook! I wouldn't be a very good cook without my hands! That's why I don't risk them in battle. I do all my fighting with my feet! So long as I have my hands, I'll be just fine."

"But you're not much of a cook! So what's the problem?" present-day Zoro demanded.

"I should flatten you," Sanji snarled.

"Only after I slice you in two," present-day Zoro growled back.

Meanwhile, his past self was smirking at Ryuma.

"No, it's nothing like that," he answered back. "I assure you. It's too bad. I wish I could show you." He then held up his other two blades and added, "I'll just beat you with two swords."

"Interesting," Ryuma said with another laugh, "I can sense you're very skilled. A feeling that I've long forgotten is welling up inside me once more. It's as if I'm facing some sort of beast. A savage animal."

"A savage animal?" Sanji asked as he puffed out a breath of smoke. "A good way to describe you, Moss Head. You've got the manners of a shark."

"Oh, shut up you prima-donna cook," present-day Zoro snapped back.

Just when things were reaching their boiling point, Robin had to step in and force them apart once more. This was now so normal that the rest of them didn't even bat an eye as they kept watching the scene, wanting to see the fight take place.

Ryuma tilted his head as he continued to observe memory Zoro, and when he spoke there was an air of joy in his voice as he confessed, "A strange sensation echoing deep in my bones makes me feel as if I'm dancing on air."

"That's… good? Or is it bad?" Chopper asked slowly, not sure what to make of that.

"He's looking forward to a real opponent," Robin explained. "For some people, being able to face someone strong is always a thrill. No offense, Brook, but it doesn't look like…?"

"That I'm not worth his time, I've long since known that he was far out of my league," present-day Brook agreed dully. "Not a pleasant thought, but I suppose that you enjoyed the fight as well, Zoro-san?"

"In my own way," present-day Zoro confessed. Though, in truth, while he did enjoy fighting against a strong swordsman, he wished that he could have faced the real samurai. Not this empty corpse that was merely an imitation of his original self. He would have loved a chance to test his strength against the real legendary samurai of Wano.

Memory Zoro's blades glinted in the low light before he was the first to charge in, with Ryuma holding up his blade to block. The two clashed and the shockwave from the two powerhouses colliding was enough to create what felt like a whirlwind of energy that almost blew the memory Franky and Brook away.

The two screamed in surprise as memory Brook cried out, "THAT SHOCKED ME!"

"Yeah, you could have at least given us a heads up," present-day Franky snapped at him. "Give us time to take cover."

"Oh, oops," present-day Zoro shrugged.

"Don't just say 'oops'! Apologize, damn it!" present-day Franky snapped at him. But his words were drowned out when memory Zoro's head was raised so that they could see the evil grin shining there. The two backed away just as the power from them caused the floor beneath their feet to crack apart and the titled stones became loose, actually causing some nearby crates and barrels to shatter.

"Aubade Coup DEROIT!" Ryuma cried as he made a somewhat thrusting motion with his sword.

Memory Zoro was forced to duck away as the sword went over his head and the attack was able to blast a hole right into the wall yards behind them, right above the entrance to where memory Franky and Brook were, causing them to scream in shock.

"HANG ON! HE'S GOT A GUN?!" memory Franky cried out with his eyes jumping out of his head while rubble fell down from the blast.

"Right, I don't think you've seen a flying blade attack yet at this point," present-day Zoro commented.

"Not something you usually expect a sword to be able to do," present-day Franky pointed out. Who would've expected a swordsman to be able to kill you from a distance?

"It's not a gun! It's a thrust!" memory Brook gasped in realization. "One of my techniques! But when I use it, it doesn't do nearly as much damage!"

"True, the more strength and skill behind it, the more damage it will do," present-day Brook agreed. "Just like anything else in life. It's when I first realized that samurai had been holding back on me the entire time."

"Just be glad that he did," Usopp warned, "Otherwise you'd be one afro short."

"True that," present-day Brook agreed as he patted his afro tenderly. He could see what Ryuma meant. How his hair was such a big weak point, but he couldn't help it. He rather have his bones broken than see a single hair on his head harmed.

Memory Zoro slowly raised his head and the grumpy look was almost immediately replaced with a grin once more as the dust cleared and they could see the full extent of the damage that last attack did.

"He made a hole right through the wall!" memory Franky said and it was true. Through a foot of solid rock, they could see right through it into the hallway. Not even a cannon could have done a neater job of that.

"For a thrust to fly like that… it's just… incredible," memory Brook whispered, not turning away from the battle.

"It truly was a battle to see," present-day Brook said. "Just watching it got my blood racing… not that I have blood anymore. Yohohoho!"

Ryuma chuckled before resting his blade against his shoulder as he said, "I suppose it's a tie then?"

"Yep," memory Zoro said while he grinned.

"Yeah, that was a really awesome counter-attack, Zoro!" Luffy added brightly as several of the crew looked at him in confusion.

"Lucky shot," Sanji said with a roll of his eyes.

"Jealous?" present-day Zoro asked him with a smirk, which immediately got Sanji angry.

"Not on your life, Moss Head! Why would I be jealous of a bastard who just swings sharp objects around? I do that on a daily basis cooking, and even then, there's an artform to that!"

"Hold on, what are you all talking about?" Nami interrupted.

"You know, maybe you should start learning Observation Haki," present-day Zoro suggested.

Nami arched an eyebrow, about to ask what he was talking about before they saw the deep slash appear in the wall behind Ryuma, cutting right through the rock, and causing the memory versions of Brook and Franky to holler in shock once again.

"WHERE'D THAT COME FROM?!" Chopper screamed out in shock.

"Very close," Ryuma admitted. "You almost sliced me in two."

"What the heck? A counter-attack?" memory Franky asked in confusion. "But… when'd he have time to do it?"

"About… the same time, I think," memory Brook suggested, having already guessed what just happened.

"What? But I didn't even see it!" Usopp gasped out. Damn, he really was tired of not being able to see these badass attacks all the time. Maybe he should learn Haki just to make it through watching these memories.

"So this swordsman can project his attacks as well," memory Brook went on as he raised his head slightly so that he could get a better look at memory Zoro. "This exchange of blows was truly in time. That samurai zombie is using the power of my shadow to move around right now, but before his death he must have been an incredibly strong man. Which means the combination of his strength and my technique will make him quite formidable indeed."

"Are you trying to say that those two are dead even?" memory Franky asked as he looked down at him.

"I'm saying that these swordsmen have an incredible amount of destructive power at their command," Brook corrected. "And as such, I don't think this fight will last long."

"Big deal, so you're as strong as a dead man," Sanji reasoned. "Like that's any reason to be proud of it?"

"Oh really? I'm doing way better than you would have, you damn cook," present-day Zoro snapped back.

"Oh, shut up both of you," Nami sighed as she rubbed her temples, willing to trade all the treasure they had if it meant that she could have some peace and quiet from these idiots for a change.

Meanwhile, Ryuma was the first to strike this time. He went flying right at his opponent a fraction of a second before memory Zoro did. The two pasted by the other, with their blades just grazing each other's clothing before they spun around and continuing their attacks.

"Prelude: AU FER!" cried Ryuma as he struck at him with the tip of his sword.

"Careful! That a technique created specifically to break swords!" present-day Brook instinctively yelled in warning.

"Yeah, I figured that out real quick," present-day Zoro said as his memory self was holding his ground while the attacks clashed. It did look like he realized that Ryuma was looking to break his swords as well and he slashed to Ryuma's right, creating two air-based projectile-like attacks. The two stood back to back for a moment before both stuck at the same time, both completely on equal footing.

"Demon Bear!" memory Zoro cried with a jumping attack that he brought down on him. Ryuma was forced to dig his wooden shoes into the floor in an attempt to stop it, but he was still sent a few feet backwards before hitting the wall opposite them.

Memory Zoro was now stuck in midair as Ryuma forced him away and gave a series of jabs with the sword before gravity kicked in and memory Zoro was able to reach the ground again before becoming a pincushion. He crossed his blades in front of him as Ryuma came charging in for a second time.

Luffy and Chopper were both cheering, yelling for Zoro to hurry up and take him out. It truly was getting exciting and they were wondering just how this fight was gonna end.

"Gavotte BOND AVANT!" cried the zombie before memory Zoro resheathed his swords.

"Are you nuts?!" Usopp yelled at their Zoro. "Why are you putting your swords away?!"

"For another attack," came present-day Zoro's answer as if it was obvious.

"Two Swords Style," his past self said, his hands on his sword hilts. "Draw… RASHOMON!"

The two passed right by each other again and for a lot of members they were getting tired of not seeing the attack. The two were now a good ten feet away from their opponent, their backs facing the other.

"I still can't believe that bastard took that attack head on like that," present-day Zoro sighed.

"Wait, what? What just happened?" Nami asked as she blinked in confusion before rubbing her eyes. "I am really getting sick of not being able to see what's going on!"

"I dealt him a serious blow," present-day Zoro responded calmly. "A normal person wouldn't have been able to take that and walk away without a scratch. But he took that attack without a complaint. I guess it only makes sense that it didn't bother him since he's a zombie."

Just then, the room suddenly seemed to explode and shake all around. The roof began to come crumbling on top of them as the walls were beginning to crumble.

"THEY CUT THROUGH THE PILLAR?!" memory Franky yelled as the room began to fall apart and the whole crew realized that their separate attacks were enough to cut through the entire building.

Memory Franky still had hold of Brook as he looked around for what to do.

"Easy! Whoa!" he cried as he held one of his arms up to try and protect them from the falling rock. "This floor! It's gonna break apart! What do we do?!"

"I think it's obvious," Robin said calmly, "Get out before you're crushed to death."

"Crushed?! Scary!" Chopper hollered in fear at how calmly she said all that.

"I think that she means for them to get out and let those two finish killing each other," Sanji offered with a shrug. "Personally, I'm fine with either."

"Shut up if you don't want your lungs cut out," present-day Zoro warned.

Memory Zoro spun around to face Ryuma at the same time that the zombie did, neither of them paying any attention to the building crumbling down around their ears.

"That's it!" memory Franky called as he hoisted memory Brook up until he was slumped over his shoulder. "We're outta here! This place is falling to pieces!"

"72 Caliber PHOENIX!" memory Zoro cried as he made a sideways slash as the two went at it again. Ryuma ran to avoid it, the attack going through the ceiling and causing more of the roof to start to cave in.

"Seriously dude, you could've waited until we were all outside before you brought the roof down on us," present-day Franky complained.

"I knew you could handle it," present-day Zoro reminded him. Seriously, this was after Enies Lobby, wasn't it? If they could survive getting out of that place, they could handle anything.

"Polka REMISE!" Ryuma exclaimed as he thrust his sword in a rapid-fire motion and several flying blade attacks flew at Zoro like bullets. He defected them all and they went flying off in all directions until more of the place began to fall apart.

"You really are tearing that tower apart," Robin commented lightly. "It's so lively here."

"Well, it's not like it's our place we were destroying," present-day Zoro reasoned. "Moria didn't seemed to care about it."

Memory Franky had enough as he held up his left arm and it opened up to reveal his cannon. He blew a hole in the nearest wall so that it was big enough for him and Brook to escape through. But that last attack was enough to finally bring the entire roof down. With no small amount of yelling from some members of the crew, they followed after the memory versions of Franky and Brook so that they were outside. Ryuma and memory Zoro managed to make it out as well, both of them having to cling to the slanted rooftop.

Usopp, Nami, Chopper, and present-day Brook were all gasping for air, forgetting that they couldn't be hurt in a memory. They still covered their heads as they ran out, with Luffy laughing excitedly behind them as he went and jumped outside, crying out how exciting everything was getting.

"Damn, were you two trying to destroy everything in sight?" Usopp demanded their Zoro once they were out in the open air.

"At least they're outside where they can fight all they want and not have to worry about killing anyone here," Robin pointed out.

"Speaking of which, where are they?" Luffy asked as he began looking all around for any sign of fighting. It was just getting good and he wanted to see what happened next.

"That was a close one," memory Franky gasped as he dropped memory Brook next to him on a corner of the pointed rooftop. But at the sound of running footsteps, they looked up to see the two swordsmen managed to get out in one piece but were still going at it. They were running up the rooftop and met at the very top before they clashed again.

Memory Franky stood up as they watched this stalemate, neither one wanting to give up. They were both forced back, but with there no more room, they slid down the roof on opposite sides, both trying to keep their footing.

"How are you gonna fight in a place like this? You can't even stand up straight!" Chopper asked in concern as the two of them kept sliding down every few inches. One wrong move and Zoro could fall from up here.

He wasn't the only one who was worried about this. At the sight of it, memory Brook hollered in fear as he cried out, "WATCH OUT! YOU'RE GONNA FALL!"

But then the swordsmen started running along the roof until they both ended up meeting around a corner. Memory Zoro was taken by surprise at Ryuma's sudden appearance and had to move back just as Ryuma jumped in the air. They then began a frenzy of slashes and attacks as their blades rang against the other. Memory Zoro was forced to keep moving back to prevent the blade from piercing his chest, but at one point he moved back to far and began to slide again. He cursed at this before he stuck a sword into the tiles to stop him and began running up again just as Ryuma went sliding downwards.

At the sight of this, Ryuma turned and began to run after him. He sent another flying blade attack before Zoro jumped upwards to avoid it and went crashing against the other again before running together, their blades trying to cut through the other's steel.

"Wow! This fight looks like it could go on forever! And you guys are fighting this out while clinging to the top of a building! Makes me wonder what you two can do if you were on the ground!" present-day Franky grinned as he moved his sunglasses up to get a good look at everything.

"They'd probably just end up smashing more things," Nami reasoned while the other two memory Straw Hats watched with a mixture of awe and fear.

"Wow, even without a foothold," memory Brook whispered as he watched the two continue to fight. They then jumped up high and their blades rang even louder before they fell and backed away, both of them now breathing hard as they tried to catch their breath.

"You're already tired out?!" Chopper gasped.

"I knew that I had to end it as soon as possible," present-day Zoro informed him. "If it went on too much longer, he would have broken my swords. He's the real deal despite the fact that he was already dead."

Almost as if he could sense something was up, memory Zoro resheathed one blade until he was left with only his white one. But almost immediately, they saw Ryuma's blade flick out… and the samurai ended up cutting off the very tip of the pointed rooftop clean off. When the dust cleared they saw Zoro clinging to the falling stone like a fly before he went running straight up the collapsing stone. Once he reached the top he jumped, using the roof as a springboard, before he came falling toward Ryuma, who leapt at him.

His white blade shone brightly in low moonlight as he went zooming down towards Ryuma, and they all knew that this had to be the finishing blow, it was getting too exciting for it not to be anything else.

"One-sword style…" memory Zoro declared as he came bringing it down. "FLYING DRAGON!"

And Zoro's energy took on the form of a massive dragon, its mouth wide open as it looked ready to swallow Ryuma whole. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were all cheering louder than either, their eyes sparkling at what they were seeing.

"Wow, I wish I could use a sword like that," Chopper whispered, staring up with awe at their Zoro. How could anyone be so cool like that?

"It takes years of practice," present-day Zoro answered him, "And I'm not so sure how your hooves can handle it. But if you want, I could give you a lesson or two to see what you think?"

"Really?!" Chopper gasped excitedly. "That would be so cool! Thanks Zoro!"

"Of course, we'll have to pick up a bamboo sword," present-day Zoro went on with a smile. "I don't think it's a good idea to let you use the sharp ones until you see how you handle a fake."

But Chopper was so excited over the thought of some possible sword lessons in the future that he didn't care what kind of sword he got so long as he got to hold one. As he began thinking of all the amazing moves that he wanted to use first, Zoro looked up in time to see that Ryuma went flying right at his past self as well.

"Three-Verse Humming," Ryuma began as they all watched as the attack was bound to hit before the roof even hit the ground.

"ARROW NOTCH SLICE!"

"BLAZE!"

The two seemed to float in midair the fraction of the moment before they clashed and then…? A large gash appeared on Ryuma's waist, and the zombie samurai coughed up blood. The wound suddenly burst into a bluish-white flame.

"The wound caught fire?!" Luffy cried out in shock.

"First you can kill someone long-distance with a sword like a gun," present-day Franky whispered while he shook his head, "And now you can set people on fire with one. Damn, swords are dangerous things aren't they? In more ways than one. Glad you're on our side, bro."

All of this happened as the sliced off top of the tower fell to earth. It was still falling even as the attack between these two clashed and the winner was decided. And it slammed into the ground a second before Zoro landed on the lower part of the broken tower, on the same level as the memory versions of Franky and Brook, but was on the other side of the building.

It was all over in that one instant. It was hard to guess who truly won at that moment as Ryuma landed on top of the broken tower, the fire still spreading throughout his body, but he was on his feet while memory Zoro was in a heap on the rubble below him trying to catch his breath. But it was Ryuma's words that got their attention.

"My defeat," Ryuma whispered as he panted for air, the fire spreading until he standing there, completely engulfed in flames.

Memory Zoro could only gasp for air, for that attack using everything he had.

"Hey, Zoro, you ok there?" Usopp asked in worry.

"Yeah, it just took a lot outta me," present-day Zoro reassured him calmly, still looking at himself.

Ryuma then went on speaking as he stood at the very edge of the top of what had once been the roof up till five minutes ago. He merely looked down at memory Zoro, still holding the sword.

"The legendary owner of this blade may have long since fallen, but its story does not end here," he said as he held up the sword, the only part of him that wasn't covered in the bluebell flames, but if he didn't let go soon, then the fire would start to burn it's hilt. "With you as its master this sword will surely be satisfied."

"You hear that?" memory Franky asked Brook on the other side of the building, though they weren't really paying him much attention at that point. "It sounded like the samurai said something. I couldn't understand him. What the hell is going on here?"

"What's going on? In short?" memory Brook asked as he watched. "It looks like the battle between them is over. I've seen may fights in my life, but none quite like this. That samurai… he barely used a fraction of his strength when he was fighting me!"

"I don't know how to feel about that," present-day Brook responded as he thought it over. "Should I be glad or insulted?"

"A little of both," Sanji offered helpfully.

"Huh?" memory Franky asked in surprise. "You mean… the fight… is over now?"

"Such an impressive battle," memory Brook whispered, not even answering memory Franky.

"It truly was, Zoro-san," present-day Brook informed their Zoro. "Truly a sight to behold! Not that I have eyes to really see it, Yohohoho!"

Present-day Zoro just smiled back calmly before looking over towards his past self. Memory Zoro merely kept his gaze up to the roof to where Ryuma was slowly sliding the black blade back into its sheath. At last he removed it from his side and held it up one last time before he let it fall. It tumbled with a spin until memory Zoro sat right up and caught it with one hand, barely even looking up and still keeping his back towards Ryuma.

"So he entrusted his sword to you?" Robin asked in mild surprise. "I thought you were just going to take it?"

"He felt that I deserved it and that the sword shouldn't have any complaints if I became its new master," present-day Zoro answered.

"What do you mean that it shouldn't have any complaints?" Nami asked him. "You talk about swords like they have minds of their own? Like they're alive?"

"Well, maybe not in the same way that people are," he answered back as he rested his hand on his white blade. "But I guess, in their own way, they do have some kind of life all their own. It's hard to explain it. But just know that it's really the blade who choses who gets to wield it. And some swords are more… temperament than others."

He brushed his fingers against the cursed blade, often thinking of it as a 'problem child' for it was sometimes difficult to control and he had to work hard to make sure that it would always yield to him.

Nami tried to understand what he was saying, but in the end she just shook her head.

"I'm not even going to pretend I get it," she said with her voice bordering on sarcasm. "But I'll just take your word for it. Just promise me that if that swords starts acting out on its own, make sure you get rid of it."

Present-day Zoro just shrugged back at her.

"This body of a legendary samurai…" Ryuma whispered as he struggled to stay standing—and his voice caused them all to look up at him again. "How shameful of me to allow it to know defeat."

"That's why we all forget this fight ever happened," present-day Zoro said to the others. "I can tell that while he was alive, that was a man who never lost once. It would be shaming his honor if we know he lost here."

"But it wasn't really him," Nami pointed out. "And even if it was, it's not like it would do him any good if he's dead."

"It's about honor, Nami-san," Brook answered calmly. "I disliked him for having my shadow, but I also know that it is not his fault. He was just a puppet by Moria, and that it will be like dishonoring his memory by losing just once, even after death when he had no control over his own body. I agree that we forget the fight."

But he also knew that he could never do that either. Just thinking of such an exciting battle…? Remembering how he had gotten his first taste as to what it was like to be a member of the Straw Hat Pirates was something he could never forget. As well as the fact that he had finally gotten back his own shadow. Speaking of which…?

Memory Zoro didn't look at him as he rested his new sword against his body, his back still turned to Ryuma as the fire began reducing his body to ash.

"As long as you feel shame, that's enough," he answered calmly. "You're a true swordsman in body and spirit. Aren't you? Wish I could've met you in _your_ era."

"I have a feeling that this battle may have turned out very differently if I was facing the real owner of that body," present-day Zoro grinned at the thought. "Now that got my blood pumping."

"And that same blood would have been splattered all over the place if you were facing the real deal," Sanji pointed out causally. "You'd be toast."

Ryuma didn't answer, but they knew that he would be smiling right now if he could. With a loud moan, he opened his mouth as Brook's shadow appeared, flying out of the dying form and back to its true owner. The skeleton gasped as the blob took on his shape and his shadow came home.

Memory Brook let out several surprised cries as he looked down, the weak moonlight cast his shadow onto the ground below him.

"You got your shadow back!" Chopper cried out happily, grinning up at their Brook.

"Yohohoho! Indeed I did!" present-day Brook cried out as he danced around. "One of the happiest moments of my life! Truly a night I shall never forget!"

"Is that…?" memory Franky asked as Brook began to move around and watched his shadow do the same.

"Yes! Yes, exactly!" he cried out in joy, "My shadow that Moria stole five years ago has been returned!"

He jumped and watched his shadow do the same movements and laughed with pure happiness the whole time.

"Oh, words can't begin to describe how joyous it felt to be reunited with my shadow! It was like walking around with only half of you there," present-day Brook said happily as he glanced down at his own shadow with fondness. "I'm never taking our constant companions for granted again!"

"But it makes you wonder," Sanji stated as he thought this over. "If your shadow could be stolen from you, what else do you think that Devil Fruit Users can take?"

"That is a scary thought," Nami said as she shivered, not even wanting to go there.

"See?! Look!" he cried as he bent over backwards, "It does whatever my body does!"

"Well, why wouldn't it?" memory Franky asked, as if he didn't see the reason that he should be so happy, acting more like an adult who was explaining how a shadow worked to a young child who had only realized that he had one. "That's what shadows do."

Memory Brook got right up into his face and yelled out, "Stop raining on my paradise! You don't get it! The missing part of myself I've been trying to reclaim has finally come home, I'm whole again! These feelings… this joy… they… really get my blood pumping!"

"It really is a nice feeling," Robin chuckled as she thought about how scary it had been for her when she woke up to realize that her shadow was gone. Thankfully, it wasn't for very long and she got it back at the same time that the boys had theirs taken.

"I guess I shouldn't have been acting disinterested like that," present-day Franky admitted as he thought that over. "Sorry about that, bro. Didn't mean that it wasn't a good thing."

"No need to apologize," present-day Brook said happily. "I was over the moon here! Nothing could have spoiled my good mood!"

But then his memory self turned away at that and added, "Though I don't really have blood. Being just a skeleton and all. Yohohoho!" Even memory Franky chuckled at that, glad to see him as happy as memory Brook continued on, "It's back! Finally, after five long years, my shadow is back!"

While that was happening, some of the other Straw Hats, such as Luffy, Robin, and Sanji were all looking upwards to see that Ryuma's body had finally finished burning away until only a few scraps of cloth remain.

The two Zoro's weren't even looking up, having given the samurai an honorable death.

"I'll take the sword like I said," memory Zoro said softly, making a silent promise, "But let's pretend this fight never happened." He then turned and grinned as he finished, "Samurai from Wano."

"Wow," Luffy said. "That was so cool. You think that Wano is full of guys like that? Not the zombies, but really tough swordsmen?"

"If the stories I heard about it is true," Robin nodded. "It's mostly an isolated island, pretty much cut off from the rest of the world, so very little is known about it. But they do say that you will struggle to find those who are more skilled with the art of the sword than there. So I'm guessing that there must be a lot of powerful swordsmen."

Present-day Zoro grinned at the thought as the memory faded around them. "I would like to see Wano myself, one day," he stated, his hands gripping his swords at the thought. "Sounds like it'll be one hell of a time."

"Oh, no!" Usopp snapped. "We aren't going there just so that you can go challenging every single swordsman that you see!"

"Not every swordsman," Zoro answered. "Just the strong ones."

Usopp just looked at him before he hollered, "You're gonna turn an entire island full of dangerous, sword-loving samurai against us before we even get there?!"

Some of the crew laughed at that, at least until the memory reappeared until they were back with memory Sanji in the church. They were picking up where they left off with him having already given Absalom a beating. He was still lying in a bleeding mess on the floor while two zombies watched from far in the background, clearly not wanting to get involved. Memory Nami was still out cold, sleeping in one of the empty pews, and the present-day counterpart was watching while she shook her head. Really, what was with herself? Was she that out of it?

"Sanji," present-day Nami said slowly. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but… I WANT YOU TO KICK THAT JERK'S ASS ALREADY!"

"Anything for you, Nami!" he swooned happily.

"Kinda hard to tell from your performance so far," Zoro pointed out as he continued to watch memory Sanji glaring at Absalom. The present-day Sanji spun about to glare at him now.

"Shut up, I give that bastard the beating of a lifetime!" he yelled.

That caused present-day Nami to frown as she thought it all over. From what she had seen, it certainly looked like Sanji was taking care of him, but if he did, how was it that she woke up with that guy's lips coming at her? She shuddered at the thought before she went back to wondering that if Sanji had already beat him, then how was she able to fight him? It would explain how her attack took him out so easily…? But then, was it possible that Sanji lost?

Sanji sure seemed confident that he took care of him, so what happened? Did he get beaten so badly that he was knocked silly?

She decided that she would wonder about that later, and instead, simply enjoyed the sight of seeing Absalom beginning to bleed as he panted for air. Memory Sanji just glared at him as the fire continued licking his body, as if he was daring the lion-mouthed idiot to get up. The two zombies that happened to be in the room were watching with their mouths wide open and stared in shock.

At last, Absalom seemed to be forcing his wounded body to move and he was able to raise his head with a great deal of effort.

"Alright… let's talk about this," he gasped. "You said there's an issue?"

"Yeah, what did you mean by that, Sanji-san?" Brook asked curiously. "Have you met him before in the East Blue or something?"

Present-day Sanji didn't answer him as he glared ahead, secretly trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't give him a beat down. But his past self was already speaking and he felt his anxiety rise.

"Damn straight," memory Sanji said as his fire began to die down. "For starters… you're a thief! You stole Nami. And you stole my dream."

"Huh?" asked most of the crew in confusion.

"I thought your dream was the All Blue?" Chopper asked as he thought that over. "How could he have stolen the All Blue?"

"A man can have more than one dream," present-day Sanji muttered as he coughed and lit up what might be considered to be his last cigarette before Nami beats him.

"Really?" Luffy asked in shock. "What is it, Sanji? And this guy stole it from you? How is that?"

But Robin, who could already see where this was going, was shaking her head in understanding. It looked like Sanji may share more than a few things in common with this Absalom.

The others were still just as lost as to what was going on, and it was clear that Absalom had no idea what he was talking about either. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at him as the two zombies in the back looked at each other in bewilderment at those words.

Absalom managed to pull his wounded body up until he was on his knees. "I don't know what you're talking about," he panted, still trying to recover from that last kick. "You've got me confused with someone else, we never even met before!" He slowly raised his head and finished, "But if you want to pick a fight with me, we'll start with my… Hands of the Dead!"

He held up his hands once more and warned, "Come on! I'll blow you away!"

"You said that those were just bazooka's, right?" Usopp gulped nervously.

"Right," present-day Sanji confirmed as his past self barely blinked as he turned around so that his back was facing Absalom. He pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, blowing out a mouthful of smoke before saying in a calm, disinterested way, "The guns. Take them off."

Absalom stared at him, his eyes going wide as memory Sanji went on, "Don't play dumb. Take off those bazooka's you got strapped to your arms."

Absalom could only stare, his limbs beginning to shake.

"Wow, you're really starting to shake him up," Franky said in an impressed way. "But tell me again, how did you know that he had those bazookas there? You sure seem to know an awful lot about this Devil Fruit ability."

Present-day Sanji had already made peace with the fact that they were going to watch this scene. If nothing else, he took comfort in the fact that it wasn't anything like when they watched him running around with a bunch of drag queens with make-up and a dress. After that, he realized that he could handle just about anything.

Well almost everything…

The sweet angelic form of his mother's face appeared in his mind.

" _Hello, Sanji," she said, smiling widely as he stepped into the hospital room, still wet from the rain. "Did you come all this way to visit me?"_

Present-day Sanji looked down, his hands starting to shake as the memory came back to him. Now that he thought it all over, he realized that he was in a dangerous position here. What was he to do if they were forced to watch… all of that?

He never lied to his friends about his past, there was simply no need for him to ever mention his full history to them. That was the thing with this crew, their separate pasts didn't matter. Who they were before wasn't important. But what would happen if they knew just what kind of family he came from? Though he suspected that it would be much more that he would have a problem seeing it all over again.

To this day, he was ashamed to have ever been born a part of _that_ family.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to force those dark memories down; instead he focused more on what his past self was saying, who was now warning Absalom, "I'll only say this once. If Nami gets injured in your crossfire, then by the time I'm done with you, you'll be twice as dead as those zombies of yours!"

Present-day Sanji opened his eyes in time to see Absalom looking like he was about to joke as he croaked, "I-Impossible. How could you have known?!"

Despite the warning though, Absalom still fired, forcing memory Sanji to do a backflip to avoid it. He jumped high into the air and went straight for him as he shouted, "I tried asking you nicely," before next roaring out, "NOW TAKE THOSE DAMN THINGS OFF!"

Memory Sanji kicked out, seemingly at nothing at Absalom's shoulder, but then they heard his foot collide with something made of metal and then the form of a bazooka appeared out of thin air before landing hard and broken on the ground. Memory Sanji then landed on his feet, stopping only to kick away a stone that was flying towards memory Nami's face.

"Thank you for that, Sanji," present-day Nami felt that she should say as she reached up to touch her own check to where the rock could have hit her.

"Of course, Nami, dear," his present-day self stated suavely. "I could never live with myself if I had let a stone scar your beautiful face."

"What the…? Bazookas? Where did those even come from?" the two zombies asked as Absalom growled in fury.

"How could he carry those things around?" Chopper asked with wide eyes as a second bazooka appeared on Absalom's other arm. "They look so heavy! He was wearing those the entire time?"

"His body isn't normal," present-day Sanji explained calmly. "Just watch and see."

"I figured it was something like that," memory Sanji stated as Absalom glared at him with fury, "A guy with your powers only has so many tricks up his sleeve. I know you can turn invisible. And I know you can turn anything you touch invisible too. But that's the extent of your powers. Against me, your tactics are as transparent as you are. Because I know everything about the Clear Clear fruit."

"The power to turn invisible?" Usopp said as he thought that over, knowing that it would've been so easy to hide from an enemy. Not that he would have a need to hide from enemies anymore, but just the thought was nice. "Wow! That's so cool!"

"Just imagine what you could do with that?" present-day Nami added as she thought about all the places that she could sneak in and rob. Think of all the treasure she could get if she had that ability?

"Not that it would do you much good in the New World since it seems that most of the people we fight know Observation Haki to a certain extent," Zoro pointed out so that Usopp and Nami both groaned at the thought, realizing that he was right.

"It would be cool to be invisible at least once," Luffy added before scratching his head, "But is that really all he can do with it? It doesn't seem like you could really fight like that?"

"Nope," present-day Sanji said with a nod. "You wouldn't be able to do much else but hide your whereabouts for a short time. And if the person you're fighting against can sense your presence then it's pretty much useless. I don't know why I ever wanted it."

They all looked at him in great surprise before Brook asked, "Sanji-san? You mean it was a dream of yours to be able to turn invisible by eating the Clear Clear Fruit?"

"Yeah, at first," present-day Sanji sighed. "Don't worry. I lost interest in it."

"But…?" Usopp began, not understanding. Never once did Sanji show any interest in eating a Devil Fruit before. He never believed that the powers given to you would be worth losing the ability to swim. But he really wanted to eat this particular fruit? Why? However, before he could ask his reasons for it, Absalom was speaking again

"Who the hell are you?" Absalom demanded, actually shaking. "Who told you that?"

"You're really frightening him here," Robin pointed out. "He doesn't know what to think of you."

"Good, I hope he's scared," present-day Sanji said with a nod.

"This guy," one of the zombies, the one with bolts in his head and a big, red bowtie asked his buddy curiously, "You think that he and Absalom have some kind of history? That's the only thing that makes any sense. He knows so much about his powers."

"And yet," the priest zombie, who was holding a moldy old book said, "He has no recollection of this grudge."

Memory Sanji clenched his hands tightly as steam began to form, threatening to burst into flames once again.

"I scoured the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia when I was a kid," memory Sanji explained. "I didn't even believe half of it. And most of the fruits abilities didn't sound like they were worth the curse anyway. Except for one. There was one fruit that spoke to my very soul. And I made the decision, if I ever had the luck of finding that fruit, then I would embrace the curse, and swallow it whole no matter what the cost."

"Why did becoming invisible mean so much to you?" Franky asked him in surprise.

"Wow! That's ambitious! Did you really think that you'd ever be lucky enough to find the one fruit?" Usopp had to ask. What were the odds of finding that one particular fruit in the entire world?

"Hey, you never know," present-day Sanji shrugged. "It was the only Devil Fruit I was ever really interested in. But that dream will never come true now. Not that it matters, I told you, even if I got my hands on that fruit today, I wouldn't bother eating it."

"Of course, there's only one of each devil fruit in the entire world," memory Sanji went on darkly. Absalom raised an eyebrow at him as more steam began to from Sanji's clenched hands.

"So I knew if I ever met the power holder with that ability, my dream would be vanquished!" memory Sanji explained as his anger began to rise. "You see what you've done? The only thing I wanted was to experience invisibility for myself! But you just had to go and find the Clear Clear fruit first! You took its powers and stole my dream along with it!"

"THAT'S WHY HE'S MAD?!" the two zombies screamed out in shock. But memory Sanji was on a roll now.

"My dream," memory Sanji went on with a wild look in his eyes. "I saw it so clearly."

"You'd be invisible, of course you could see it clearly," Chopper pointed out innocently as the crew laughed at it.

"I could do so much good with it," memory Sanji went on, and what he said next was able to answer all their questions.

"I'd use it to protect NUDE GIRLS!" he screamed out those last two words before he tried to reason, "No, I mean, I could help all mankind and NUDE GIRLS! No! I had this beautiful vision of the future and… NUDE GIRRRRLLLLLLLS!"

"That's why you wanted the fruit?!" Usopp demanded as Luffy and Franky both started laughing at how obviously Sanji that answer was.

"Now it all makes sense," Zoro commented as he shook his head. He couldn't believe that he was stuck on the same crew with this idiot.

"Yohohoho, when you put it like that, it does sound tempting," Brook chuckled at the idea. Of course, he had a much better way of being able to go someplace without being seen.

"YOU DISGUSTING PERVERT!" present-day Nami yelled at Sanji just as the two zombies cried out together, "HE JUST WANTS TO PEEK AT NUDE GIRLS! HE'S A COMPLETE PERVERT!"

"SHUT UP!" memory Sanji roared out as the fire began to burn even hotter. "AFTER A LIFETIME OF FANTAIZING ABOUT THAT FRUIT I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CAN PEEK—NO, I MEAN I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CAN HELP HUMANITY WITH IT! UNDERSTAND?!" The fire spread even wider and hotter until his entire body was coated in flames. "NOT ONLY DID YOU KIDNAP NAMI AND ENDANGER HER LIFE, YOU'VE SQUANDERED ALL OF THE GOOD I COULD HAVE DONE FOR THIS WORLD! NUDE GIRLS! NO! I MEANT WRATH! PERPARE TO SUFFER MY WRATH!"

Present-day Nami was feeling another headache come on as she thought this over. Though it was nothing compared to the punch that she had just given their Sanji for his dirty thoughts. She supposed that it was a good thing that this lion-faced freak ate the fruit first. Otherwise she'd never be able to take a bath on board the ship. It was for this reason that she was letting Sanji off the hook with just one hit.

Not that he seemed to mind though.

"Oh, Nami…" he swooned despite the blood that was dripping from his mouth… and his nose, "That hit was cosmetic…"

"What am I going to do with you all?" present-day Nami asked in exasperation. "I'm starting to think that we need more girls in this crew, if nothing else, they'll help me keep my sanity. No offense, Robin. I know that you are the only one here who doesn't drive me crazy, but sometimes one isn't enough."

Robin only chuckled at the thought.

"You know, it might not be so bad to have one or two more girls around," she admitted as she thought it over.

"Really?" Sanji asked as he sat up with hearts in his eyes, the swollen lump of pain on his head already forgotten. "Luffy?! Can we please get some more gorgeous women in the crew, please?"

"We already have all the major rolls filled," Brook added as he thought it over. "It wouldn't hurt to have a few dozen more around, would it, Luffy-san?"

"A dozen?!" Luffy demanded. "Why would we need a dozen more people? Where would we put them all?"

"Besides, why risk having someone two people like Nami in the crew? She'd eat us alive," Zoro said as he thought about how having just one woman tell them what to do in the crew was bad enough. Nami didn't need any more people backing her up when she gave them all orders.

"So that's the issue here?" Absalom demanded when he was finally able to pull himself back up to his feet. "You're mad because I ate the Clear Clear fruit before you could find it? You know… THAT'S THE MOST PETTY DAMN THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"

As much as the Straw Hats hated to admit it, he did make a very good point. Even memory Sanji seemed to agree when he was given a very ugly look when those words sunk in.

"That's the word," the two zombies agreed as they nodded behind them, "Petty."

Absalom then pointed at memory as he declared, "YOU ARE A JEALOUS PERVERT!"

"He did not just say that, did he?" present-day Nami asked as she smacked herself in the face. "That really is the pot calling the kettle black."

He picked the wrong words for memory Sanij's eyes grew dangerous as he screamed, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME THHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT!" And he dealt to him a hard kick to the face until blood came bursting out.

"True, they're both perverts, but this guy is worse than Sanji is," Usopp pointed out. "After all, since he did try to grab Nami while she was in the bathroom and licked Robin."

"Please don't remind me," present-day Nami shivered at the thought. Maybe she should start wearing a bathing suit when she took a bath from now on. Robin had to suppress a shiver at the memory of that beast dragging his tongue over her chest and up to her face. That was not an experience she wanted to ever face again. She was suddenly wishing that she could break this guy's back in two for that.

"It takes one to know one!" the zombie with the bow-tie yelled as Absalom was sent crashing and bleeding into another pew before ended up being buried under the rubble.

"YOU'RE RIGHT!" the zombie priest yelled "THEY'RE THE SAME! THE EXACT SAME!"

"SHUT UP! I'M NOTHING LIKE THAT COWARDLY PERVERT!" present-day Sanji yelled out. The others didn't dare even look at him. Memory Sanji glared down at the pile of rubble as it continued smoking.

"I'm done listening to this nonsense!" Absalom screamed as he went bursting out of the rubble, his coat going flying and they were able to get a good look at his skin. If the zombies were scary, this guy was a without a doubt, a freak. He had several different types of muscles and skin stitched onto his own body until he looked just as bad as any zombie. Like someone just stitched together countless different pieces of skin so that it was a collaged of flesh.

"What the hell is he?!" Usopp cried out in horror.

"Just a punk who thought that by mutilating his body like this he could get strong easy," present-day Sanji said with a roll of his eyes. "Honestly, why anyone would want to look like that is a mystery to me."

"And to think that I was this close to being forced to marry him," present-day Nami said as felt the need to wash herself with boiling water at the thought of him trying to kiss her.

"You're taking your anger out on the wrong guy," Absalom declared as he showed off his body. "And now, I'm gonna give it back! I don't just have the jaw of a lion! I got elephant skin!" And his muscles began growing even as he spoke, "And 600 pounds of muscle from bears and gorillas! Dr. Hogback built this body from the most savage beasts you can imagine! It's a savage patchwork quilt of ferocity! A masterpiece!"

"That's not something to be proud of!" Usopp yelled out.

Chopper was frowning heavily at the thought of how many animals had to die in order to make that disgusting body for him. Once again, it seems that Hogback was determined to make a monster.

"The Clear Clear fruit you crave so much is just a bonus," Absalom taunted memory Sanji. "Just another weapon. Just a tool to enhance my strength."

It seemed that Absalom clearly thought that memory Sanji would be running scared by now, for he began grinning and asked, "Understand?"

"So what?" memory Sanji barked back before he delivered a harsh kick right to the top of Absalom's head and sent him crashing into the floor below him. "YOU STILL PEEKED!"

The two zombies agreed with this as they declared, "HE'S GOT A PRETTY GOOD POINT THERE!"

"That's true," Franky nodded. "Besides, he's got nothing on me!" He then began to flex his metal muscles before adding, "Now this is a masterpiece!"

"I'm not sure how much better it is to be made of metal to be honest," Nami stated, though she had to agree that he doesn't look like a big mess as this guy did.

Absalom glared at him as blood was continuing to drip down his face before he smirked suddenly and they all knew right away what he was planning.

"But still the last laugh will be mine," he said and memory Sanji backed off, already on guard as Absalom slowly vanished from his sights.

"You wanted this Devil Fruit power of mine?" Absalom's voice asked from seemingly everywhere, "And you want to steal my future bride from me? Face the facts, they're both mine! The next thing I'm taking from you is your life!"

"First of all, I'm not your bride!" present-day Nami yelled out. "And second of all, if you got yourself killed by this creepy guy, Sanji, I'd kill you myself!"

"And I wouldn't have it any other way, Nami," present-day Sanji agreed wholeheartedly.

"What about using that salt again?" Chopper asked him at once, remembering how he was able to use the salt the first time to figure out where he was hiding.

"I would have," present-day Sanji stated, "But it wasn't just me he was after. I had something much more important to look out for."

Chopper looked confused as memory Sanji continued looking around, trying to find his enemy. That was when he seemed to realize what Absalom was planning next and gasped before he ran straight to memory Nami. He picked her up protectively in his arms as he continued looking around, silently daring for this guy to try something.

"So you're coming after Nami, huh?" memory Sanji demanded. "Well, you're not getting her!"

He continued glaring around as echoes of Absalom's growling laugh seemed to bounce off the walls before disappearing.

"Damn, this guy fights dirty!" Luffy declared before yelling out, "Come out and fight like a man!"

"He's gonna take you apart," Zoro said with a shrug. "Oh well. Rest in peace, cook."

"Shut up! I had to protect Nami!" present-day Sanji snapped back as his past self was still trying to figure out where this guy would strike from next. "But I still showed that guy whose boss at the end of this! Just wait and see."

"What are you even looking for? I am invisible, moron!" Absalom's voice barked, "But you can still feel my power! The power of the jungle!"

That was when a punch came out of nowhere and slugged memory Sanji right in the face, almost knocking him down.

"Yeah, you're really showing him there," Zoro stated. Now, he knew that the cook made it out of this mess alive and if he couldn't deal with a guy like this, then he had no right to be on this ship in the first place. Not that he would ever tell him that. But even he had to admit that Absalom's last shot was a low one.

"He's fighting against someone who can't even see him!" Usopp yelled out as memory Sanji was sent reeling.

"You alright from that, Sanji?" Chopper asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," present-day Sanji reassured him. "I got worst beatings than that from the old man at the Baratie. And he was never able to kill me."

His past self managed to stay on his feet, but he knew that he was in trouble. That was when he did the most chivalrous thing that he could have done at that moment and he hoisted memory Nami up until he was holding her up right above his head.

Present-day Nami blinked, startled by this even as they heard Absalom laugh.

"Oh really?" he demanded, "You think you can save her by sacrificing yourself? Well that's fine by me! Let's see how it works out for you!"

And he punched memory Sanji again. And then again. Over and over memory Sanji was getting beaten by Absalom, and yet despite his pain, he still held Nami up high and out of harm's way, refusing to let the invisible beast-man get his clutches on her.

The present-day Nami just watched on, truly touched by Sanji's concern for her. Sure, he was still a pervert who got on her nerves, but he generally cared for her well-being and was getting pounded on just for trying to keep her safe. But a part of her was wishing that he would just wake her up already so that she could help deal with this jerk.

"Wow, that's something else, Sanji!" Usopp sniffled at the sight before he, Luffy, Chopper, and Brook all began to applaud for him. "That's so cool!"

"Hey, I only did what a real man would have done," he responded. Sure, those punches hurt, but the idea of Nami getting hit instead would've hurt him even more. He wasn't going to let a lady get hurt in front of him if he could help it. This was the least that was expected out of him.

Memory Nami didn't get so much as a scratch as he panted for air, bleeding from the pounding that he took. But then they heard Absalom growl out, "Put her down gently… before you drop dead!"

"Really, Sanji," present-day Nami said urgently, "I can live with a few scratches! You should have put me down and dealt with this guy already!"

"I couldn't do that, Nami," he answered back. "I would no longer be able to call myself a man if I allowed you to get hurt here."

She frowned, not liking this, but gasped when she saw the knife floating in midair. That got everyone's attention when they saw the knife seemingly throw itself right at memory Sanji, and struck him in the back, right below his left shoulder.

He let out a horrible gasp of pain, trying to keep himself from screaming.

"You evil b-bastard!" memory Sanji gasped out furiously. It was too much for him and he fell to his knees, but ended up tossing Nami away from him.

"I'm so sorry, Nami" he gasped as she slid a few feet away from him and laid there sleeping peacefully. Memory Sanji was now coughing up blood as he became hunched over in pain, the hilt of the knife still sticking out of his back.

"Don't worry about me, you idiot!" present-day Nami snapped at him. Seriously, what was wrong with him? He was the one who had the knife in the back!

"Sanji!" Chopper cried out in horror as he bit his little hooves, half ready to go charging in and examine the wound.

"Relax, he only got me in the shoulder," present-day Sanji waved off.

"ONLY IN YOUR SHOULDER?!" Chopper yelled at him, jumping up and wanting to give him a beating for how calm he was taking this. "WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR ARM WAS RUINED BECAUSE OF THAT ATTACK?!"

"Huh? Oh, didn't think about that," he confessed as he reached up to stretch out his arm and massage his that same shoulder. "Hey, just relax, the wound wasn't that bad. I was able to walk it off eventually. I guess that guy's aim was even more messed up than his face was.

"Sanji!" Chopper growled, wondering just what he did to deserve such patients like this. He, Luffy, and Zoro were so difficult to deal with! They take all sorts of injuries without ever thinking of the consequences, and he was forced to bandage them up… only for them to not follow his orders about resting! What was he going to do with them?

No one ever followed doctor's orders anymore did they?

"You dropped her!" Absalom laughed, which brought them back to the matter at hand. "Guess you don't care so much about her after all!"

"Oh, like you're attacks that put me in harm's way proves that you care?!" present-day Nami snapped, wishing that she could wake up and give him a smack down. Meanwhile, memory Sanji was still coughing up blood.

"Forgive me Nami," memory Sanji gasped, "You look so beautiful, I don't want to ruin your white dress with blood."

"That's it?!" present-day Nami demanded. "You're upset because that stupid dress could get stained?! You are such an idiot!"

"But look how beautiful you are here," present-day Sanji pointed out as he began drooling over the sight of memory Nami in that wedding dress. He was sure that she would look just as beautiful on their own wedding day. Oh, if only he could find a way to properly win over her heart? "It would have been a sin to allow such an image of perfection to get soiled over my blood?"

The other men all looked at each other.

"You gonna say anything to that?" Usopp whispered to them and they shook their heads. "Good," he whispered back. "I have no intension of dying today."

"That damn coward," memory Sanji gasped, "Using his cheap powers to hide from me. At least now I know the reality behind my dream." He continued wheezing and gasping for air before confessing, "I'm glad… glad I didn't find that damn Devil Fruit after all."

After another minute of wheezing, he declared, "I can peep fine the way I am!"

Present-day Nami gave him a smack to the head as the zombie with the bow-tie gasped out, "He's still gonna peep after all!"

They all knew that Absalom was still there, and they heard the echoing sounds of his footsteps and his growling purr drawing closer and closer. Memory Sanji was completely wide open as he tried to fight off the pain. That was when they saw the faint pattern of a footprint in a puddle of Sanji's blood and they knew that someone invisible had stepped into it for that to happen. Memory Sanji noticed this as well and his eyes flashed as he reached out and grabbed hold of the air next to him.

He definitely grabbed onto something as his arm was now looking like it was having some kind of seizure as he held onto the air, and they heard Absalom's voice demand, "Let go of me, damnit! LET GO!"

"I got you now, you bastard," memory Sanji declared before he looked up, a wild insane look on his face, not unlike how memory Zoro looked when he was facing against Ryuma. Memory Sanji then declared, "With all the different kind of animals you got stitched into you, you're gonna make one damn tasty casserole!"

For a split second, Absalom's outline appeared, and they saw the fear in his face as he tried to pull himself free. But he faded again, as if thinking that would help, before he began punching and kicking at Sanji, shouting out, "I SAID LET GO OF MY LEG! DON'T GET COCKY WITH ME!"

"Like hell I was gonna let him get away that easily," the present-day Sanji stated with a roll of his eyes. He took a knife in the back for a chance to chase this guy and give him the beating of a lifetime and he wasn't going to let that chance go without a fight.

Memory Sanji let loose with a flurry of rapid-fire kicks, just like Luffy's Gatling attacks. But memory Sanji didn't dare let go as he reached up to the knife with his other hand and wrenched it out, more of his blood dripping all over in the process. But instead of using it to cut into Absalom, he tossed it aside before he began a series of kicks to where he now knew that Absalom was.

"Did you let him beat you up just so that you could get him close enough to grab hold of him?" Robin asked curiously.

"Part of it was the reason," his present-day self confessed. "But like I said, my first priority was keeping Nami out of harms way. Once I knew that she was safe, for the moment, I knew that I could finish it off with one hit. If only I could find him."

He pointed down to the blood on the carpet and the bloody footprint where Absalom had stepped.

"Once I knew where he was, I had him," he finished proudly.

"Clever, Sanji," she commented.

Present-day Sanji's eyes became hearts once again as he swooned, "Thank you, Robin-dear! Your words are like the sweetest of music to my humble ears."

"Extra HACHE!" memory Sanji roared as he pulverized Absalom's body.

The kicks hit their mark over and over despite the fact that Sanji couldn't see him, his cries of pain and agony giving away his location. Most of the crew was rooting for memory Sanji to hurry up and give this guy the beating that he had been needing to get since the moment that they first met him. Eventually, Absalom slowly began to appear and disappear over the series of the kicks until Sanji sent him crashing right into the back wall, a perfect imprint that showed Absalom where he belonged. Flattened.

Memory Sanji stayed on his feet as he was still breathing hard, trying to prevent himself from screaming and his hands were shaking as he pulled out his lighter. Thankfully, Absalom stayed down as they saw blood appear in midair as he coughed.

"Nude girls," he whispered and several of the Straw Hats rolled his eyes at that. Really? After that beating he took and dished out, he never stopped thinking of naked girls? Just what kind of man was he? "No," memory Sanji corrected as he lit up another cigarette, "You wanted to get married? Then I pronounce you man… and wall."

"His perfect match," present-day Nami said with no small amount of satisfaction at the sight. Serves that bastard right. But that still left the question… just what happened between here and her waking up?

When the memory faded again and then came back, the first thing they realized was that they were back inside the manor somewhere. They were what looked in a wide open room, but was filled with large pillars every few yards. It was rather creepy looking the way that there was only the light from the moon outside that shone in through the open windows and cast shadows everywhere.

That was when they heard the sounds of running footsteps and they all looked up in time to see that they were picking up where they left off with Usopp. Perona, who was easily the most colorful thing here, was running down the hall with terror on her face while memory Usopp was only a little bit behind her, trying to catch up. He seemed to be torn between wanting to catch Perona, and running for his life against Kumacy, and judging from how winded they were all looking, they had been at this for awhile.

"You're still chasing her?" Zoro asked in surprise. "I thought that you'd have dealt with her by now."

"Hey, she's a fast runner," present-day Usopp retorted as Kumacy was now heaving as he struggled to keep up with them.

"You sure that you were up for it, Usopp-san?" Brook asked as the three came ever closer. "I don't think that she's going to be someone who's easy to take down?"

"Yes, well, I mean no… I mean, look! I was the only one who even had a chance against her," present-day Usopp reminded them. "I had to at least try. And she was running scared from me here! So maybe she wasn't as tough as you think!"

"I'm guessing that she's fought with just using her ghosts to disarm her foes so long now that she doesn't know what to do with someone who's immune to them," Robin offered. "If she can calm down, she may be able to figure out a way to fight against Usopp."

"Hey! Who's side are you on?" present-day Usopp demanded.

"He won't stop chasing me!" Perona gasped as she looked back to glare at memory Usopp, "If I can just figure out how to finish him off I could get rid of all the other pirates! Damn that long nose jerk!"

"Wow, you really have her shook up," Zoro said as Perona went running right past them and they joined in to keep up. "Nice work."

In truth, he did like seeing Perona not act so cocky or as a know-it-all. She used to make his life very difficult as he trained under Mihawk. He couldn't help but feel a bit satisfied at the sight of this.

But as they ran alongside memory Usopp, he seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Perona for he said, while glaring back at Kumacy, "He won't stop chasing me! If I can just figure out how to finish him off I can get rid of that snotty ghost girl! Damn that zombie bear!"

"Wow, you two are just alike!" Luffy laughed as he ran alongside two Usopps.

"Hey! Watch it!" present-day Usopp snapped back at him and gave him a bonk on the head for that remark.

"STOP RUNNING!" Kumacy barked

Memory Usopp hollered in fear, "QUIT CHASING ME!" before looking ahead and adding to Perona, "AND QUIT RUNNING GHOST GIRL!"

"YOU QUIT CHASING ME!" she wailed before crying out to Kumacy, "HURRY UP AND TAKE CARE OF HIM ALREADY KUMACY!"

"Just what we needed," Franky laughed. "A bit of comedy! We can always trust you to make us laugh, Usopp."

"This is a serious fight!" present-day Usopp snapped back but even he had to fight to keep the smile off his face at how funny this all was.

"Really makes you wonder who's chasing who, here," Robin said. "Perona's scared of you, Usopp. But you're running from Kumacy, who's just doing what Perona's telling him to do. So… who's the one who's doing all the chasing here?"

There were question marks flying around their heads as they thought about that. Perona was running scared of Usopp, who was running scared of Kumacy. But because Kumacy is doing what Perona told him to, doesn't that mean that Perona's really chasing after Usopp, who's chasing her?

"AHHHHH! My brain hurts!" Brook cried out before adding, "Although, I don't really have a brain anymore. Yohohoho!" And he knocked on his skull as they heard the empty echo.

"Damn, it's like that whole, what came first, the chicken or the egg," Franky said. "It's giving me a headache."

"COME BACK HERE!" Kumacy hollered as memory Usopp ignored him.

"I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU GHOST GIRL!" he warned which only seemed to freak her out even more.

"NO!" she screamed, sounding close to tears.

"Usopp!" Sanji warned. "You may be a friend, and you're part of the crew, but the fact is that she is still a lady! And if I find out that you hurt a lady, then I will have no choice but to kick your ass!"

"Hey! We're on the same side!" present-day Usopp yelled at him. "And I'll have you know, that I didn't leave a scratch on her!" But then he added quietly to himself, "At least not from battle. I caused her to faint, right? That should be enough to calm Sanji down when he sees it, right?"

He gulped and began to think of maybe hiding behind Nami or Robin as a shield in case Sanji decides that he went too far. Meanwhile, Kumacy began to pick up speed before he suddenly charged at memory Usopp.

"QUIT HARASSING OUR MISTRESS!" Kumacy roared and he made a flying jump, ready to tackle memory Usopp, who screamed when he saw what was happening, "YOU'RE SCARING HER!"

Kumacy went crashing into the ground as memory Usopp was forced to dodge it and rolled over a few times.

"ZOMBIES! GO AWAY!" memory Usopp begged, looking freaked out. Kumacy grew tired of this chase and leapt up into the air, about to bring his paw down on memory Usopp, who screamed at the sight of it and forced his body to craw away in time before Kumacy crashed into the floor once again.

"I hate zombies!" present-day Usopp whimpered as his past self began running again. "That whole night was terrible! Why'd we have to come to such a stupid place?"

"But if you hadn't, then you never would've met me," Brook offered.

Present-day Usopp thought that over for a minute.

"That was a good thing?" he asked as they kept running. Brook just looked at him for a few long seconds. And then…?

Brook fell to his knees and began to sulk.

"What?" he croaked, sounding close to tears, "You mean you don't see that as a good thing? Why? What's wrong?"

"Hey!" present-day Usopp cried out as he stopped running and tried to soothe Brook. "I was just kidding! I'm the liar, remember? Of course it was a good thing that we met! Can't imagine the crew without you!"

Brook sniffled before asking, "Really?"

"Yeah! Absolutely! I was just pulling your leg!" Usopp reassured him. "Though, thinking about it now, I think that maybe it was a bad joke. I'm sorry."

"Hey! You guys!" Sanji called and the two of them looked up to see that they were already almost out of sight.

"WHAT?! THEY'RE LEAVING US BEHIND?!" present-day Usopp screamed before he grabbed Brook by the arm and began to pull him after him. "WAIT UP FOR US, YOU JERKS!"

As they struggled to catch up, the rest of them were watching how memory Usopp now had tears streaming down his face as he kept running, forced to keep dodging Kumacy's attacks, who kept leaping at him and crashing into the floor. It was far from cool-looking.

Though as soon as memory Usopp saw three pillars directly in front of him, he stopped crying. They watched as how he ran behind one pillar and ducked down a separate hallway just as Kumacy went crashing into the column. This time another large pile of rocks came crashing down on top of him and he laid there, buried as memory Usopp slowly inched his way forward to see if he was down for good. He poked at the rubble a few times before he sighed in relief, believing that it was over.

"That had to hurt," Franky winced as they stopped running long enough for the present-day Usopp to catch up to them with Brook in tow.

"That… was… mean!" present-day Usopp snarled as he panted for air. "Why'd you leave us behind like that?"

"We knew you'd catch up," Nami reasoned as she looked over the broken pile of stones. "More importantly, Usopp? Did you really take down that overgrown bear that easily?"

"Ah? Ah… no, I…?" present-day Usopp said as he tried to remember what he did here. But he didn't need to try, for Kumacy came bursting out of the rubble and his past self screamed before forced to start running again.

"Guess not," Luffy said reasonably.

"I guess all that stuffing of his makes him tough," Zoro pointed out as they were running again.

"WHAT KIND OF SICK MONSTER WOULD MAKE SUCH A VIOLENT TEDDY BEAR!?" memory Usopp screamed as he ran, Perona now long out of his sight.

"I don't know, I find him kind of cute," Robin chuckled. Present-day Usopp looked up at her with concern on his face when she said the word 'cute'.

"If we make it out of this freaky tower, we are having a serious talk," he informed her with no hint of joking in his voice.

They all followed after memory Usopp, who kept on running for a short time. But Kumacy was still giving chase, yelling at him to just stop running. But at one point, memory Usopp seemed to remember that he wasn't completely helpless and had already dealt with the zombies before and spun around to face him.

"OOOOOH! What are you gonna do now, Usopp?" Luffy asked eagerly. "It is something cool?!"

"Yeah? Is it cool?!" Chopper asked with just as much interest.

"Why don't you just calm down and watch?" Zoro asked with a roll of his eye.

Memory Usopp had pulled something out of his bag that looked like a red ball and he said, "Come on… Special Attack: FLAME BALL!"

Memory Usopp threw the red ball over at the bear zombie like he was throwing a pitch and he landed right on the mark when the fire, erupting from the ball, hit Kumacy's flammable body. Kumacy's arm was now burning and he shrieked as he jumped and rolled on the ground to try and smother the flames.

"What kind of things do you keep in that bag, Usopp?" Nami had to ask him as she eyed his bag with cation. "It seems that you're carrying around a lot of explosives?"

"Hey, this bag of tricks has saved my life in every battle I've ever had!" present-day Usopp informed her as he patted his bag with a grin. "So I have a lot of… 'questionable' ingredients for my projectiles. What's the big deal?"

Nami frowned at him before looking away. She would have to keep an eye on whatever he pulls out of that bag from here on out. She did not want something like that to accidently go off on board the Sunny. It could take out the whole ship if there were enough nasty things in there.

As for the fire, truth be told that it was hardly enough to be considered to be dangerous, but memory Usopp was thrilled at the sight of this and his confidence seemed to return.

"IT WORKED! IT WORKED!" he laughed, "YOU'RE JUST LIKE THE OTHER ZOMBIES AFTER ALL!"

"Probably more so because his body is so flammable," Sanji pointed out. "He is just a giant-moving teddy bear, right?"

"So fire's the best way to deal with him," Robin nodded. "All you have to do is get that mask away from his mouth and make him swallow some salt as well, Usopp."

"Hey, don't worry! Just let me deal with it," present-day Usopp as he thought back to how easily he was able to deal with Kumacy when it counted most. That was when he remembered something. Oh, crap! He had forgotten that he was wearing Sniper King's mask for part of this fight. His eyes went to Chopper and Luffy and began to wonder what on earth he was gonna do? Was he going to just let them know what he was Sniper King after all this time? He began to work up a nervous sweat at the thought.

Memory Usopp suddenly pulled out a bottle and said, "Now let's add a little oil to a little move that I like to call 'Don't cross this line' technique!"

"Really? How does 'don't cross this line' technique work?" Chopper asked innocently before noticing the nervous sweat that their Usopp was in and asked, "Ah, Usopp? You ok?"

"Hey, Usopp? What's the problem?" Luffy asked when he noticed how jumpy present-day Usopp was acting as well. But then memory Usopp began to pour out the contents of the bottle in a straight line across the hallway before lighting it on fire, laughing at the stunned look on Kumacy's face.

"Come and get me now you stupid bear!" he taunted him before laughing at Kumacy, who was now looking around in a panic. "I'm brilliant! A total genius! And now that you're outta the equation, your precious mistress creepy-laughing ghost girl is mine!" He stuck out his tongue and began to mock the bear zombie as he added, "Nobody messes with the king."

"You're a king? The king of what?" Sanji asked interestedly as Kumacy panicked at the sight of the fire and didn't dare cross it as he tried to find a way around it.

"I'm the king of everything!" present-day Usopp retorted childishly before sticking out his tongue at him, "So there!"

"I thought that was a great idea, Usopp-san," Brook laughed happily. "That stopped him dead in his tracks!"

"For now. I say you should have taken the bear down right now while you had him off-guard," Zoro added as they continued following memory Usopp. "It's only gonna be a matter of time before that bear finds a way around that fire. You might regret not taking him down here while you have the chance."

"Hey, my first priority was taking care of that ghost girl!" present-day Usopp snapped back at him. "I'd like to see you do better."

Zoro glared at him as his cheeks went red at how badly his interactions with Perona went. Usually ending with him on the ground and wishing to die.

Memory Usopp had already walked off, grinning as he looked around for Perona, feeling that it would be easy to take care of her now that her teddy bear bodyguard was taken care of for the moment.

"Alright," he said much more confident now that he wasn't being chased anymore. "It's time to teach that ghost girl a lesson! Yep, a lesson in complete and total defeat!" Yet he soon began to realize that he was now alone and his smile faded. "What the…? She was… right here?"

"Guess she got away?" Franky asked as he looked around. Usopp had been busy long enough that it was possible, but suddenly they heard Perona's voice calling out.

"Looking for me? Right this way," she called before laughing, acting very differently than how she did when she was running away and crying just a few minutes ago. But none of them could see anything but a large window that led outside.

"Is this some kind of trick?" memory Usopp asked in confusion as he slowly came to the window. "Where is she? Did she go outside? No, that can't be right. This tower's so high she'd have to be…?"

"She'd have to fly," Luffy said as he scratched his head.

"She can fly," Zoro answered with a nod and memory Usopp looked outside and his words died in his throat when he saw her. Perona was floating in the air, far above the ground and at eye level with the window.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Luffy said in amazement as his eyes burst out of his head.

"That's right, I forgot that we saw a trace of some of her powers when we watched some of your memories, Zoro," Robin said as she thought it over. "I suppose, in a lot of ways, she's no different than a ghost."

"But she was running scared a minute ago?" Nami said in confusion as Perona laughed at the stunned look of disbelief on memory Usopp's face. "Why didn't she fly away then?"

"WHAT?" memory Usopp screamed. "HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU FLOATING LIKE THAT?! I THOUGHT YOUR POWER WAS TO CONTROL GHOSTS?! ALRIGHT, BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, I SHOULD ASK, WHAT IS YOUR POWER?"

"That's the hardest thing to figure out when fighting a Devil Fruit user," Sanji nodded as he thought about all the Devil Fruit users he's fought. "Figuring out their powers and their weakness. Other than dumping them into the sea, it can be almost impossible figuring it out."

"But I did in the end," present-day Usopp said proudly.

"That's my little secret," Perona retorted. "No one messes with the princess." She then stuck her tongue out at him, her confidence sky-rocketing as she added, "Oh, and by the way? I know how to beat you now. When I'm through with you, your friends are next! They won't have a chance in the world!"

"Sad thing is, she's probably right," Franky nodded as he thought that over. "I hate to say it bro, but you're our only hope in beating her. Or, if you want, you could fight Moria and Oars for us?"

"Ah, no! No, I feel that it was my duty as a man to be able to deal with the one foe that none of the rest of you could fight against," present-day Usopp chuckled forcefully. "No need to thank me!"

As Perona continued to float there, two of her little ghosts chuckled as they floated about her and memory Usopp looked ready to cry.

"OH, COME ON! WHAT THE HELL?!" he screamed. "AND EVERYTHING WAS GOING SO GOOD!"

"Well, it would've been boring if you just kept chasing her around the manor and beating her easy," Zoro suggested. "Here, just think of it as an extra challenge."

"I had enough challenges, thank you," present-day Usopp hissed back, still remembering the pain from those stupid exploding ghosts.

Perona and memory Usopp just looked at each other, and the latter looked like he was about to be sick.

"Ok, you're flying," he croaked out. "That's not… what I expected."

But then he tried to scare her by taunting, "You're awful brave all of a sudden. I had you running scared a minute ago! Where'd all this confidence come from?"

"That's what I can't get," Nami said slowly, wondering just what happened. "She was terrified of you up until this point. So why's she suddenly standing her ground?"

"It's possible that she was just acting and was playing around with him?" Brook offered slowly. "But if so, then that had to be the best acting I've ever seen. Something's had to have happened."

Perona laughed again before answering, "I just got a little nervous back there and I panicked."

"She looked a little more than nervous to me," Franky couldn't help but point out.

"I never dreamt that there could be a person so inherently negative that they'd be immune to my ghosts," Perona went on. "And there's only one thing I have to say to such a person." Memory Usopp froze at what she might possibly say, but then she smiled as she and the two ghosts floating alongside her all gave him the thumbs-up.

"Cheer up! Life is good!" she said brightly.

"SHUT UP!" he backed back before he began to spin his giant slingshot around.

"She is right though, Yohohoho," Brook said happily.

"I don't need her pity!" present-day Usopp snapped back at him.

"You really think that you're safe from me just cause you can fly, little girl?!" memory Usopp demanded as he began to brag about his weapon. "You're dealing with a sniper! Flying or dancing, it makes no difference to me! Allow me to explain! This is my new weapon! Kabuto! It features five points for stability and reach! And the breath dial I got from Sky Island activates the precise moment that I take my shot! Allowing me to spin the ammo in any direction I desire! So there's no escaping this super slingshot! Flare… Flash… Impact… I got every dial I need and each one makes my shots stronger than the last! You're as good as gone once I got you in my sights!"

"Yeah! You tell her, Usopp!" Chopper cheered before he realized something. "I thought that weapon belonged to Sniper King? But… you were the one who made it?"

"Huh? Ah… well… I was just trying to scare her!" he lied back to him. "Letting her know that I was going to be the reason that she lost here."

"Oh, really? I see, that makes sense," Chopper nodded in understanding as the rest of the Straw Hats, apart from Luffy, felt sweat dropping from their heads. Luffy, meanwhile, was still looking out the window and was just wondering if he could jump out and start flying in a memory… at least until Zoro reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck like a dog to stop him from discovering if it was possible.

"Knock it off," Zoro warned as he dropped Luffy onto the floor. "The last thing we want is for us to even have a chance of getting separated in this place."

"You're no fun at all!" Luffy grumbled, sitting down and crossing his legs and arms as he pouted.

Memory Usopp loaded a projectile into the slingshot and took aim, not realizing that his target was no longer there.

"Now prepare yourself for…?" he warned before he realized he was talking to no one. "WAIT! SHE'S GONE ALREADY? WHAT THE HELL? WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE'D SHE GO?!"

"Huh? She's gone?!" Luffy asked as he looked around. He didn't even see her disappear! What's the deal with that?

But then they heard Perona's voice laughing once more before she answered, "Right behind you."

They all turned to see Perona suddenly in the form of a giant, having to sit hunch over in the cramped room as she smiled down at the screaming memory version of Usopp.

"Talk about a growth spurt," Robin said calmly as Nami let out a surprised shriek at the sight of how big that Perona got in an instant.

"Go on," Perona said, "Try to hit me. I made it easy for you."

"Not that it will change anything," Zoro said as he remembered how she was able to just pass through everything when she was like this. Oh, that reminded him… he began to look around. He spent enough time with Perona to know all about her powers and how they worked. She must have left her body behind someplace and is now using her ghost form to be able to freak Usopp out. It had to be somewhere nearby though—she didn't have a lot of time to hide. Usopp better be thinking creatively right now. He was going to need all his wits if he was going to figure out what was going on.

So far, however, that didn't look like it was gonna happen.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU?!" memory Usopp screamed, already forgetting that newfound confidence.

Perona only laughed before he seemed willing to try and attack her anyway. He fired what was like a mini cannonball at her, but before it hit, she shrank back down to her normal size, taking him by surprise, before she began to fly around the room with that creepy laugh.

"Didn't see that coming," Franky couldn't help but say as he felt sweat hanging around his head.

"Why you…" memory Usopp snarled, getting angry before loading another projectile. "Fine! Try to fly away from this! Mantis Meteor!"

He sent another attack, which she dodged in midair before spinning about and taunting him as she continued flying around him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked teasingly. "I thought that super slingshot of yours never missed!"

"Insult to injury," Brook said, knowing that their sniper was one of the very best around, and he would normally never miss his target. So while it seemed that Usopp was immune to Perona's ghosts, it seemed that she knew how to outwit him and his normally unstoppable aim.

Memory Usopp seemed to realize this as well and he was quickly losing it as he began to fire just about every projectile that he had in his bag. But each and every single time that he fired, she avoided it as she continued to fly around. With each attack that missed, the more unnerved he became, and his shots ever worse until it looked like he was just firing randomly.

"Calm down, Usopp!" Luffy said firmly. "You can beat her, I know you can! Just don't let her get to you!"

"Looks like it may be a little late for that," Sanji pointed out. Usopp glared at them, knowing full well that he was far from impressive here, but they didn't need to rub it in. That was when Perona disappeared, which gave memory Usopp a few seconds to try and catch his breath. She suddenly went flying straight at him after bursting out of the floor when she struck, her hands went sinking right through his chest.

"AHHHHH! USOPP!" Chopper, Brook, and Luffy all screamed at the sight of it. They weren't the only ones, for memory Usopp's next scream he let out was the loudest one yet.

"How's she doing that?!" Nami gasped at the sight of it. Chopper actually jumped up onto their Usopp's shoulders and was trying to examine his chest, as if he thought that their friend would bleed to death right now if he didn't.

"I'm just fine!" present-day Usopp told them reassuringly as he lifted Chopper off him.

"But… But…?!" Chopper gasped out as tears were now dangerously close to falling. As for memory Usopp, his shock was so great that Kabuto went tumbling out of his hands and hit the floor with a clatter.

"It's alright!" Zoro called loudly. "If she really hurt him like that, he never would've left Thriller Bark."

"But her hands are inside his chest!" Luffy cried out as he pointed at the scene.

"He's not dead, is he?!" Zoro retorted.

"Huh?" Luffy asked as he blinked and you could almost see the question marks floating above his head. "Wait. That's right?"

"Your… your hands…" memory Usopp gasped as he took a step backwards and then he began to panic. "You stabbed them right through my chest? They're inside me. They hurt so much I can't even feel it. I'm gonna bleed to death! Stop! Don't! THAT'S IT I'M A DEAD MAN! I'M DONE FOR!"

"So how come you aren't dead?" Nami gulped, trying to calm down now that she remembered that this was all old news. That's right, if she could pass through walls and stuff like that, then it makes sense that she could also pass through people.

"I guess I'm tougher than you all give me credit for," present-day Usopp answered back.

"Idiot," Perona said evilly, as he kept staring down at what was happening. "Look a little closer. My hands are inside you but your skin's not even punctured. You aren't hurt at all… yet."

"Yeah, hey how'd she do that?" Luffy asked in confusion as Chopper was now sniffling at the thought of how easily it could have ended badly.

Memory Usopp was sweating up a storm as Perona continued laughing.

"I see the horror of the situation has sunk in," she informed him, and there was a rather twisted look in her large eyes. "Let me reassure you that you are still on the verge of death. Do you feel it? I'm mere inches away from wrapping my fingers around your heart. And squeeze it until it pops."

"SHE CAN DO THAT?!" Luffy and Chopper both shrieked.

"Thank goodness I no longer have a heart for her to squeeze like that," Brook gasped in relief and dabbed at the sweat on his skull's face.

"And yet you have a heart made of glass," Sanji pointed out to him.

"Don't say such cruel things, Sanji-san!" Brook snapped back as memory Usopp began to freak out worse than ever.

I'M BEGGING YOU! PLEASE DON'T MAKE MY HEART POP!" he screamed out. "I-I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Present-day Usopp glared at how she was making him beg. Oh, he was glad that he reduced her to crying like a baby when he turned the tables. She didn't think it was so funny then, did she? She never should have underestimated him! No one challenges him to a battle of tricks and negativity and wins!

"But you are gonna die," Perona whispered softly to his memory self, almost in a cooing sound. "Now… writhe in beautiful agony… and die."

Memory Usopp had tears falling from his eyes as he begged, bawling so much that it was difficult to make out what he was saying. But it went along the lines of: "PLEASE STOP! DON'T DO IT! PLEASE!"

But then there was a horrible silence in which neither of them moved. But then Perona blinked and pulled her hands out.

"Yeah, I can't actually do any of that," she said sweetly and memory Usopp fell over backwards until his head hit the floor. He wasn't the only one for Luffy, Brook, and Chopper all fell over as well as the rest just blinked at what they were seeing.

"YOU WERE BLUFFING?!" memory Usopp screamed out in outrage as a large swollen lump appeared on his head from where he hit his head. "YOU MADE ME HURT MY HEAD!"

"That was cruel," Nami panted as she rubbed her eyes, not sure of how much more of this she could take.

"That wicked, wicked thing," Robin chuckled. "She may not be able to touch you, but she probably stopped your heart for real in that instant, huh, Usopp?"

"She was close to it," present-day Usopp said as he put his hand over his heart. That wasn't good for his heart in the least. Maybe he should have Chopper look at him when they got out of this freaky tower.

"Think about it," Perona said, with her hands held up innocently like she had just pulled a harmless prank. "If I could actually crush your heart like that, you'd be dead the moment I stuck my hands inside your chest."

"Well, at least you're not dead," Sanji pointed out.

"Don't scare me like that again!" Chopper snapped at their Usopp.

"You were scared?!" present-day Usopp demanded, shivering as he remembered how her hands went right through his chest like that. That was a freaky experiences that he would be happy never to go through again. "Imagine how I felt?!"

Memory Usopp was on the floor, trying to recover from his shock. He still had tears in his eyes as he kept a shaking hand over his chest as if to make sure that he could still feel his heart beating inside him.

"It's still gotta be bad for my heart," he said as he breathed hard.

"I should do some kind of check-up," Chopper decided, knowing that this kind of stress wasn't good for someone. "Alright, everyone! I'm giving you all a check-up when we get back to the Sunny! No complaints out of anyone or else!"

There were loud groans going around from everyone at the threat. Luffy was either brave or dumb enough to ask, "Or else, what?"

"OR ELSE YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME!" Chopper yelled at him furiously.

"Owww, ok, that's a good reason," Luffy agreed at the loud yell, knowing that Chopper was bound to make him take something nasty if he complained too much. He did not like his medicine and decided that it may save them a lot of trouble just agreeing to him. Though he couldn't help but try to think of some way to get out of it.

"My hands didn't even touch your chest," Perona went on speaking to memory Usopp, who kept looking down at his chest to make sure that he was still in one piece before she finished, "They just passed right through it."

When memory Usopp looked up again, he saw that almost her whole body had sunk right into the floor until just the top of her head was showing. He screamed at her in terror before she laughed again, slowly rising out of the floor.

"Ok, that is freaky," Franky pointed out obviously.

"But so cool," Luffy said as he blinked. "I wish I could fly around and go through walls like that! That would be awesome!"

"Yeah, it would also save us a fortune in repair bills too," Sanji pointed out as he thought of all the walls that Luffy just went busting through over the years.

"Even though my body might look just as solid as yours," she explained as she hovered in the air again. "I can pass through anything you can think of as if there was nothing there."

Memory Usopp stared at her, twitching as he did so. But then he went grabbing Kabuto and was willing to try attacking her again.

"SPECIAL ATTACK: VIPER STAR 6!" he cried and a series of half a dozen special projectiles went flying through the air in a waving pattern before passing right through her like air and exposed behind her when they collided with the wall.

"Wait…?" Nami began as she was starting to see where this was going. Perona then laughed before going right at him and sunk half of her body into his own. He screamed as her arm with right through his mouth and stuck out at the back of his head.

"You weren't listening to me, were you?" she asked as his arm was right through her chest.

"Please stop it! This is gross!" he gagged as he stood there completely frozen.

"Yeah, I agree," Franky shivered. This looked pretty wrong when you look at it from this angle. "Your girlfriend back home may not like this."

"That's right, so she really should… hey! Wait! What girlfriend?!" he demanded hotly.

"You know, that sick girl that you were friends with back at your home village?" Franky pointed out.

"Ah, yes! Miss Kaya!" Brook exclaimed as he remembered seeing the girl from the last time they went looking through memories. "What a lovely, young lady."

"I hope that she's feeling better," Chopper said, not really understanding what they were talking about when they said 'girlfriend', and was thinking more of how Kaya's health had been doing. He saw the memories right before Luffy left Syrup Village with Nami, Zoro and Usopp and she did look much better than before.

"She's not my girlfriend! She's just my friend!" present-day Usopp barked back, though he was starting to turn red as he thought about Kaya's sweet, smiling face.

"Hey, you can't complain about having such a sweet, beautiful young lady care about you," Sanji informed him, his own insides squirming with jealously.

"She's just a friend of mine!" present-day Usopp insisted. "There's never been anything more than that! Now shut up if you know what's good for you!"

"Oooooh," Franky chuckled. "Alright, pal. If you insist."

Usopp glared at him before he spun back around and stared at the wall, refusing to look at anyone else, especially Perona and how she was playing around with him right now.

"If I can pass through anything, what makes you think you attacks will hit me?" Perona asked and his eyes widen with horror as he realized that she was right. In a panic he began to swing Kabuto around wildly to try and swat at her away from as he screamed, "GET BACK! GET AWAY FROM ME! GO AWAY, DAMN YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU'RE FREAKING ME OUT!"

"Calm down, Usopp," Sanji said. "That's what she's trying to do."

"Oh, like you would have done any better!" Usopp retorted angrily, reminding them once again that he was the only one who could even stand up straight against her. "You wouldn't even be able to touch her because she's a girl!"

"Hey! That's just how I was brought up!" Sanji shouted back, looking ticked off. "I was raised never to mistreat a lady! Besides, there's no way in hell I'll ever turn out like…!" He suddenly realized what he was about to say and he turned around, huffing furiously as he cursed at Usopp.

No one else noticed this near slip-up since they assumed that Sanji had meant that he would never turn out like anything but a man. Or something like that. Sanji was glad that no one pressed him for that as he breathed hard. What he had been about to say was, _'There's no way in hell I'll ever turn out like my father.'_

Sanji took a deep breath, doing his best to push such thoughts aside. Forget about him. Forget about everything that happened before you went to the East Blue. What matters is the here and now. He looked back once he calmed down and saw how Perona was still laughing as she flew around, merely passing through memory Usopp's weapon.

"What's your plan now?" Perona asked as she hovered in the air, "You can't harm me with any of your feeble attacks!"

Any shred of bravery that remained inside memory Usopp was still trying to put up a fight as he yelled, "SHUT UP! IF YOU WERE… IF YOU WERE ONLY BLUFFING EARLIER WHEN YOU THREATENED TO CRUSH MY HEART, AND YOU WERE, THEN THAT MEANS AS BIG AS YOU TALK, YOU CAN'T EVEN TOUCH ME!"

"Hey, you're right," Nami gasped out. "It's a double edge sword! She can't get hurt by you, but if she can't even touch you, how can she hurt you?"

"That's what I was hoping for," present-day Usopp sighed.

"Wait, what's the problem?" Luffy asked him with a tilt of his head. "What's going on?"

"Wait for it," present-day Usopp answered him as his past self took a deep breath and added, "I may not be able to attack you, but… that means you won't be able to attack me either! Isn't that right?!"

Perona didn't answer him. But she didn't look too bothered by his reasoning. Instead, she held up her hand and said softly, "Mini Hollow."

That was when a couple new ghosts appeared, but these were much smaller than the large ghosts that she created before—about the size of a keychain.

"Awww, that's kinda cute," Nami couldn't help but point out as she looked at the little ghost. But what was she planning this time? If the normal ghosts didn't work against Usopp, what made her think that a tiny one was going to do? Especially one that was barely big enough to sit in the palm of her hand?

But she was proven wrong very quickly.

"What are you gonna do with those?" memory Usopp asked nervously as she sent one of the two ghosts to a nearby wall and clung there. Perona then smiled as she held up her hand, whispering out, "And ghost wrap."

She snapped her fingers and the ghost exploded like someone had set off a bomb, leaving a smoldering and deep crater in the wall.

"Ok… now it becomes a little more dangerous," Franky said as a bead of sweat from on his face. "That's not good."

"So, she can attack you with exploding ghosts, and you can't even attack her?!" Luffy demanded with a frown. "That's not fair!"

"Nope, it's not," present-day Usopp nodded.

Perona laughed again as she drifted down to the floor and Usopp gapped at the hole, his eyes bulging out of his head as he stared at the hole. But he was so distracted he didn't even notice until the second ghost clung onto his shoulder. He screamed at the sight of it and tried to peel it off; but Perona already snapped her fingers and it exploded. With another scream, memory Usopp was knocked back, his shoulder bleeding as she laughed.

"Usopp!" half the crew cried out in worry as blood burst from his wound.

"That laugh is really getting on my nerves!" Luffy growled as he glared up at Perona, who was giving her haunting laugh. "I wish I could take her out!"

"Usopp, you shouldn't push yourself so much," Nami said in worry as memory Usopp's body shook in pain. But he still forced himself to get back to his feet, still holding only his Kabuto.

"Why you…" he warned. He tried another attack, this time with his Firebird star. But unlike the zombies, this attack didn't harm her at all and went passing right through her body.

But he took her by surprise when he turned and began running.

"DAMNIT! THIS IS SO NOT FAIR!" he screamed as he ran. "NONE OF MY ATTACKS CAN TOUCH HER BUT SHE CAN HURT ME WITH A SNAP OF HER FINGERS?! I'M NOT STICKING AROUND FOR THIS!"

But they heard her laugh once more as she came flying in backwards and right through his body so that he couldn't miss her.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY! I CAN'T SEE WITH YOU THERE! MOVE IT!" memory Usopp screamed, trying to get rid of her.

In the end, she did fly away, but not until after she made him crash into a pillar head on and he began to bleed before falling back.

"That was pathetic," present-day Usopp sighed at the sight of how he looked here. He couldn't believe that he walked into something like that.

As he laid there, she created at least a dozen more little ghosts, which all began to cling to his body. He looked up in horror as she grinned.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt," Brook gasped as he covered his eye sockets, unable to bear the thought of seeing what was going to happen next.

"And Ghost Wrap," she said before snapping her fingers over and over as they exploded. Memory Usopp began screaming in agony until he was left a bleeding mess on the floor, barely breathing. The rest of the crew was watching in horror, more than half of them reaching for weapons or preparing to strike. They knew that it was just a memory, that it was over two years old, but they couldn't help it, they couldn't stand by and watch one of their friends getting hurt like this.

Present-day Usopp had to admit that it was hard to watch. He supposed that was what he got for getting so cocky. His memory self twitched as he struggled to get back up, but all he could do was lay there when they heard the booming of heavy footsteps and looked up to see that Kumacy had finally made it past the line of fire.

"Ta-da!" Kumacy said as memory Usopp stared up in horror and Kumacy held up his paw, his claws glinting from how sharp they were.

"Oh, crap! He caught up!" Franky yelled out with his eyes wide. "Now it's two against one!"

"Yeah, I hope you got a plan, Usopp," Zoro said firmly, but his hand was twitching to go to his swords.

Present-day Usopp couldn't help but agree as he said, "Me too."

"I'd be careful," Perona warned with a smile. "Kumacy's much stronger than the average bear, you know."

Memory Usopp barely had time to scream as the paw came flying down on top of him and crushing him against the floor, more blood went flying as the floor broke beneath him. Over and over he was hit by Kumacy's attacks, all he could do was lay there and take it. He did try to hold his arms up to try and protect him, but he was still hit, the force of it was breaking him apart, more blood splattered and he was easily going to be killed if he didn't fight back now.

Luffy got angry and tried to throw out another punch to get Kumacy off his friend, but his fist went right through Kumacy and he let out a loud growl in suppressed rage.

"You better think fast here, pal," Franky said anxiously. "That is so not the manliest way to go out!"

"Believe me, I know!" present-day Usopp snapped. "Who wants to get themselves killed by a teddy bear?!"

But his thoughts went somewhere else as he remembered what went through his head at that moment. He thought that he could save his crewmates for once, but it turned out that he was the one who needed the saving at this moment.

Usopp couldn't understand it.

The rest of his crew didn't seem to stand a chance against Perona's attacks, apart from him. And yet, here he was, getting beaten within an inch of his life by a zombie teddy bear. He had told himself that was his chance to prove to his friends that he was a man among men. Hell, he even told his friends that, but it appeared that whatever confidence Usopp had was gone. He was certain that he was going to lose, and if he is killed, here and now, then Perona will likely go after Luffy and the others.

It was when present-day Usopp realized that he got his idea—he got his inspiration at that moment on how to fight back. That was also when he remembered what happened next. He had to act fast. As Kumacy was about to deliver the final blow, memory Usopp's hand went for his bag. At the sight of it, the present-day Usopp reacted instinctively.

"Luffy! Chopper! Look over there! What's that?!" he cried as he pointed over their heads.

"Huh? What?!" the two asked at once as they both spun around to look at where Usopp was pointing. The other Straw Hats were wondering just what was going on when, at that moment, memory Usopp had pulled out a mask from the bag and shoved it over his face. He donned his Sniper King mask at the last second, and the moment that it was on his face, his confidence was back.

He was able to leap up onto Kumacy and pull his surgical mask away to reveal the zombie's mouth. And he shoved his entire hand into his jaw, a hand that had somehow grabbed hold of several of his salt balls. Perona gasped, her eyes widening in shock as she could only watch as Kumacy's eyes rolled back and the shadow went flying out of him.

"KUMACY!" Perona screamed in horror as memory Usopp jumped away and landed on his feet as Kumacy fell to the floor, lifeless.

At the cry, both Luffy and Chopper looked back in time to see Usopp there—or rather, Sniper King.

"WHOA! NO WAY! SNIPER KING WAS HERE?!" they both cried in shock as the others felt the need to smack themselves in the head. Robin could only chuckle as present-day Usopp wiped his hand across his brow in relief.

"When did he get here?!" Chopper asked with wide eyes. "He was here on Thriller Bark too? Oh, I wish that we could have run into him! We didn't get a chance to thank him for all his help back at Enies Lobby?"

"Ah…?" Brook began, about to point out that it was just Usopp wearing a mask, but Robin quietly waved him down.

"Just play along," she told him. "For some reason, Usopp doesn't want them to know that he's Sniper King."

Brook looked confused on that, but he nodded. He had seen the scenes with Sniper King during the Enies Lobby memories the last time, he didn't understand why he felt that he had to hide his face behind a mask. There was no shame in wanting to save your friend even if you had a… 'Falling-out' with the rest of the crew.

"Bastard," Perona snarled, no longer laughing as she shook with fury as Kumacy laid lifeless on the floor. "How dare you harm my sweet Kumacy? AND WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT STUPID MASK YOU GOT ON?!"

"It's not a stupid mask!" Luffy retorted before adding, "Wow, Usopp! You mean we'll get a chance to see you fighting with Sniper King?" But that was when he noticed that memory Usopp was gone and he began looking around all over for him. "Hey, Usopp? Where'd you go?"

"Huh? Hey, yeah! He's gone!" Chopper gasped as he spun about and began searching for him. "That's bad, Usopp! How could you run out like that? You don't need to worry about anything with Sniper King there!"

"Ah, yeah," present-day Usopp coughed as he thought fast. "I was… er… thinking of a counterattack! Sniper King offered to help me out. Boy, it really was a surprises to see him here."

"Yeah, it really is," Chopper nodded, not noticing how nervous that their Usopp was as he laughed. "I wish that we could have seen him again and let him know that we're all ok. You think that we'll see him again?"

"I'm sure we'll see him out here someday," Luffy laughed happily and Usopp sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, memory Usopp—or Sniper King—was panting for air. But when he spoke, it was in a deeper voice as he said to her, "You're looking at the face of your doom. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am the one and only Sniper King."

"You're the exact same guy! You're just wearing a dumb mask!" she screamed at him.

"Wait, you mean she met Sniper King before?" Chopper asked in confusion and it took everything that the rest of the crew, minus Usopp and Luffy, to stop themselves from falling over.

There was a moment of silence before Sniper King turned and began to run away. "Gotta go!" he called, and she was so taken aback that she almost fell out of the air.

"YOU'RE JUST GONNA RUN AWAY?!" she screamed.

"What?! But why, Sniper King?!" Luffy and Chopper both gasped out.

"What part of 'counterattack' don't you get?!" present-day Usopp demanded as his memory self began yelling.

"Of course I'm running! What's the hell's the point in fighting a fight I know I can't win?" he asked. "I survived my whole live on bluffs and negativity! And I'm at a complete and utter lost without those tools working for me!"

"Wow, Sniper King does a good impression of me," present-day Usopp said quickly to the two of them.

They both frowned, finding this a little suspicious as present-day Usopp knew that he was starting to paint himself into a corner.

"Look!" he said, "We had to work fast! You two really believe that I'm Sniper King?"

That was a dangerous choice of words, but he knew it worked when the two of them thought it all over for a moment.

"I… guess…" Chopper said quietly. "But why was he running like that? He's supposed to be a hero from Sniper Island?"

"In order to beat someone like her, you need to fight tricks and lies with tricks and lies," present-day Usopp explained. "And what better way to get her to make her think that we were both pushovers than by running scared?"

"Really?" Luffy asked as he thought that over before hitting his fist into hand in understanding. "Oh! I think I get it! You're trying to drop her guard!"

"Really?!" Chopper asked excitedly. "That's so cool! What a great plan!"

As they began talking excitedly with each other, Nami looked over to some of the others and whispered, "You think we should tell them?"

"Well, he's trying so hard to make sure they don't find out that I kinda feel bad for him," Sanji said as he puffed out a breath of smoke.

In her anger, Perona began to create more of those mini hollows and they went straight for him, attaching to his body all over. However, he didn't even seem to notice as he kept running.

The others were looking confused as they began to follow after him. But present-day Usopp was remembering how he had that talk with himself and how it calmed him down. He couldn't really explain what happened, but it was like he was really speaking to Sniper King in that second even though they were the same person.

But once he stopped panicking, he realized that it didn't make sense where Perona's confidence came from. If she was impervious to his attacks from the start there was no reason for her to run like that. She could have flown away or walk through a wall or something. But she didn't, all she did was run while screaming for her life until that stupid bear chased him and he lost sight of her for that moment. So what changed?

Perona, in the meantime, then began to snap her fingers and the ghosts exploded. The attack brought him down and it looked like it was the end for him for sure. His mask ended up falling off as more blood began to drip down from his face. Perona then grew to giant size once more before she rose out of the floor, her lower half still sunk in as she looked down at him with victory.

Thankfully, Luffy and Chopper didn't notice how the mask was no longer on Usopp's face as they glared up at Perona.

"Oh, my," Robin said, deciding to play along. "Where did Sniper King go? And Usopp? Did Perona find out where you were hiding?"

"Huh?" the two asked as they looked back and saw Usopp there.

"USOPP!" the two screamed in horror at the sight of him bleeding on the ground.

"Where'd you come from, Usopp?" Luffy asked at once. "And how'd you get hurt like that?"

"That explosion was so big that I felt it too," present-day Usopp said at once, giving a silent thank-you to Robin for playing along.

"But what happened to Sniper King?" Luffy demanded. "I can't believe that he would leave you alone like that, Usopp?!"

"Huh?" Chopper gasped as he saw the mask lying there a couple feet away. "What? Here's his mask!"

"He didn't need to worry about me anymore," present-day Usopp said firmly. "I let him know that I could handle it! Just watch and learn!"

But before the two of them could ask more on what was going on, their attention was mostly on their bleeding friend, even though it was just a memory. Sanji sighed as he walked up and draped an arm around their sniper's shoulders.

"Why don't you just come out and tell them it's you?" Sanji whispered to him so that the others couldn't hear him. "Why'd you need to feel like you need to hide it?"

"Hey, I have my reasons," he retorted darkly. In truth, he knew that he didn't really have a reason to hide who Sniper King was anymore. But at the same time, he liked that mysterious side to himself. And by pretending that Sniper King was another person, he felt a lot braver that he could become that person right when he needed it most. Though now, he didn't really need that mask anymore, did he? He was capable of doing stuff now. He hadn't worn that mask since this moment here at Thriller Bark.

Maybe he should tell them… but he just wasn't ready for it yet. He hoped that the others could understand that.

"Try to remember…" memory Usopp whispered to himself before coughing up blood, "I got wrapped in in dealing with that stupid zombie bear. That's when it happened… right when I lost sight of her… what was it?"

"What are you saying?" Franky asked in confusion as Chopper continued examining the bleeding Usopp, and was wishing that he could be here for real to treat him. "Remember what?"

"I'm going to explain it all in a minute," present-day Usopp told him proudly. "But just know that I figured out how I could beat her right here!"

Everyone but Zoro looked at him in confusion as Perona laughed once more before telling him, "Well, guess I better hand you over to Moria now."

Like hell he was going to let that happen. Present-day Usopp knew that he couldn't let himself be captured by Moria and lose his shadow. He had to do his part of the crew and take care of her one way or another. And he watched on, with no small amount of pride inside him as his past self began to put it all together.

Memory Usopp continued struggling to breathe before his one open eye widen in realization and he began to try and cast his gaze around the area around him for something. That was when he noticed that there was a small room set up right there in the middle and surrounded by pillars.

The others looked up and saw the room as well.

"That looks… a little suspicious," Nami said slowly, wondering why a room would be set up like that. But what was Usopp thinking of when he looked at it? He couldn't hide himself in there because Perona could just walk right through the wall and find him. But memory Usopp seemed to have a fire lit underneath him at the sight of the lone room in the center of this place.

"I got you…" he croaked out as he reached out a shaking hand to grab hold of Kabuto next to him, "I'm onto your tricks."

"What tricks?" Chopper gasped, "And you shouldn't be moving! You're hurt really bad!"

"I'm fine," present-day Usopp said firmly.

Perona only laughed again as she shrunk down to her normal size. "What?" she asked, "Are those your last words?"

He ignored her as he took careful aim at the door. Once she realized what he was doing, all trace of taunting and teasing disappeared to be replaced with panic.

"WAIT! STOP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE AIMING AT?!" she screamed.

That certainly got a reaction from her, and the crew was wondering what caused this change in attitude since she was clearly not the one who Usopp was aiming at anymore. And even if he was, it wouldn't affect her, so why was she getting so scared all of a sudden? Present-day Usopp just grinned as his past self steadied his arm, getting ready to fire.

"That," memory Usopp grinned out, his eyes still focused on the one room.

"NO! HANG ON!" she screamed but too late.

"SPECIAL ATTACK: ATLAS COMET!" he hollered and his attack broke away from him into four tiny projectiles in the shape of an Atlas Beetle's horns. But as soon as they hit the door, the entire wall crumbled and broke away. Perona stared on with her eyes wide with horror as the broken wall fell to pieces to reveal a large bed tucked safely away… along with her real body slumped over on it.

"Just as I expected," memory Usopp grinned at the sight of it. "There it is! I found your real body, ghost girl!"

 **(Hello everyone! I had planned on finishing Usopp's battle and adding Chopper and Robin, but the chapter was getting too long. But I hoped that you liked what I added in so far. I know that a lot of you are asking just how much longer it would be before we see the fight with Kuma, well, it's hard to say since there is a lot more content in this story than in the last one. But I'm guessing 2 or 3 more chapters. Just so that you know, we will be seeing the battle between Zoro and Kuma. It will be going in, so you don't need to worry about that.)**


	20. Floor 19: Cindry's Wish

**Floor 19: Cindry's Wish**

"WOW! YOU MEAN THERE WERE TWO OF HER?!" Luffy gasped out with his eyes wide.

"Not quite," Zoro said, knowing full well what was going on. He clapped their Usopp on the shoulder as he said, "Good work figuring it out. Now that you know her weakness, you can take her out."

"Wait, I'm confused," Nami blinked, looking from the girl on the bed to the girl who was floating in the air.

"It looks like this Perona is just another ghost form that the real one is controlling," Robin pointed out. "That explains why Usopp can't hurt her. Because she's not really there."

"Don't worry, I figured it mostly out on my own," present-day Usopp declared proudly. "Just wait for it."

Perona stared with horror at what she was seeing as memory Usopp panted for air, still down on his knees.

"I can see you plain as day," he gasped out as he began to explain. "But you can fly, walk straight through walls and people, and to top it off, you can change your size at will. I'm no paranormal expert but that sure sounds like you're a ghost to me!"

"Yeah, but how did you know that she had her real body hidden?" Brook couldn't help but ask, trying to figure out Usopp's reasoning. But that was when memory Usopp added, "So the question is, why would a ghost run away from me like you did?"

"Of course," Robin smiled as she realized that he was right. "You were able to figure out her weakness just by remembering that she had run from you before. Nicely done, Usopp."

The present-day Usopp grinned at that as he laughed. "Of course! All in a day's work for the great Usopp! Brave Warrior of the Sea!"

"You're amazing, Usopp!" Chopper cried out with his eyes shining brightly at that.

"Ok, that's enough," Sanji said, though he was also impressed by this, "Keep kissing his ass and he'll become even more cocky than he usually is."

"Hey! Can't I have my moment once in awhile?!" present-day Usopp demanded.

"The only thing that makes sense is that you had a physical body when I was chasing you!" memory Usopp declared as she continued staring down at him.

There was silence as the two looked at each other.

"What's your point?" Perona asked, though no matter how hard she tried to sound cool, she couldn't hide the slight shake in her voice.

"POINT?" memory Usopp barked, his loud voice causing her to flinch. "Is that you're a ghost duplicate! You slipped outta your body as soon as I lost sight of you!" He then pointed his slingshot over at her body, still unmoving on the bed as he finished, "That! Right there! That is your real body! I'm done falling for your tricks!"

"Now all you have to do is attack her while you have this chance!" Nami said eagerly.

"I don't know," Zoro said with a tilt of his head. "A bit low to attack someone who can't defend themselves. Grow a spine or something, Nami."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Nami demanded angrily. She was never going to understand how the minds of men worked. You attack someone when you have an advantage, didn't you? What difference was there if they couldn't move or not at the moment? Ghost-girl was trying to kill Usopp as second ago!

Perona was actually shaking as she stared at memory, completely taken aback that he had figured her out. The two stared at the other for several minutes, Perona out of shock, and Usopp to see just what she would do now that he had pulled the sheet off her ghost.

"And here I thought you were just some pessimistic idiot," she said at last before giving him a mocking smile and asked with a baby-voice, "Did your little super hero mask make you feel better?"

"Oh, right! You should give that back to Sniper King, Usopp!" Luffy told him. "You better do it before he leaves the island! He's probably wondering where he dropped it."

"Ah, don't worry," Usopp said with a forced chuckle. "I made sure that he got it back. No need to worry about it."

"Just asking, out of curiosity," Robin whispered into their Usopp's ear as Luffy and Chopper bought his lie, "Do you still have the mask?"

"What?" he whispered back, making sure that the others couldn't hear him. "No."

Well, that wasn't a complete lie. He still had the mask, but he hadn't put it on since that night here at Thriller Bark. There was just no longer any need for him to use it anymore. He didn't need Sniper King for him to feel more confident about himself. He came a long way since then. He remembered how over the last two years, those few rare moments that he was able to take a break from training and he would pull out Sniper King's mask from his bag and would just stare at it. He would go over in his mind what happened that day they were all separated from each other.

He used to think that he would just tag along with them and let Luffy do whatever he needed to do to become the King of the Pirates. But at after a while he came to realize that he couldn't do it on his own. He needed help… he needed all of them to be able to get that far, including himself. He had to step it up and be there to help his captain find the way to become the pirate king. That was when he had come to the decision that he didn't want to rely on being Sniper King anymore. Usopp wanted to rely on Usopp. Because he knew that it was Usopp that Luffy needed to help him, that it was Usopp that he wanted by his side. So he came to the difficult decision to put the mask away and hopefully, realize that he never needed to use it again.

Memory Usopp didn't answer as he glared up at her.

"Still," Perona added continued in a more serious tone. "I'm surprised you had the wits to figure it all out. But you're only about 90% right."

"So what's the other 10%?" Nami asked nervously, feeling that they were missing something important here. And it turned out that she was right, for Perona explained, "I'm not just some ghost duplicate being controlled by my real body. My entire spirit is able to detach itself and float free. A hallow with its own will, leaving my body empty."

"That really doesn't change what you already figured out about her," Zoro pointed out. "You already knew that her real body is her weak spot."

"Yeah, but that also gave me an idea," present-day Usopp grinned.

"Thanks for explaining," memory Usopp said as he got back to his feet, smirking the whole way up. "I'm just curious. What do you think'll happen if you didn't have a body to go back to?"

"Oh, that is downright evil," Franky grinned, though he wasn't too beat up about that to be honest. He still had sore feeling towards Perona for how she ended up reducing him to a sobbing wreck with her ghosts.

"If you take out her body, she'd be out of luck," Zoro pointed out, wondering just how Usopp was planning to do that.

"What?! Usopp, I better not hear that you harmed a lady?!" Sanji snapped at him.

"Look! I did what I had to do to get out of there alive and make sure that she didn't go after anyone else," present-day Usopp tried to reason with him, inching towards Nami, knowing that if he hid behind her, it would increase his chances of living.

Memory Usopp pointed his weapon at Perona's defenseless body once again and her smugness disappeared once again at what he was implying.

"Cause I have a feeling my attacks are actually gonna hit this time around," he declared.

"YOU BASTARD!" she screamed in panic. "DON'T YOU DARE!"

"I'll blow you to bits!" memory Usopp yelled as he loaded another projectile into his slingshot. "HERE COMES MY BIG BANG STAR!"

The other Straw Hats couldn't believe that Usopp was willing to actually blow someone up like that, and watched, frozen as the projectile flew towards her once he fired. However, something went wrong. The shot just barely missed her, hitting a spot just a few inches to her left and didn't even bother exploding. There was just a tiny puff of smoke from where the attack failed, taking them both by surprise.

"That was way too close," Perona sighed in relief to see her body unharmed. "But you missed. And it looks like it was a dud anyway."

"I agree," Sanji sighed, "Thank goodness that such a cute girl was left unharmed."

"Seriously, who's side are you on?" present-day Usopp demanded hotly. That's the last time he worries about their lecherous cook.

"I'm more baffled that you missed," Franky said as he scratched his head. "How could you not hit a person who wasn't even moving? Did those exploding ghosts you took before mess up your ability to aim?"

"No! It's what's called planning ahead!" present-day Usopp shot back. "Unlike you lot, who go around relying on pure muscle to fight, I rely on strategy! Watch and learn!"

"This one won't be!" memory Usopp said, prepared to fire another projectile again.

"Like I'm giving you another shot!" Perona yelled as another ghost began to appear from her hand and she declared, "SPECIAL HALLOW!"

And this time the massive form of a ghost appeared, so big that it could have swallowed Usopp whole.

"I thought it was just the tiny ones you had to look out for!" Brook cried out in panic.

Memory Usopp screamed at the sight of it and cried, "That thing isn't gonna blow up is it?"

"So the medium size ones make you depressed, the tiny ones blow up, and the extra-big ones…?" Franky said as he thought it over. "Just an even bigger explosion? That's not very original, is it?"

"What are you gonna do, Usopp?" Luffy asked at once, his eyes set on the giant ghost. He knew that Usopp could barely handle the tiny ones, how's he gonna take out one that looks ready to eat him?

"A giant versions of the ones from before!" memory Usopp had time to say before the special hallow bit down on top of him so that the upper half of his body was in its mouth.

"AH! IT ATE USOPP?!" Luffy cried out as Chopper screamed in terror with Brook at his side.

"I DIDN'T GET EATEN!" present-day Usopp yelled at them. "I MADE IT OUT ALIVE!"

"BUT HOW?!" Luffy cried out before he realized that Usopp was right and he stopped screaming at that moment.

"OH, THIS IS MESSED UP! GET THIS THING OFF ME DAMNIT!" memory Usopp screamed as he flailed about wildly.

"You just stay put," Perona said to him evilly, "I'm not letting you lay finger on my real body." She then went flying off towards her body as memory Usopp kept screaming.

"HEY! C'MON WAIT! CAN'T WE TALK ABOUT THIS? THOSE LITTLE ONES WERE HARD ENOUGH ALREADY! CAN'T YOU JUST USE THOSE ON ME AGAIN? THIS BIG ONE WILL BLOW ME TO PIECES!" he shrieked as he continued thrashing about.

"I rather take the tiny ones any day than deal with a big one," the present day Usopp sighed as his past self struggled to throw the ghost off him. After all, if the Mini Hallows could blow holes through walls, then this one could probably blow him up until there's nothing but a tiny pile of ashes.

"You can struggle all you want!" Perona said, "It won't help! You're inside a ghost!"

Perona reached her real body and with another laugh she phased right back inside and she smiled as she opened up her eyes and looked up at the struggling pirate.

"Too bad you mucked up that shot, long nose," she said to him as she held her fingers, ready to snap them and they knew what was coming. "With just a little snap of my fingers, you'll be reduced to a little puddle of guts and goo."

"Oh, I don't think you'd look good as a puddle of goo," Robin couldn't help but point out.

"No, I don't think that'd be a good look for me at all," present-day Usopp nodded in full agreement.

At that, memory Usopp was screaming worse than ever as Perona chuckled again and reassured him, "Oh, don't you worry. You won't stay that way for long. Hogback will make whatever's left of you to make a long-nose zombie."

"HOW ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THIS?!" Nami cried out in panic. Now she knew that since Usopp was here and very much alive, she could only assume that he wasn't a zombie. But how did he get out of this mess?

"Kamikaze WRAP!" Perona shouted. She snapped her fingers, but the explosion, just as it was sent off, was sucked right into Usopp's hand and he fell back without so much as a scratch.

The Straw Hats watched on, you could almost see the question marks hanging over their heads.

"Ah… ok…?" Franky said slowly. "What the hell… just happened?"

"I told you," present-day Usopp smirked. "Strategy is how I win my battles."

The Straw Hats weren't the only ones confused as to what happened. Perona was looking like she had just seen a ghost… and not one of her own either. She stared at him and cried out in shock, "NO! IT VANISHED!"

Memory Usopp sat up, and showed his hand, revealing that he had used an Impact Dial, which was smoking slightly.

"That was too close," he gasped, "I used this Impact Dial to absorb the explosion."

"WOW!" Luffy cheered. "That was great, Usopp!"

"You really pulled one over her that time!" Chopper grinned as Nami, who was feeling both relived and exasperated, started to laugh. Whatever else Usopp was, he knew how to get himself out of trouble if he set his mind to it.

"What are you…?" Perona began slowly as she made to get up, only to realize that something was wrong. They looked and they saw that her entire left arm was stuck in a sticky, gum-like substance that was attached to the bed and wall, preventing her from moving.

"HUH?" she gasped, her eyes wide as she tried to pull her arm out of the web of goo. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS STUFF?"

"Where'd that come from?" Zoro asked with his eyebrows raised before memory Usopp answered proudly, "It's a bluff!"

"What do you mean?" Perona and Nami both asked at the same time before he went on to explain.

"You see," memory Usopp grinned, "That shot I took of you earlier landed exactly where I wanted it to! It wasn't a dud either. It was actually a Sticky Star Bullet! I made sure you couldn't move after you returned to your real body!"

"Oh, that is smart!" Nami said, realizing what he was doing. Now this way, he could take out both ghost and body in one go.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Perona demanded.

"Now that both ghost and body are now one," memory Usopp went on smugly, "I can kill two birds with one shot!"

"Go for it, Usopp!" Luffy cheered, excited to see more. Perona cursed at him, at least until another zombie showed up. It was the hippo zombie from earlier, and it looked like he finally managed to catch up to them after they went running from Perona's bedroom. He had a sword and shield, ready to take him out with a single stroke as he growled, "You're the one who purified our Captain Kumacy." He towered over memory Usopp as he raised his sword, "Aren't you?"

"Yep! I sure am!" present-day Usopp grinned out as he laughed.

"What perfect timing!" Perona cried happily as she ordered, "Now take him out Lieutenant Hippo Gentleman!"

"What a stupid name," Franky couldn't help but point out.

"I don't know," Brook chuckled. "I think it's very unique and descriptive. Yohohoho."

At first, memory Usopp didn't even bother turning around, but as the blade came down, he dodged it before holding up his hand with the Impact Dial and let loose the attack from that Special Hallow that was meant for him. It was certainly enough to send the hippo flying back in a cloud of blood.

"Wow, dude, you're really stepping it up here," Franky grinned at least until he caught sight of memory Usopp's face and started laughing. Perona was gapping at the sight of the zombie hippo being taking out. She could only see memory Usopp's back however so that she couldn't see the look of agony on his face from having used the Impact Dial, which was causing the Straw Hats to laugh at his expression.

"Don't laugh!" present-day Usopp retorted. "Like you would have done better! I felt my arm was gonna snap in two!"

Regardless, it did have enough power to send the hippo zombie crashing to the floor, causing Perona to cry out in terror as her last protector was just taken down. Usopp stood there, trying to master the impulse to yell out in agony, not daring to look at her until he was in control of it and was able to wipe his pained expression off his face. When he did, he slowly turned back to look at her before grinning at her terrified countenance.

"You should really be more worried about yourself right now," he warned her before pulling out another projectile, this time, one as large as a cannonball.

"What are you going to do, now?" Sanji demanded, still highly against any harm coming against Perona. No matter what, a man must never be rough on a woman, even if she was a handful.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt her," present-day Usopp promised. "Though this fight is almost over."

They wondered what he was talking about… at least until they saw him fit the ball into his slingshot.

"Special Attack: SHINY BLACK STAR!" he yelled as he let it fly. She shrieked, trying to protect herself with only one arm, but the attack seemed to bounce right off her head when it hit. She opened her eyes in time to see the ball split into two and fall open on the bed while a bunch of cockroaches inside went everywhere. Nami shivered at the sight of it as what looked like fifty or so cockroaches began to scuttle in all directions. They crawled over her sheets and blankets, over her clothes, and even up Perona's face. Her eyes filled with tears as she sat there, completely frozen—though it was impossible to tell if it was because of fear, or shock.

Well, it became clear in the next few seconds when she began to let lose her loudest wail yet that could probably have been heard across the island.

"COCKROACHES!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"Also known as the Roach Star!" memory Usopp grinned as she began to freak out and tried to pull herself free.

"You think that a ghost princess wouldn't be bothered by bugs if she hangs out with zombies all day," Robin said thoughtfully. She assumed that things such as maggots or other insects would be quite common on this island if there is so much rotting flesh.

"SO DISGUSTING! GET THEM OFF ME! HELP ME! I CAN'T GET AWAY!" Perona cried, but she still couldn't move. And the more she tried to get them off, the more they continued crawling over her. "THEY'RE GETTING IN MY CLOTHES! PLEASE! I HATE COCKROACHES! PLEASE HELP ME! KUMACY!"

"Now she's crying for her teddy bear to save her?" Zoro asked, not sure if he should laugh or not. If he had known during his time training with Hawk-Eye that she was afraid of roaches, he would've had a way to stop her using those stupid ghosts on him for sure.

But that was when they noticed that memory Usopp was ready to attack again. It was so big that it was a wonder how anyone could miss it, with an enormous hammer with the number 10 T, or 10 tons writing in large red letters on the head.

"That's not real," Chopper said at once, having seen this trick once before back in Alabasta when he thought that Usopp was able to lift four tons that day. But he wasn't given a chance to finish speaking because the present-day Usopp clapped his hand over his mouth.

"Shhh," he hissed into Chopper's ear, "I wanna see their reactions. No need to ruin my trick for everyone."

"WHOA! USOPP! THAT IS SO AMAZING!" Luffy cried out at the thought of Usopp able to lift such a heavy weapon.

"No way, that has got to be a trick. If you could really do that, then I would swallow my tool belt," Franky couldn't help but add. Even he might have trouble lifting up 10 tons. Not that he was against trying anyway.

But memory Usopp was chuckling darkly as he kept his back turned to her.

"I had a feeling cockroaches would freak you out," he informed her evilly. "But if you wanna know what you really should be scared of." He turned a deadly look at her, shouting out, "YOU'RE LOOKING AT HIM!"

"Wow, looking pretty creepy there, Usopp-san," Brook couldn't help but say. But… he couldn't understand how Usopp got his hands on a hammer that weighted 10 tons. And even if he did get one, how was he supposed to use it?

Perona was now shaking where she sat on the bed, terror in her face as she continued crying.

"You shouldn't have underestimated me, princess," memory Usopp informed her. "I was known throughout the entire stretch of East Blue as the strongest man who ever lived!"

"Really? Well, I suppose you told worse lies," Nami said with a shrug, already guessing what was going on. She figured that Perona was too scared right now to really think it over and realize that he was lying to her. Not that she was complaining. But she wondered just what Usopp was going to do next.

"Ten tons?" she croaked out, "How can you even fit that much strength in that scrawny body of yours? I don't even have a chance! I can't move! Please! Please stop!"

With no small amount of grunting, memory Usopp struggled to lift the seemingly heavy hammer upwards, but slowly and surely he was able to lift the head off the ground. Perona only watched in fear as he was able to pretend to struggle hanging it over his head. Luffy was now cheering eagerly, his eyes lighting up like he had just found his new hero made human.

"PLEASE DON'T! I'LL DIE IF YOU HIT ME WITH THAT!" Perona continued to cry out. "AND GET THESE DISGUSTING ROACHES OFF OF ME, NOT THE HAMMER PLEASE! NOT THE COCKROACHES EITHER! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLASE!"

"Dude, I'm starting to feel really bad for her," Franky said as he blinked as she was now crying harder than ever, still trying to figure out what Usopp's trick here was. There was no way… no way that he could… unless… he could…?

"USOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPP" memory Usopp began, his eyes shadowed over but it was clear what he was about to do.

Perona was now completely losing it as she struggled worse than ever, tears falling fast from her eyes as she began screaming, no hint of the sarcastic, smug girl she was before, "PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE! I'M SORRY! I'M BEGGING YOU! PLEASE! I SWEAR I WON'T LAY A FINGER ON YOUR CREW IF YOU LET ME LIVE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE!"

Zoro tilted his head, wondering if that was true since she was the one who first helped him out when he woke up in that freaky castle after they were separated at Sabaody.

"STOP CRYING! IT'S TOO LATE!" memory Usopp bellowed and any restraint that Perona had, went flying out the window.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed as he brought the hammer down.

"GOLDEN POUND!"

She screamed louder than ever for one last time… and as soon as the head of the hammer hit the top of her crown it exploded as the balloon it truly was. Perona didn't even move as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, tears still falling down her cheeks and her mouth falling open in a silent scream. In her fear of getting crushed, Perona went into shock and passed out just one second before Usopp was about to hit her.

The others watched on…

"That was harsh," Franky said as he blinked but then he and most of the rest of the crew began to applaud. It ended surprisingly peacefully.

"WHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT?!" Luffy cried out in horror, tears now falling down his face. "You mean it wasn't real?"

"Sorry," present-day Usopp couldn't help but laugh as a few other crewmates slowly let out sighs of relief that they had been right in guessing that it was a trick. Reality seemed to be making sense for them again as he added, "I just couldn't resist. And besides, it's not like I killed her or anything?"

Memory Usopp was gasping for air as he slowly raised his head.

"That is one sad ghost princess," he said as he went back to the hammer's handle and deflated it, "Though she should be ashamed of herself. Passing out at the sight of some toy roaches and a balloon." Memory Usopp paused only to pick up the mask that laid on the floor and he let out a sigh of relief as he said, "Talk about a stupid move."

Suddenly, he turned back and barked at her, even though she wasn't even conscious to hear him, "NOBODY CHALLENGES USOPP TO THE ART OF LYING AND NEGETIVITY AND WINS!"

"Yeah!" Chopper cheered out, "No one knows more about lying and being cowardly than Usopp!"

"She can't hope to beat him!" Luffy added with a grin and punching the air, though there were still tears of disappointment on his face. "Usopp is the king of liars!"

"You tell her!" present-day Usopp said, wondering if he should be flattered or offended by those words.

Naturally, Perona didn't say anything as she fell over on the bed, out cold.

"You just stay put until sunrise!" memory Usopp laughed as he began marching away, his slingshot over his should and he was laughing the whole way. "This is turning out to be a pretty good day after all!" he added to himself as he jumped up and kicked his heels together, "I won!"

"Yeah, I guess so," Zoro said as he thought it over. Not really the way that he would have wanted to see it end… but hey, a win is a win in his book. Soon they were all laughing along with the memory Usopp as they began to follow him down the hallway, while he was practically skipping with joy at his defeat.

"I wonder if Sanji's found Nami yet?" he asked himself, "Maybe he's even rescued her by now!"

"Yes, I did," present-day Sanji said proudly as Nami still wondered just what the hell happened for her to wake up in the presence of that lion-faced freak.

"And what are Luffy and the others up to? Either way, for right now, I just need to find them! And tell them that I beat that crazy ghost girl that none of them could stop!" memory Usopp said before stopped running and added with a laugh, "I really shouldn't brag about it."

"You shouldn't," Franky sighed in irritation.

"Hey, I did a great job!" present-day Usopp grinned.

"While a little humility goes a long way," Robin began to chuckle, "However, just this once, we'll let you off with the bragging."

"Yeah, good job," Zoro said, careful not to say anything else because if Usopp's head got any bigger he might sink the Sunny if they ever found their ship.

"But I'm gonna!" memory Usopp laughed proudly. "Oh man! I can't wait to see the look on all their faces when I tell them!"

"Yeah, and I got to see the look on your face when you saw my fight with Ryuma," Zoro pointed out. "Of course, since you proved to be so reliable, I'll leave any powerful swordsmen in the future to you."

"Ah," present-day Usopp gulped down, suddenly regretting his cockiness. "T-That's alright, Zoro. It would be unfair for me to take that away from you."

His past self began a rather haughty laugh… at least until he heard voices up ahead calling out, "Mistress Perona!"

"Who's that?" Chopper and Luffy both asked at once.

Before anyone could answer him, memory Usopp's cockiness went out the window to be replaced by fear when he could see the forms of zombies running up the corridor and straight at him. It looked as though the zombies from Perona's room had finally found their way out from the fire that memory Usopp caused earlier and were now trying to track down their Mistress Perona. Thinking fast, memory Usopp jumped behind a table and stuck his head through a picture frame like he was just a painting.

"Hey, you're like one of those surprise zombies now!" Brook pointed out in interest. "And in a place like this, that wouldn't catch anyone's attention."

"Watch it, I wore myself out fighting against that ghost princess," present-day Usopp retorted. "I did not need to worry about fighting against a horde of zombies on top of being blown up and everything else that happened that night!"

"Do you think she's ok?!" one of the zombies asked worriedly as they ran right by memory Usopp's hiding place without even noticing that he was there.

"Of course she is!" another zombie said surely.

"In all fairness, they're right," Robin pointed out. "You traumatized her, no doubt. But other than a fear of you for the rest of her life, I don't think that there was any permanent harm done."

Sanji was still trying to decide if he should be angry or not. He hated to see any lady harmed, but all in all, Usopp didn't do anything he had to do. He didn't leave so much as a scratch on her lovely skin. He merely held her in place and caused her to faint. He supposed that was really the best that could be hoped for in this situation. He would let it go… just this once.

"Captain Kumacy and Lieutenant Hippo Gentleman had gone to back her up!" another zombie declared as they finished running by memory Usopp, still not noticing that he was there and were now making their way down the long corridor, knowing that they would find their way to their Mistress sooner or later. "I bet they're all taking turns pummeling that long-nose guy right now!"

"Guess it's a good thing that you took them out when you did," Nami stated as she realized that Usopp had been able to take out all three of them after all. "If you took even a few minutes longer, you'd be stuck facing that lot as well."

Present-day Usopp didn't realize just how screwed he would have been and he thanked his lucky stars that he was able to deal with Perona and her two guards when he did.

"No, wait a moment, surely Sniper King could have helped," Chopper pointed out in confusion.

"Yeah," Luffy agreed as he began searching all about. "Where is he anyway? I wanted to thank him for all his help here and at Enies Lobby."

"Ah, right…" Usopp chuckled awkwardly, wondering just what he was supposed to say until Nami pulled him aside and hissed a warning into his ear.

"You may have gotten away with it this time, but if we go into the Enies Lobby memories, then it's only going to be a matter of time before they realize who's behind Sniper King's mask?" she whispered.

Present-day Usopp's eyes widen in horror as he realized that she was right. Crap. What was he going to do? He immediately thought of getting them to look the opposite way when he would switch between masks… however, he knew that trick may work once… maybe twice more… but they were sure to discover that he was Sniper King sooner or later won't they? He hoped that they would be able to find a way out of this place when that happened?

Memory Usopp stayed quiet for a minute more until he was sure that they were gone.

"Holy crap, close one," he whispered as he looked out from his hiding place. "If those guys had caught me, I would just lose the battle, but also lose all bragging rights." He sighed in relief before he went running back down the hall like nothing happened, calling out for his friends.

The memory faded and they were just wondering where they were going to next and the next thing they knew was that they were back inside the ballroom where the memory versions of Robin and Chopper were facing off against the zombie versions of Zoro and Sanji—with Hogback and Cindry watching them struggling in the background.

"Crap, I forgot about this," Chopper whimpered, knowing that he wasn't going to like seeing this again.

"Damn, it's like you two are really going to be fighting against us," Sanji said, feeling sick to his stomach at the thought that he might have hurt his dear Robin in the process. If he did, he didn't know what he would do.

It was a standoff as both sides wondered what the other would do.

"Ocho Fleur," memory Robin said as she held up her hands. She had tried to restrain Zoro's zombie by growing arms from his back, wrapping themselves around and holding him there. But it was clear from the start that it was a struggle for her to do so. She was holding on as tightly as she could, but the zombie was very strong and was starting to puff out his muscles, rotten though they were, and force her arms apart. When she realized what he was doing, memory Robin's eyes widen as she tried to hold on even tighter. After about a minute, Zoro's zombie forced his arms apart and her arms shattered into flower petals. With a cry of pain, Robin was knocked back and she was gasping for air.

"Robin!" Nami gasped out, "Are you ok?"

"Yes, don't worry," present-day Robin reassured her as she rubbed one of her arms absent-mindedly. "The problem is that whenever harm is done to one of my limbs, then that damage is also done to me. I underestimated him."

Perhaps a part of her was reluctant to attack him because she knew that her crewmate's shadow was inside it and she didn't want to hurt him. Perhaps it lured her into a false sense of security that he would go easy on her because it had been part of one of her dear friends. In the end though, she simply couldn't hold him back.

It had taken everything she had to try and keep him restrained, but she was no match for his raw strength. But still, she watched how her past self got back to her feet as Hogback and Cindry, the former still laughing, watched on.

"Look at them trying to fight back," Hogback laughed to Cindry, who didn't react in the slightest. "This would go a lot faster if you just gave up!"

"Too bad for them we don't know what that means," Sanji said as he glared at his own pathetic zombie, though he supposed that was a good thing in this case since he didn't want any harm to come to Robin or Chopper here. He supposed that his shadow stuck in a weak body would be easier for them to handle than in a powerful one.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from glaring at Zoro, furious that his shadow had hurt Robin at all! He was now aching for a chance to smash him to the ground for that.

Memory Robin was holding onto one of her arms as she panted, still facing off against Zoro's zombie. Meanwhile, memory Chopper was looking back at her anxiously, even though Sanji's zombie was starting to get annoyed that he was being ignored.

"Hey, what're you just standing there for?" he demanded out of Chopper. "This 'an't the time to try and look cool, you crappy little reindeer."

"Hey!" present-day Chopper snapped, deeply hurt that the real Sanji might feel that way about him.

"Don't blame me," Sanji answered back in surprise, "It's that stupid Moria who brainwashed my dumb shadow! That's not really me talking!"

"At least he didn't call you a raccoon dog?" Luffy offered as present-day Chopper sighed and lowered his head.

"Sanji," memory Chopper began, trying to reason with him.

"Damn, that's not me," Sanji said again, this time sounding irritable. "Just pummel that thing! Don't worry about hurting him! I didn't feel a thing."

"Thinking back, I think that we were afraid to attack them because we were afraid that it might hurt the two of you," present-day Robin admitted as she watched herself panting. "We should have gone all out."

"What? You're speaking gibberish moron," Sanji's zombie stated, "Not that I'm gonna give you the chase to explain."

He really didn't. He charged forward so fast that they barely saw him, but they did see enough to realize that he gave memory Chopper a quick kick to his face and sent him smashing to the floor with a painful yelp.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, starting to get angry, though not sure who he was supposed to be angry with.

"Why not go for Hogback?!" Usopp suggested, also getting angry as he listened to the mad doctor laughing like that.

"I'm all for that," Zoro agreed, his hand itching to draw a sword and take him out.

"I wish we did," present-day Chopper agreed bitterly. "But we had a problem getting to him."

As his past-self struggled to push himself back up, Sanji's zombie went on, "You can't beat me, but you could at least try, you worthless pile of crap!"

"36 Caliber Phoenix!"

The cry had come from Zoro's zombie, who sent a flying blade attack at memory Robin, who dodged just in time. But it also came dangerously close to hitting Sanji's zombie, who went spinning to avoid it. But even just the after effect of the flying blade was enough to knock memory Robin to the floor a second time.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sanji roared out before glaring daggers at Zoro, who was watching the whole thing, grinding his teeth at what he was seeing. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING?!"

"THAT'S NOT ME, YOU IDIOT!" Zoro yelled back. But he was furious too. How dare that sorry excuse for a swordsman use his own attacks to attack his crewmates like that? The cook he could go after all he wanted, he couldn't care less, but he couldn't stand by and watch what was going on. If he ever saw Moria again, he was cutting that bastard down to size even if it killed him.

As memory Chopper cried out for her in fear, the two zombies were suddenly arguing with each other.

"HEY DUMBASS! MAYBE YOU WANNA WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING THAT CRAP?!" Sanji's zombie bellowed out.

"RIGHT BACK AT YA!" Zoro's zombie yelled turning his blades in his direction, "AND MAYBE YOU WANNA STOP RUNNING AROUND LIKE A CHICKEN WITH IT'S HEAD CUT OFF!"

"Wow," Nami said in surprise. "Even as zombies, the two of you hate each other more than anything else."

"They just can't get along no matter what form they're in," Franky stated as he thought it over. When was the last time that they ever worked together? He wished he could remember… then again, that may be too strange even for this crew. It didn't feel right to ever see the two of them getting along.

"Now's my chance," memory Chopper said as he shifted to his Walk Point and galloped over to Zoro's zombie. He jumped behind Zoro's zombie before shifting back into his Heavy Point and held him there with his arms behind his back as he cried, "DO IT NOW, ROBIN! THE SALT!"

"Just hold him still," she said as she held up her hands again. This time another arm grew out of Zoro's zombie's chest and went shifting through the bag of salt that was hanging at memory Chopper's side. When she got her hands on some salt, she held it up. The zombie tried to turn his head away from her, but she had several more arms grow out of his back to force his jaw open. She almost succeeded in getting the ball of salt into his mouth but…?

"This guy has got to be the most useless partner ever," Sanji's zombie said in disappointment and exasperation.

"Get back," memory Chopper warned, "You realize Robin's a lady, right?"

"Lady?" the denguin asked before he jumped up and kicked her hard in the back as he declared, "WHO GIVES A CRAP?!"

Sanji was watching this like he was in a nightmare. His own shadow… a piece of him had… had… kicked a lady! Not only that… his shadow had attacked Robin?!

"No…" he gasped out as he saw her hit the floor once again.

"Don't worry," present-day Robin reassured him as she patted his shoulder in a comforting way. "It didn't hurt that much. And I know that it wasn't really you. You have no reason to feel guilty."

But still… just the sight of it… seeing his dear Robin hurt like that? It made him want to go and crawl into a corner and die… to have his shadow cut off again and have him walk out into the sun to be destroyed… he deserved that. He knew he did. How could he call himself a man now?

"Sanji-san," Brook said, as if he knew what Sanji was thinking. "Do you remember how I blamed myself for how Ryuma attacked Nami-san, Usopp-san, and Chopper-san? But none of you blamed me for that? It's the same thing. Even if your shadow is in that zombie, it doesn't have any memories of its former life with you. There is no need to feel guilty."

"But…? But…?" he tried to reason, but the others wouldn't hear of it. They knew that Sanji never would have done that. Sure, he had a short temper, but they had a hard time believing that Sanji would ever go out of his way to harm a member of his own crew—especially one of the women. It just seemed as unlikely as the tides suddenly changing.

"ROBIN! NO!" memory Chopper cried out in horror as her arms disappeared off Zoro's zombie, the ball of salt smashing on the floor.

"Wait, how could Sanji…? That doesn't make any sense?" memory Chopper whispered in disbelief before Zoro's zombie grabbed him and flipped him over until he landed with a painful bang on the floor. When he was flat on his back, Sanji's penguin waddled up until he was on memory Chopper's chest.

Zoro just shook his head, feeling shame inside him for what he was witnessing. And Sanji still seemed to be in a daze for what his zombie had done to Robin.

"Keep fighting if you wanna die," he warned him as memory Chopper stared up at him. Zoro's zombie didn't say a word as he walked over to memory Robin, who was able to force her head up, only to be met with sword point.

Hogback laughed at the sight of it before stating, "Looks like the battle's ended."

The Straw Hats could only watch as the memory versions of Robin and Chopper were forced to the ground, the two zombies that had once been two of their crewmates shadows, were standing guard over them, just daring them to try something. Meanwhile, Hogback kept on laughing.

"Come on, you guys are tougher than that," Franky pointed out, unable to believe that they had given up that easily.

"We didn't give up," present-day Robin countered calmly, guessing what he was thinking of. "But the two zombies were formidable, we had to wait for the right moment. Much like how Usopp was able to plan ahead and think on his feet."

At her praise, Usopp couldn't help but grin at those words and puffed out his chest proudly.

"Please, those sorry excuses for fighters are pathetic," Sanji grunted angrily, still wanting to somehow punish his own shadow for daring to harm Robin. He wouldn't rest until he found a way to make it up to her!

"For once, I agree with you," Zoro hissed, his one eye now twitching horribly at the sight of everything happening around them. These guys… it made him ashamed to even look at the others. His own shadow keeping them from getting the job done and defeating Moria… he actually glared down at his shadow at his feet.

"So," Hogback asked curiously. "How does it feel to be trapped here by the power of your own friends?"

"Yeah," Zoro's zombie said gruffly as he held Robin at sword-point. "And this one here used some dumb trick to try and get me to eat salt."

"How can he not know that already if he's my shadow?" Zoro asked. Surely he would already be aware of Robin's ability?

"You're an idiot, that's why," Sanji shrugged. "Your mind is covered in moss so you shouldn't be expected to remember such things."

Zoro glared at him, now trying to come up with the best technique he had to kill him as present-day Robin merely pointed them back at the scene, wanting them to just get along. Though, she had to reason with herself that if these two could get along, then they may not have been able to make it out in one piece from this battle. After all, it was their inability to work together that got them to turn the tables on Hogback.

Memory Robin didn't seem to be badly injured but she was panting for air as she looked up at Zoro's zombie, careful not to make a move—but her eyes were narrowed and they knew that she was already trying to come up with a plan to get them out of this mess.

Memory Chopper, meanwhile was glaring over at the denguin. "I can't believe that Sanji's so far gone around that he would kick Robin like that," he said. "You're not our friend anymore, you're just a zombie!"

"No, that's not me at all," Sanji said to himself, trying to keep telling himself that. After all, he rather have gotten himself beaten to a pulp by Kalifa than attack her back at Enies Lobby.

Still, he made sure that he would never let Chef Zeff ever find out about this. He raised him better than that.

"Who's this Sanji you keep talking about?" the denguin asked in confusion, "No one can save you now."

"We don't need anyone to save us!" present-day Chopper said proudly, looking forward to seeing Hogback get his due when the mad scientist began to pace the room as he laughed again.

"He really doesn't remember that he's Sanji?" Luffy asked in surprise. "But he _is_ Sanji?"

"That thing's not me!" Sanji snapped at him once more, and he hated how he kept sounding like a broken Tone Dial in that he was repeating himself.

"No, Luffy-san," Brook answered, "You need to pay attention. Once the shadow is put into a new zombie, then their memories fade. Soon they become puppets that Moria can control. Because it's easy to control someone whose memory is a blank slate.

"I hate to be the bearing of bad tidings, but these two may not have any memories of being your friends left," Hogback explained, unknowingly repeating what Brook just said. "Upon creation, some zombies may hold onto some sense of their former selves, but the new body and soul synchronize! Not even a shred of humanity remains. They all become obedient zombies that follow my every command!"

"And that's why when Oars woke up, he was acting just like Luffy, and why that denquin protected me against Absalom in the first place," Nami nodded. In a lot of ways, she was grateful for that side-effect, after all… that denguin protected her from Absalom… and look at all the chaos that Oars caused Moria's crew for them when he went on his rampage across the island.

Hogback stopped pacing and looked back at them as he informed them, "For a zombie following orders is the pinnacle of existence!"

"Miserable existence if you ask me," Zoro said. He'd probably stick himself with a sword if he was stuck following such a life. He figured that his own zombie would have been thinking the same thing and finished himself off. Would have spared his crew a lot of trouble.

Hogback started to laugh again, but memory Chopper wasn't going to stand for it.

"You finally convinced me," the past version of Chopper said in disgust. "You're an evil man all the way to the core, Hogback."

That caused Hogback to stop laughing as he slowly looked back at the little reindeer, while the present-day Chopper nodded in full agreement. But whatever else may happened here, whatever else that was or will be said, it was clear that Hogback got angry whenever someone doubted his medical skills.

"In the past you were responsible for saving so many lives," memory Chopper explained, as if trying to reach for one final shred of humanity still inside the doctor he once admired, "I really looked up to you as a humanitarian and a doctor."

Again Hogback did not say a word.

"I didn't even mind your research on zombies," memory Chopper went on, "Seeing how death can happen so suddenly… those who die and those who are left behind always leave so many things left unsaid. Things that they'll never have a chance to say again."

A lot of the Straw Hats felt uncomfortable at those words… for they all held onto feelings like that… words that they could have wished to say to someone they loved once more.

"If there was some way to bring the deceased back to life, even if only a moment, that brief time can be spent finding closure," memory Chopper went on, "Even if people declared you a heretic or a mad scientist and denounced all the work that you did, it would have been worth it to heal people's hearts."

"I know that," Luffy said as he thought back to mere weeks ago on that ghost island. His big brother's grin suddenly appeared in his mind and he smiled sadly. That terrible weight that he had been carrying around since Ace died seemed to have been lifted a little. He still loved and missed his big brother, but being able to speak to him again was worth all the gold in the world to him.

The rest of the crew were all thinking back to their chance to speak to loved ones again and they all felt their hearts lift. They all knew that Chopper was speaking the truth… if others could experience this kind of peace…? It would have all been worth it, wouldn't it?

Memory Chopper shifted back to his brain point as he finished, "That's why when you said you had spent years in this place, researching on how to resurrect the dead, I believed you were doing it with the best of intensions."

He was truly trying to speak to Hogback… to try and give him one last chance for him to explain that he did do all of this for the best of intensions. But that hope was dashed when Hogback laughed once more and shouted out, "Fool! Who would go to that much trouble to help others?!"

It was as if he just struck Chopper, who was so taken aback by his answer that he couldn't even speak. Seeing the startled look on his doctor's face, Luffy's eyes narrowed and he felt a deep burning anger towards this Dr. Hogjerk… or whatever his name was. He suddenly wanted to hit this guy for upsetting his friend.

Hogback went on, almost bragging, "Your naivety is astounding! This is the way it's always been!" He then smacked himself in the chest as he added, "I'm a genius who deserves the best! Money was the driving force behind using my skills. My notoriety led people from all over the world at my doorstep! Too many needy little whiners!" He then went on in a babyish voice, " _Please save my father! Please save my child! Please save my sweetheart!_ Nag! Nag! Nag! What a bother! It was so annoying!"

"Well, excuse them for caring about someone!" Nami yelled out with angry sarcasm. "It's not like anyone would care that much about you!"

"Damn, did someone not hug him when he was a kid or something?" Franky demanded furiously.

Memory Chopper listened in with continuingly growing horror as Hogback added, "I was expected to carry the burden of all the incompetent doctors who couldn't help them."

"Hey, any doctor who fights to save people's lives is a better doctor than you can ever hope to be!" present-day Chopper yelled out.

"Yeah!" Usopp agreed whole-heartedly. "And so that makes our doctor a thousand times better than you, Hogback!"

"Awww! Shut up!" present-day Chopper said, turning red at the praise and giggling slightly. But that all faded when Hogback was continuing to brag.

"Are you starting to understand the horrors of being a genius?" Hogback demanded, "If you wish to idolize me for my work in the medical field fine! But you have no right to be disappointed in me if my motives don't live up to your precious ideals. Then you can just kiss my ass you stupid reindeer! How dare you preach to me on how to be a doctor?!"

"Because I was taught by two of the best doctors in the entire world!" present-day Chopper declared proudly. "Doctor and Doctorine! Everything I know about medicine and helping people, I learned from them!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO, YOU BASTARD! I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT I DON'T EVEN ACCEPT YOU AS A DOCTOR ANYMORE!" memory Chopper screamed at him, taking Hogback by surprise again at his sudden fury. "I DON'T ACCEPT THESE ZOMBIES EITHER! THEY'RE ALREADY DEAD! YET YOU STILL HAVE CONTROL OVER THEM! YOU WON'T LET THEM REST IN PEACE! YOU MADE A MOCKERY OF HUMAN LIFE!"

"So you decided to give up the idea of resurrection completely?" Brook asked him curiously.

"Yes," present-day Chopper said before realizing something. "Not that I have anything against you, Brook!" he added quickly. "But now that I know how these zombies are made, I can't stand by and let them exist in such a way! Every single zombie on this island is hurting some human somewhere in the world! I mean, half the crew only lost their shadow for one night! I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to have it gone for years!"

"No, I understand all too well," Brook nodded. "Believe me, it's not a pleasant feeling. In fact, more than once I thought of finishing myself off just so that they wouldn't have a chance to use my shadow against anyone. But that wouldn't have ended well for me, now would it? Yohohoho!"

"All in all, I think that we can all agree that it would be for the best if all the zombies were destroyed and that they were allowed to rest in peace," present-day Robin nodded. "I'm glad that we were able to do that for them."

Hogback froze, and they hated that he was still smiling because they couldn't ever tell if he was happy, mad, or whatever.

"What a narrow minded thing to say," he stated, "I gave them new life but you think that they should just be rotting in the ground?"

"Better than rotting above ground and have to take orders from you!" Sanji couldn't help but yell out.

"YES! I DO!" memory Chopper snapped back as Hogback rubbed the back of his head with a sigh as if he was disappointed in Chopper.

"You don't get it, Dr. Chopper. You're missing the scientific breakthrough! I gave them life after death! Don't you see?" Hogback said before he walked over to Cindry who hadn't moved a muscle the entire time.

"How can you simply overlook the value of that life?!" Hogback demanded before he shouted out, "OBSERVE!"

And they watched as he viciously kicked Cindry. She didn't even try to defend herself as she was struck and they watched with horror as she crashed to the floor and laid there motionless. Memory Robin tried to get up, but Zoro's zombie kept the blade at her throat, warning her not to move.

Sanji was now practically fuming with rage from the pits of hell at the sight of all this. It was bad enough that his dear Robin was being threatened… but Cindry… who was a tragic maiden who left this world too soon, was being treated like she was garbage. Even if she was a zombie, she didn't deserve to be treated like this.

Memory Chopper just watched on as if he was living some kind of nightmare as Hogback ordered her to clean the floor with her tongue. With no choice, Cindry did as she was told and began to lick up the titled surface while rage filled every inch of both Chopper's faces as they watched.

After a moment of silence, Hogback spoke, but it was in a different voice than it was before. It was deeper… darker… filled with an evil sense of enjoyment.

"You saw that room, didn't you, Dr. Chopper?" Hogback asked slowly and that knocked memory Chopper out of his rage for just a moment.

"What room?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"He was talking about that room with all those pictures of Cindry on the wall?" Nami guessed. "The ones where she was alive?"

Both present-day versions of Robin and Chopper nodded as Hogback slowly turned back to look at them as he hissed almost menacingly, "That was actually _my_ room."

"His room?" Luffy repeated in surprise. "But why would he have all those pictures of her?"

"Because he was infatuated with her, obviously, Luffy," Sanji sighed. "So much so that he had to take her corpse for his own."

"That is so disgusting… and creepy," Nami shivered at the thought. She didn't even want to know what he had been doing with Cindry's body for the last 10 years.

"The photos on the wall are of a deceased stage actress named Victoria Cindry," Hogback explained, and his voice was sounding almost wistful as he started to tell them Cindry's story. That he had met her over ten years ago and had been captivated by her beauty and charm. He wasn't the only one, for she drew the attention of people all over the country. But despite all of that, she was popular without conceit, she was a kind and generous person, a truly beautiful and wonderful human being.

When she was struck with a terrible illness, it was _he_ who cured her and was able to allow her to go back to the stage. But when he had made a name for himself as a doctor, he had proposed to her… only for him to learn that she was already engaged to another.

"Good for her," Nami couldn't help but speak up.

But Hogback went on, declaring that if that hadn't been bad enough… not long after that, she had fallen from the stage in an accident and it cost her life. Shocked to the core, Hogback left his job and work behind, unable to cope with her death. That was when Moria appeared before him, wanting him to use his abilities for him. In the end, Hogback agreed and joined Moria on his ship… on one condition. That he bring his beloved Cindry back for him.

"I stole her corpse in order to obtain a Cindry that would belong to and obey only me," Hogback finished up with that sick grin of his.

"As sad as it is, there is nothing that could have been done," present-day Robin sighed. "It looks like all he did was make a mockery of the person she had been in life."

"And besides, if he truly loved her, he would have been happy that she found happiness even if it wasn't with him," Sanji added. "She was alive and happy until the accident. That should have been enough for him."

"Her personality had changed and it certainly wasn't for the better," Hogback admitted as he glanced down at her. "However she was still beautiful! And frankly that was all that mattered to me! I'm happy! And I'm sure she is as well! I gave her a second life! A chance to rejoin this world as a living human being!"

Despite his words, the rest of them could only look at Cindry with pity in their eyes. How can anyone believe that she was a happy, living human like this? A stitched up doll who was as cold as death?

But Hogback's declaration was finally too much for memory Chopper.

"You call that a living, human being?!" memory Chopper demanded as he shook with rage. "Tell her to stop that! Now!"

Hogback tilted his head, as if confused and wondering what was causing all this anger in Chopper. Much like a child who didn't see that he had broken the rules in a game.

"A human being whose heart and body are separated is no human at all," memory Chopper went on, still shaking with rage, and before he knew it, he was screaming, "YOU TOOK A CORPSE WHO HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER AND TURNED IT INTO NOTHING MORE THAN A MONSTER! EVERY TIME YOU MAKE YOU MAKE ONE OF THESE CREATURES THERE'S A HUMAN SOMEWHERE YOU DEVESTATED WITH PAIN AND SORROW AND I CAN'T LET YOU GO UNPUNISHED!"

"Damn, I can't remember the last time you were this angry," Usopp said as he looked down to their Chopper, who was silently fuming as well.

"Everything that he was doing goes against everything I was ever taught when I was studying to be a doctor!" present-day Chopper snarled indigently. "You heard him! He was a disgrace to all doctors! Money? Fame? That was all he cared about! Not because he wanted to fight to save people lives? And now he was dooming countless people to life in the dark to create his stupid zombies!"

"Oh, Chopper," Nami said sadly as she reached down and patted him gently on the shoulders. "Don't worry, I know that you took care of him for us. Show him what a real doctor can do!"

Hogback, however, did not seem to be impressed.

"AND WHAT WOULD A STUPID REINDEER PIRATE DOCTOR WITH SUCH LIMITED MEDICAL KNOWLEDGED KNOW ABOUT LIFE?!" Hogback yelled back before snapping at Cindry, still on the floor. "CINDRY RISE! RISE AND KILL THEM ALL!"

With no choice, Cindry answered by getting to her feet and fetching a stack of square plates with sharp edges.

"Now!" Hogback then backed over at the memory versions of Robin and Chopper, "You two are next on the zombie list! You should be happy Dr. Chopper. You may die but when I bring you back, you'll be the assistant to the doctor you idolized so much!"

"Like hell I'll ever join him!" the present-day Chopper snapped back. No way he could ever live with himself if he did that. Though, he supposed he wouldn't be living anymore as a zombie? He blinked, realizing that he was starting to sound like Brook now. He wasn't sure if he should laugh or not.

"Square plate blades," Cindry said as she took one of the plates and readied to throw it like a disk. Memory Chopper shifted back into his Heavy Point, momentarily freaking out the denguin before he went charging at Cindry, who proceeded to throwing the plates. Two of the tableware cut Chopper in his head and shoulders, but he managed to withstand it and grabbed Cindry by her arms to stop her from moving. She struggled as he hissed to her, "Stop it."

"There's no point, Chopper-san," Brook said sadly. "She is a zombie, and therefore she cannot stop herself from doing what she is told unless she is ordered to do so. I don't think that she would ever want to do this if she had a choice, but there's not much we can do right now."

"Maybe so…" present-day Robin said thoughtfully, not entirely sure if that was true. In the moments before Oars came marching through here, she had seen Cindry smile… truly smile. And for a moment, it was as if the original owner of that body was letting them know that it was going to be ok. She wasn't an expert on things like this. Not even Brook, who did die once before, none of them knew what it was like in the next life. She supposed that it wasn't important though… just spending the time with her crew on these seas was enough for her.

"Let go!" Cindry snapped back as she gave memory Chopper a hard kick to the gut. It clearly hurt him a lot more than he was expecting and he let go of the arm that held onto the stacks of plates. This was the wrong thing to do, for she then smashed the dishware over his head, large shards cutting into his skin as he began bleeding, but still memory Chopper refused to let go.

"CHOPPER!" memory Robin called out in worry.

"Those shards look bad," the present-day Robin informed their Chopper, "Aren't you the one who's always telling us off for being reckless with our injuries?"

"I just wanted to get through to her," present-day Chopper informed her. "I wanted help her someway, but I didn't know how."

"There's nothing that you could have done for her, Chopper," Zoro stated. "I think the best thing we could have done to help her was take her out and put her out of her misery. If she could even feel that much."

"That doesn't mean that I have to like it!" present-day Chopper snapped back.

Hogback laughed as he informed him, "Don't let her size fool you. Despite her petite figure I modified her to be a killing machine."

"Bodyguard as well as a maid," Sanji said in disgust. He understood Chopper's feeling all too well, and he wanted to find some way to help her in some way. Meanwhile, memory Chopper was now wincing in terrible pain as blood dripped down his face and the shards of broken glass remained stuck around his head.

"Listen to me, Cindry," he gasped out, ignoring his injuries. "You don't have to take orders from that maniac!"

"I'll kill you," she warned as she kicked him in the side this time. He was almost knocked over, but managed to find his footing as he grabbed her other arm again so that she couldn't get away. The present-day Chopper could only watch with his eyes sad. He was barely aware of the pain he had been in. The only thing that he was thinking of was Cindry and how she was forced into such a terrible fate. Even if she was just a corpse, he wasn't sure if she would be able to rest in peace with how her body was being treated like this.

"I feel so bad for you," he confessed as he held on and she struggled to free herself, "Look at what Hogback's done to you?! What would your family say if they knew about this?"

"I have a guess how they would react," Sanji said with a shake of his head.

"Of course they would," Brook agreed. "If Cindry truly was loved in life, I can only imagine just how her family would feel if they knew how her body and her memory were being treated in such a way. I hope they never found out."

Cindry still fought harder than ever as she demanded that he let go of her and she began kicking him over and over again. But memory Chopper wouldn't let go this time, his sympathy for her was hurting him more than any of those injuries.

"You've been stitched together like a rag doll," memory Chopper continued as she kept attacking, "Forced to serve as an undead slave! Your loved ones would be horrified!"

"That's putting it lightly," Usopp muttered darkly as he thought of the pictures he had seen of Cindry when she was alive.

"Unhand me!" Cindry demanded again as she fought worse than ever, but memory Chopper went on.

"You were born with both a body and a soul," he said, knowing full well that her heart was no longer beating in her chest, "But that soul died a long time ago! And yet your body is forced to follow orders! Where's the meaning in that?"

"No meaning at all," Brook nodded in grim agreement. "The biggest difference with me is that my soul and body were reunited. But them? They're all just… empty. They are no different than life-size moving puppets."

"Dude, you're really bringing us all down," Franky sighed as Hogback started to laugh again and he frowned as he added, "And I'm really getting sick of this guy's laugh."

"Don't worry," present-day Robin smiled. "He won't be laughing for too much longer."

"Really? What'd you do to him?" Zoro asked in interest as she just smiled. Truthfully, they didn't do anything to him, but they didn't need to. It was a big of justice to see Hogback get stepped on by one of his precious 'creations'.

"Don't tell me you doubt your own eyes, doctor," Hogback said as if he thought that there was something wrong with his eyes. "This is what humans have always dreamed of! Resurrection of the dead! Man can live again!"

Cindy dealt one more kick and now memory Chopper was starting to cough up blood, but he wasn't done saying his piece.

"Just because it moves doesn't make it alive," he gasped and Brook nodded again. Hogback could claim all that he wants to that it was Cindry. But that was just an empty shell. The soul of the woman was long gone and her body was just being manipulated to move. That was all it was.

Hogback looked at him with confusion.

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN TREATING HER LIKE SHE'S HUMAN!" memory Chopper bellowed out in fury, "A HUMAN HAS MORE FREEDOM THAN THIS!"

"Yeah! Well said!" Luffy cheered out. "To be human, you gotta be free!"

Present-day Robin chuckled at the thought that Luffy seemed to be a big influence on their little doctor. However, she knew that there was reason in those words. She didn't feel like she had truly begun to live since she joined the crew. It was almost like she died the same day that Ohara did… she was alive, but it was hardly what you called living. But when she joined this crew and was now free to run to the ends of the earth with them, she felt like she could breathe again for the first time in 20 years.

Memory Chopper's words seemed to have some effect on them, at least on the three zombies in the room. They all seemed taken aback… Cindry slowly became still and the zombies who were both still holding memory Robin also drew back slightly, Zoro's zombie even withdrawing his own sword from Robin's neck as they looked on. It was as if they never thought of it like that before and were wondering just what the right thing here was.

"Hey, do they join forces with you, or something?" Franky asked as he blinked in surprise.

"Not really," present-day Robin informed them. "But, perhaps… in a way… I think that they couldn't completely disobey their orders… but as you will soon see, that it wasn't a bad thing in this case."

That confused them and they wondered what she was talking about until memory Chopper seized this chance of Cindry's sudden stillness as he turned and yelled at Robin, "ROBIN! HURRY UP AND GIVE HER THE SALT!"

Memory Robin was able to get back to her feet, neither of her zombie guards made a single move to stop her, as she caused a couple arms to grow out of Chopper's chest and they went straight for the pouch of salt at his side again. As she held up the little ball to Cindry's mouth, Hogback panicked and called for the other two zombies' attention.

"SAVE CINDRY AND KILL THE OTHERS!" he ordered at once. Any state of shock that Zoro and Sanji's zombies were stuck in seemed to have faded and they were awake again. They did what they were told, first with Sanji's zombie came barreling in and kicked memory Chopper in the gut, his attack clearly hurting much worse than Cindry's kicks. Blood burst from memory mouth as he was forced to let go of Cindry.

"Oh no!" memory Robin gasped, "CHOPPER!"

"Don't worry," present-day Chopper nodded. "I'm a doctor! I could treat my own injuries. Which weren't as bad as they looked."

"And yet you tell me off for taking off my bandages," Zoro pointed out.

"OF COURSE I DO! BECAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT WHO HAS NO SELF-PRESERVATION!" present-day Chopper shrieked at him as he waved his tiny hooves in the air.

Zoro's zombie then stepped in and he was able to send a flying blade attack at them. The three of them went flying, even Sanji's zombie was yelling in shock as Cindry was forced even further back and away from the others.

"Zoro, stop it!" memory Chopper yelled at him as the attack hit the wall and it broke right through it.

"Again, that's not me!" Zoro snapped as his eye twitched at being compared to this sad excuse for a zombie. Really… why couldn't Hogback put his shadow inside a zombie that looked cooler? Look at Brook's zombie? He got a mummy samurai! And Luffy got a giant! Why'd he get stuck with this old geezer who could barely fight? Though… he looked over at the denguin and fought a smirk. Maybe it could have been worse.

One good thing about that last attack though was that when memory Chopper was out of harm's way, memory Robin stepped up and this time causing at least a dozen arms to grow out of Zoro's zombie and held tightly on to him.

"No!" he grunted as memory Robin glared firmly back, determined not to let him break free. "You again?!"

"Don't tell me that he forgot about me already?" present-day Robin chuckled. She would have to step it up if she was going to do her part in helping out the Straw Hats.

With much struggle and effort the zombie was able to free one of his arms and he turned his sword to memory Robin, taking her by surprise.

"My master says… kill the others!" he grunted and he shot another flying blade attack at her, forcing her to dodge it. She managed to avoid a fatal injury, but the blast was still enough to knock the wind out of her. Zoro's zombie grinned… but there was someone who wasn't impressed.

"Bastard!" Sanji's zombie barked as he marched over, anger pulsating out of him as he glared at his 'comrade'. "Careful with that attack! You almost killed me!" he yelled.

"Oh, really? Shame that he missed," Zoro said with a shrug. "See, that proves that it's not me. I wouldn't have missed."

Sanji glared at him, wondering if he should be glad about that or not. On one hand he wanted to see that sad creature with his shadow put down after he kicked Robin, but he hated to hear that Zoro thought he could beat him like that.

Zoro's zombie held up his blades angrily as he yelled, "Stay the hell outta my way!" Without another word, Sanji's zombie gave a flying jumping attack at him. He kicked him just as the swordsman held his blades up, able to stave off the attack though he was forced back several feet before the penguin landed.

"YOU'RE IN MY WAY!" Zoro's zombie yelled at him and soon the two were screaming at each other.

"I WAS DOING FINE UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP!"

"MASTER TOLD ME TO KILL THE OTHERS!"

"YES! I KNOW THAT! WE HAVE THE SAME MASTER YOU IDIOT! NOW BACK OFF!"

The other two memory Straw Hats watched in startled surprise as the two zombies faced off with the other. The sad thing was, this was just like how the two of them normally talked to each other. With insults and arguing until it erupted into a fight.

"YOU BACK OFF!" Zoro's zombie yelled.

"MASTER SAID TO KILL THE OTHERS, I'LL START WITH YOU!" Sanji's zombie decided, and forgetting all about the others, they began fighting with each other, tearing up the floor and walls in the process. If this went on for too much longer then there wasn't going to be a room left for either of them to destroy.

"Wow, so even though it wasn't really you two fighting, it was like you had to fight," Usopp blinked in surprise. It was like these two were destined to be at opposite ends of their attacks! It was astonishing to say the least.

"My zombie can so kick your zombie's ass," Zoro said to Sanji, who decided to take that as an insult.

"Yeah? Not when my zombie takes you out first!" Sanji snarled back and the others were now watching them going at it before looking back to the two zombies killing each other. What a surreal moment that was… but also hilarious.

"Cut it out! What the hell are you idiots doing?!" Hogback demanded when he saw them fighting each other. Thankfully, the two of them didn't seem to have heard him as they focused solely on kicking each other's asses.

"STOP FIGHTING NOW!" Hogback finally bellowed out, trying to get their attention. "WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER!"

"Big words coming from someone who can't even fight," Franky snorted. Besides, the two memory Straw Hats weren't going to let this golden opportunity go.

"ROBIN!" memory Chopper cried out and she knew what he had in mind. She caused four arms to grow out of Hogback's massive neck and grabbed hold of his lips to stop him from speaking.

"You know, I really want to say something like 'cat got your tongue' or something, but I can't think of anything right now," Usopp said as he shook his head. He had a feeling that he was gonna think of something good later. That sucks.

"A robin has sealed your lips?" Franky offered helpfully and there were a few forced chuckles going on.

As Hogback struggled to pull her hands off his mouth, she approached him with a smile.

"Can't give orders if you don't talk," memory Robin said sweetly, causing Sanji to sigh lovingly at that, and the fight between the two zombies went on uninterrupted. "They didn't hear that last order so they're still on the previous one," she explained. "Now what was that last order again? Save Cindry and kill the others?" She then turned back to watch the fight as Hogback still fought. Problem was he only had two arms and she had four holding him down.

"If the 'others' are everyone but Cindry, who knows what could end up happening?" she asked as the fight went on. The battle soon turned into an enormous dust cloud and it was impossible to tell who was winning.

"You do know that this fight could go on all night since neither of them can die," Nami pointed out.

"Yes, I quickly realized this," present-day Robin nodded. "Don't worry, I got a plan. Wait for it…"

"Even without any trace of their old memories those two can't seem to get along no matter what they do," memory Chopper said in amazement as memory Robin looked a little exasperated and muttered, "Amazing."

But after another minute of fighting in that cloud, Robin seemed to realize that this battle could go on for days and to their surprise she let go of Hogback's mouth. As Hogback gasped for more air, she turned to him and said conversationally, "This tower is rather tall, isn't it?"

"Yeah… but why are you telling him that?" Luffy asked in confusion.

Their Robin just smiled mysteriously as Hogback looked baffled that she would say such a thing.

"If only we were under your power you could kill us by asking us to jump out of it," memory Robin reasoned.

"Robin?" memory Chopper asked in confusion and Hogback got angry.

"How dare you speak to me that way?" Hogback barked in outrage as memory Robin turned to Chopper and winked, showing she had a plan. "You'll be under my control once I turn you into zombies!" He then pointed at them, who both moved out of the way of his pointing finger as he finished, "And once I do, I'll say jump out of this tower and put an end to yourselves."

It was then that the Straw Hats realized her plan. With them out of the way, they realized that he was now pointing at the two zombies, who were resorting to pulling each other's faces, but they both looked up and said together, "Yes, Master."

"Yeah! That's our Robin!" Sanji cheered out as there were cries of laughter at how easily Hogback fell for their trick.

"We can always count on you!" Nami added with a bright smile as present-day Robin chuckled.

"HUH?!" Hogback yelled again before realizing what he done, but it was too late for the two went running straight past him and towards the nearest wall. "NO! WAIT! THAT WAS A MISTAKE!" he yelled but they were already yelling at each other.

"I'LL BE THE FIRST ONE TO OBEY MASTER'S ORDERS!" Zoro's zombie yelled as they raced each other to the wall.

"NOT IF I HIT THE GROUND FIRST!" Sanji's zombie countered and the Straw Hats laughed at how similar that their argument was to the one that their Zoro and Sanji had moments ago. But the two zombies had already went breaking through the wall and with a scream, they were in the air and the watched them fall out of the sky like watching some kind of ballet.

"As for us," memory Robin finished up with her hands on her hips when it was just the four of them, "We rather not."

The look on Hogback's face was priceless as he realized he walked right into that mess.

"OH NO! DAMNIT! YOU PATEHTIC EXCUSES FOR HUMANS TRICKED ME!" he shrieked out. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE A GENIUS!"

"I guess you're not as smart as you first thought! Yohohoho!" Brook chuckled.

"He may think he's smart, but he's never gone up against our Robin before," Usopp said as the present-day Robin chuckled at the flattery.

"Now," memory Chopper said as he cracked his knuckles, "Once Luffy's dealt with Moria, all the zombies you created on this island will be purified. Which means the only thing left for me to do around here is kick your ass!"

He began to march towards him as Hogback began to panic, knowing that he didn't stand a chance. Instead, he looked to Cindry, who kept her head down and didn't react at all to anything happening around her as he barked, "Cindry, listen! I need you to buy some time while I escape!"

"Come on, be a man for once and fight our own battles," Franky said as he shook his head. He was looking forward to seeing Chopper take him out already, for their little memory reindeer was looking ready to take him out.

But Cindry didn't answer him.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me? Get them! It doesn't matter if they purify you! I can just give you another shadow!" Hogback yelled, but then something happened that they did not see coming.

Tears.

She was… crying.

That took the Straw Hats all completely by surprise. Softly, but surely, there were tears falling down from her dead, and lifeless eyes as if she were alive? They stared at her in confusion, not understanding what was going on.

"My body…" she whispered softly, "It won't move."

"What? Cindry?!" Hogback gasped as her tears ended up dripping onto the floor and he began yelling, "HEY?! CINDRY! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?! CINDRY! ANSWER ME! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! PLEASE CINDRY! SAY SOMETHING ALREADY!"

"What's going on?" Zoro asked in confusion.

"Her body… won't move?" Brook repeated, sounding completely lost to what was happening. "That's… that shouldn't be possible. I don't understand what's going on."

"To be honest, we don't get it either," present-day Chopper agreed. "To this day, I don't know what it was that happened here. But I guess… in some strange way… Cindry helped us out."

They looked from him to Cindry again, whose entire body was shaking as she answered again, "My body… it won't move. And these tears… won't stop."

"YOUR BODY WON'T MOVE? DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?!" Hogback demanded before pointing an accusing finger at her as if he thought that she was holding out on him. "STOP THE CROCODILE TEARS! IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE A SHADOW PUT INTO YOUR BODY, YOU WOULD BE DEAD! AND WHO DO YOU HAVE TO THANK FOR THAT, HUH? A ZOMBIE'S ONLY PURPOSE IS TO SERVE IT'S MASTER! I MADE YOU AND I CAN UNMAKE YOU JUST AS EASILY."

"Stop yelling at her," Usopp snapped. Sure she gave him the creeps, but he didn't have to keep treating her like she was nothing. But then he looked back to Cindry, still trying to figure out what was going on here. None of this was making any sense to him.

"It's strange. It's as if the original owner of the body is fighting back," memory Robin said softly.

"What? But… she's already dead," Luffy pointed out bluntly. "How's that happening?"

"That's a good question," present-day Robin said before looking over at Brook.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Robin-san?" he asked in confusion.

"Well, out of everyone here, I think that you might know more of what's happening than we do since you know more about death than any of us," she pointed out and he frowned a little as he thought that over.

"I honestly can't tell you what this is all about," he confessed slowly. "I know I did die once before, but I can't say for sure of where you go or what it's like. I'm sorry"

"But if your soul came back before than…?" Usopp said but Brook shook his head.

"I was revived by the Life Life fruit," he reminded them. "It was a Devil Fruit that brought me back. But… Cindry? She's been dead for years now. I can't say for sure what's going on. But perhaps… the human heart that she once possessed is somehow aware of what's going on and wishes to help them?"

"I don't even see how that is possible," Zoro said firmly, but he had to wonder, if it was possibly true?

"Yeah, but that person died over ten years ago," memory Chopper answered back, not taking his eyes off Cindry. "Does that mean that a body without a soul… can still have a will of its own?"

Robin did not answer at first as she stared at Cindry.

"Who can say?" she answered at last, unable to give him an answer, "Even if we read every book in every library in the world, we still wouldn't know."

The Straw Hats all looked on at those tears… somehow knowing that… they were genuine. How it was possible, none of them knew… but they all knew one thing… Cindry didn't want Hogback to win. The question now was, would they be able to fulfill her wish?


	21. Floor 20: Whispering Shadows

**Floor 20: Whispering Shadows**

But just then, Cindry's body jerked forward. As if half of her was trying to resist, but the rest of the body was forced to give into the order.

"I…will kill… both of them," she said mechanically.

"There we go, that's the Cindry I know and love," Hogback said, "Good to have you back. Try to buy me some time, ok? I'm getting the hell outta here."

"It's a shame," memory Robin said sighed piteously as she looked at Cindry, "For a moment, I actually thought a miracle had happened."

She then caused a dozen arms or so to sprout from all over Cindry's body and bound her tightly so that she couldn't move. Unlike with Zoro's zombie, she had no chance of breaking herself free. Seeing his last bodyguard being restraint, Hogback freaked out and tried to make a last, desperate attempt to run for it. But memory Chopper wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

"You get back here!" he screamed as he gave chase.

"Are you kidding?" Hogback barked back, "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Seriously, why does anyone think that ever works?" Sanji couldn't help but ask. "That natural thing to do is run when someone tells you to 'get back here', isn't it?"

"Maybe people should start yelling 'keep running!' or something?" Brook offered.

"We can try, but I think that it would only seem like we're encouraging them," Nami sighed at the thought.

"Man, all that Moria and his crew knew how to do was run," Luffy frowned as he remembered how much running he had to do that night.

"You know what? You're right, captain," present-day Chopper nodded sadly. That whole crew seemed to be made up of people who either ran away, or hid as they fought.

That was neither here nor there though, for all around them the entire mansion was starting to shake, cracks appearing and tiny pieces of debris was starting to crumble from the ceiling.

Usopp gulped nervously as he said with a shake in his voice, "There's only one person I can think of who could do this?"

"Ah oh, it sounds like Oars has finally returned!" Hogback gasped as stared around wildly.

"Yeah, not so proud of your creations now are you?" present-day Chopper yelled angrily as his past self grabbed hold of the mad doctor from behind. Hogback shrieked and flailed about as he tried to pull himself free.

"You stupid pirate deer!" Hogback yelled as he struggled, "Why are you siding with a corpse instead of a genius? Let me go! You're not even human to begin with, so what do you even care you monster?"

"If he's a monster, then what do you call yourself?" Nami demanded angrily.

"The captain of our crew is just fine with monsters like me! And Moss Heads and perverts, and cyborgs too! And all of us get along just fine! And unlike you our captain doesn't need to turn them into zombie slaves to get them to listen to him!"

"Moss Head? Not you too, Chopper!" Zoro barked at their Chopper, who shrugged. He was caught up in the moment… besides, he was a monster too… in his own way anyway.

"I don't care!" Hogback yelled. "Let me go!"

Present-day Chopper sighed. Even after all of this, he still didn't get it, did he?

Memory Chopper suddenly called out, "Robin! Help me out!"

"You've got it," memory Robin said with a smile as she held her hands up again. "Pierna FLEUR!"

Right beneath memory Chopper's own feet, another pair of legs grew, lifting him off the ground. When Hogback realized this and looked down, he began to shriek at what was happening.

"Talk about giving you a leg up," present-day Usopp said with a laugh, earning groans from the rest of the crew at the poor joke.

That was when a tower of legs sprouted one after another as they carried Chopper upwards until he was close to the ceiling, and Hogback realized what was about to happen.

"Chopper? Are you going to…?" Nami gasped as she saw what he was doing. "You're not seriously going to…?"

"I was going to," present-day Chopper admitted, unable to hide the fury in his voice.

"Even if you were angry, even if he deserved it, it's very unbecoming of a doctor," Brook reminded him quickly. "I don't want you to do something that you may regret."

"I know that, but… I wanted… I wanted to make him pay for all that he did," present-day Chopper shot back.

"But we don't want to see you become a killer like this," Zoro reminded him quietly. "Injure him? Sure. Push him to the brink of death? That's fine. But if you're going to kill, you're going to have to live with that. Believe me, once you cross that line, you can't go back."

Chopper looked up at him with a frown, but he didn't answer as he looked on. He knew that they were saying this because they were worried about him, and he appreciated it. But how could he live with himself if he had just let him go without some kind of punishment for all the people he devastated? As far as he knew, Hogback was killed when Oars stepped in through the hall. At least they didn't need to worry about him or his zombies anymore.

"T-T-Time out, Dr. Chopper!" Hogback begged as they were hanging off the floor, "Let's be reasonable! Try to consider the consequences here for a moment! If you splatter my genius brains all over the floor right now, you'll be doing a disservice to the medical community!"

"Oh, I think that it would be a service not to have to deal with you and your 'genius' anymore," present-day Chopper snapped as his past self yelled, "I don't care! That genius brain of yours is even more rotten than your zombies!"

"I thought you were a man of reason, Dr. Chopper!" Hogback begged as he began hitting his arm. "Can't we work this out?"

"Well, you did give him chance after chance to show some remorse for what he did," Nami reasoned but was still frowning at what she was seeing. This almost didn't seem like Chopper.

But before memory Chopper was able to swing Hogback down into the ground, the cracks in the ceiling grew even larger and started to cave in. Memory Chopper looked up, now being held upside down as Oars came bursting through. Memory Robin gasped, her spell vanishing as Cindry was set free and her legs disappearing from under Chopper and Hogback.

Oars's head went slamming itself right through the wall, causing screams of panic all around at the sight of him.

"Damn, guess that Moria was finally able to get control of him at this point," Usopp yelled out as there were shrieks of surprise and terror at the size of the giant zombie stampeding through the mansion.

"It's Luffy's zombie!" memory Chopper screamed out as he and Hogback fell. Cindry and memory Robin were struggling to remain upright as the floor began to break apart from under them.

"Well, you sure don't see that coming," Nami cried out. "You two had to get out of there before he stepped on you!"

"The floor's gonna collapse!" memory Robin called anxiously, "Chopper! Over here!"

Memory Chopper was forced to let go of Hogback as he shifted back to his walk point. He then kicked off from Hogback, who fell to the floor below them along with Cindry. The present-day Straw Hats watched as both managed to make it to the floor in one piece, but Hogback became trapped underneath a large slab of stone.

"That could have gone better," present-day Chopper muttered.

"But it could have been a lot worse, Chopper-san," Brook reminded him. Truthfully, he was glad that Oars went bursting through here when he did. He didn't want to see their sweet, innocent doctor have to kill anyone like that. Even if Hogback deserved it, their doctor didn't deserve to have death on his conscience. It was, after all, unbecoming a doctor.

"That was a close one," memory Chopper gasped as he landed beside memory Robin with a sigh of relief. But Robin didn't answer him as she kept her eyes on Cindry and Hogback, as if making sure that they weren't getting back up. They both looked over the edge as Oars march inwards, not even realizing that Hogback and Cindry were in his path.

"He's gonna step on them if he doesn't look down," Zoro pointed out what they were all thinking.

"Guess he's just too big," Franky reasoned. "I mean, we're just fleas to him. We can't expect him to notice us little people."

"That giant… is Luffy?" memory Robin asked as Chopper walked over to the edge to see where the others are.

"No! That's not me!" Luffy yelled before adding in an undertone, "But he really is cool though."

"No he's not!" Nami snapped at him as memory Chopper looked down at the floor below them to see Hogback still struggling to pull himself out of the rubble.

"Too… heavy," Hogback gasped out, "Dammit."

But then Cindry got back to her feet and he gasped in relief at the sight of it.

"Cindry, hurry up and get over here and move this rock," Hogback ordered before he looked up and despite the smile that seemed permanently etched on his face, he was looking panic-stricken as Oars slowly approached them.

Cindry didn't move as she glanced over at him.

"What's wrong with her?" Brook asked in concern. Surely Cindry would be doing what she was told?

"I'm not sure," present-day Robin answered as she watched on with great interest. To this day, she was not sure of what happened with Cindry. Was it truly possible that Cindry, the real Cindry, helped them defeat Hogback?

That shouldn't be possible, but…?

"This isn't funny anymore, Cindry," Hogback went on, sounding more urgent as she just looked at him with those blank eyes, "I really need your help right now. Oars is gonna crush me like a giant cockroach! I can't die! I'm far too smart to die! I HAVE SO MUCH LEFT TO GIVE!"

Still she didn't move.

"To smart to die? Then how'd he get down there to begin with?" Franky asked with a roll of his eyes. "Damn… what's the deal with the bad guys having such big egos?"

"Question for the ages," Nami sighed as she thought of all the enemies they fought up to until this moment and just how they seemed to think that they were above them all. Hell, Eneru even thought that he was god for crying out loud!

"I'm your master dammit! Why are you just standing there?" Hogback was now close to yelling at her, "Hurry!"

Still she stayed where she was, her body shaking.

"I can't move… my body won't move," she answered back.

"What…?" Brook gasped at the sight. It looked like she was torn between wanting to answer the command, but a stronger part of her was doing everything it could to ignore him. "It happened again?"

"I really can't say how it's possible," present-day Robin confessed as the others watched with their mouths open at the sight of it. "After all, Cindry died over ten years ago. Her soul had long since left that body behind, and yet…?"

"And yet it's like she was still helping us," present-day Chopper nodded slowly. "It wasn't much, but she was fighting against him. I guess it could be possible that the shadow that was used to make her body move was rebelling after all this time, I suppose though?"

"That does seem the most likely, but I can't help but feel that Cindry wanted to see that guy stopped as bad as we did," Sanji nodded.

"SAY WHAT?! ENOUGH ALREADY!" Hogback yelled at her, losing his cool completely as Oars kept coming ever closer. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE! THE ONLY WILL A ZOMBIE HAS IS THE WILL TO FOLLOW ORDERS! SO HURRY UP AND SAVE ME! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A CORPSE WITH A PRETTY FACE! DON'T PRETEND YOU'RE HUMAN!"

"Is it bad that she seems more human than he does right now?" Luffy asked slowly, as if he was afraid of saying something that would make Chopper upset.

"No, not at all," present-day Chopper reassured him with a smile.

Just then, Cindry slowly turned on the spot, able to regain enough movement to look up at the memory versions of Chopper and Robin up on the floor above her. For a moment she did nothing, but then, to their amazement, she smiled up at them.

Chopper and Robin both gasped at the sight of it, which they didn't blame them for. At that moment, they could see her, the real Cindry as she was in life. A smile that was so full of life and light that they couldn't see the ghastly, cold skin or the scars on her face. They saw Cindry silently thanking them, reassuring them that it's going to be ok.

They were staring so much at her that they barely paid any attention to Hogback who was putting up more of a fuss than ever.

"HEY! I'M DYING HERE CINDRY! OARS IS GONNA STOMP ME!" Hogback then looked up at Oars, who was right above him, and unknowingly about to put his foot down. "OARS LOOK DOWN HERE! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE STEPPING DAMNIT! IT'S ME YOU DOPE! YOU'D STILL BE DEAD IN A BLOCK OF ICE IF IT WASN'T FOR ME AND MY GENUIS!"

Oars stepped down and the memory darkened not long after that.

"Wow…" Franky said as he moved his sunglasses down onto his eyes, tears falling silently as he cried for Cindry. "That poor girl… even in death she couldn't really rest, could she?"

The memory reappeared in a surprising way in that they were back in the church with memory Sanji and Nami. The two of them were still in that church after Sanji took care of Absalom, and memory Sanji had just picked up Nami, who was still in the wedding dress and out cold.

"Oh, man we're back watching the lame cook again? One's bad enough, who needs two?" Zoro sighed in irritation.

"Watch it!" present-day Sanji snapped as the shaking continued even here. His past self was struggling to hold Nami while the shaking continued around him and more cracks and debris continuing to break apart.

"What the hell?!" memory Sanji called as he tried to remain upright. "What's with this shaking?"

That was when the roof above him started cracking apart, getting his attention as he stared up with his eyes wide.

"CRAP! WHAT NOW?!" he cried out in panic.

"Don't tell me," Franky said, plugging up his ears as he knew just what was coming. And he was right. Oars's foot went crashing through the ceiling.

"Ok, so I'm starting to get a sense of where we all are," Robin called over the noise. "This had to have been happening after he stepped on Hogback and Cindry!"

"Lucky me!" present-day Sanji yelled as his past self was staring up with horror.

"IS THAT THING… LUFFY'S ZOMBIE?!" he hollered, taking a few steps back before looking down at memory Nami and said, "Ah, Nami? Now would be a good time to wake up."

"Seriously, what was with me?" present-day Nami demanded over the noise. "How could I sleep through all that? Just what did they do? Drug me?"

"I'm starting to think so," Chopper called. "That must be a powerful sedative! But I don't think that it will last for much longer! After all, Absalom wanted you alive, right? Anything stronger than that could have accidently killed you."

"Well, I guess that's one good thing," present-day Nami hissed. But seriously, if this guy needed to drug a girl to get her to marry him, he has some seriously twisted ideas to what 'love' is.

Memory Sanji couldn't wake her up and he gritted his teeth as he muttered, "There's nothing I can do. Guess I'm just gonna have to run for it."

"I should have left sooner," the present-day Sanji sighed in regret. If he had then he never would have given that invisible jerk another chance to steal Nami. But no sooner did he think that did the Nami in the memory disappear from his arms, causing gasps of shock from some of the crew.

"Huh? Nami! Did you just turn invisible too?" Luffy asked with his eyes wide.

"Hey, I can disappear when I want to thanks to my mirages," present-day Nami retorted, "But I was out cold! I don't know anything that happens here!"

"Then that means…?" Usopp gasped as he began searching all over.

"Ah… hey Nami?" memory Sanji questioned. "Nami? She just… disappeared?"

"Oh, pull your head out of your ass, idiot," Zoro said with a roll of his eye. "It's obvious what happened!"

"Shut up! I wasn't expecting it!" he shot back angrily, "I'd like to see you do better against that stitched-up freak!"

"Ha! I'd have gladly taken him out and show you up!" Zoro snapped back.

As they argued, they could start to hear Absalom growling on the wind again as Sanji slowly turned around to face the open door with anger back in his face. "It's you again?"

Absalom growled again, but this time there were also grunts of pain, and they knew that the guy had been beaten badly. How he was even still standing was a mystery, but it seemed that the only thing that kept the 'Graveyard King' going was his dirty thoughts.

"It looks like the tables have turned," Absalom's voice growled as he coughed, probably hacking up blood… or maybe a hairball in his case.

"Bastard! So you're still alive, huh?" memory Sanji yelled, "If you wanna finish this, then stop hiding and bring it on!"

"Come on, if he wouldn't come out and face you when he thought that you were a weakling, I doubt that he's gonna come out and get another ass-kicking," Usopp pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I can't try and threaten him," present-day Sanji retorted. "A real man would have come out and face me over the honor of a lady! He's just running and hiding like a coward! I swear if I ever see him again on the Grand Line, I'm gonna flatten him like a pancake!"

"Pancake…?" Luffy repeated with his mouth drooling at the thought.

"I told you! You can't eat now!" present-day Sanji yelled at him.

But Oars had fully stepped inside the church at this point as Absalom laughed and declared, "Well, well… that trouble-making giant is finally under our control. In other words, you're screwed! Think I'll be taking my bride for good this time!"

"OH, YOU WAIT UNTIL I WAKE UP AND GIVE YOU WHAT YOU DESERVE!" present-day Nami yelled out in fury.

"Like hell you will!" memory Sanji roared out, "Give Nami back! Where the hell are you hiding her?!"

"Ah, are you lonely?" Absalom asked as Oars was preparing to step down on him, not even seeing Sanji there, "Then why don't you play with Oars here?"

"SANJI! BEHIND YOU!" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp all screamed at the sight. Memory Sanji finally turned around just as Oars's foot came down and the memory went black.

"How could you not notice that?" Zoro demanded. "I mean, I know you always keep half your face covered, as you should… but seriously! How can your sight be that bad?!"

"I had more important things to worry about!" Sanji yelled back. "That bastard took Nami!"

"Like you could do anything after getting stepped on!" Zoro retorted with a roll of his eye. "And you should have kicked that bastard harder! If you had then he wouldn't have gotten up!"

"So that's what happened," present-day Nami nodded in understanding. "I was wondering about that. I mean, you saved me, but when I finally woke up, I was still at the altar. This explains it all."

"I'm so sorry, Nami-swan," Sanji whimpered as he fell to his knees in front of her. "I tried… I really did try! But I was just…?"

"Don't worry about it," Nami sighed before smiling. "You risked your life to save me. Don't worry. I finally woke up and finished that guy off with some help from Lola. The important thing is that I'm still single! So you did your job! No worries!"

"Oh, Nami…" Sanji gasped as he stared at her lovingly. "You're so beautiful when you're forgiving!"

"For once… I have to agree with that," Usopp whispered to some of the other boys. "At least compared to when she's 'collecting' from us anyway."

"Yeah, I hear ya," Franky nodded. "She's downright scarier than any zombie when she's like that.

The memory of the collapsing building disappeared until it was replaced to sometime earlier when memory Luffy was confronting Moria. He had thrown out an attack at Moria, before a shadowy hand burst out of the floor and blocked Luffy's fist.

"A shadow?!" memory Luffy gasped as he landed.

"Right, you had your hands full with that shadow ability," Sanji said as he thought back to the last time they saw this battle.

"Stupid shadow abilities," present-day Luffy frowned as he watched. "Having his shadow fighting for him."

"Technically, you were still fighting Moria," Robin pointed out as a dark Moria-shaped figure followed the ghostly hand until it looked like Moria had taken a bath in ink.

"Try to beat him!" real Moria taunted, "My clone Doppelman!"

"I really, really didn't like that," present-day Luffy glared at the shadow. "Why couldn't he have the guts to fight me?!"

"Hey, you got a bargain," Sanji said with a shrug. "Who knew? You got two fat leeks for the price of one."

"There was a time when I was filled with confidence in myself and ambition," Moria explained when he saw how taken aback by the shadow creature memory Luffy was, "But I started to understand the importance of competent underlings."

"And how is a crew of rotting zombies considered to be competent?" Nami couldn't help but ask as memory Luffy was yelling at Shadow Moria to move out of his way.

Naturally the shadow didn't move, it just seemed to smirk sarcastically at Luffy. "I don't even need to lift a finger," Moria went on, "Because I will become the Pirate King by using the strength of others!"

Robin frowned a little as she looked at him, thinking that she might have understood. For years she had always tried to remember that the crews she would join weren't really her friends. Instead, they were just… protection for her. She didn't wish to get any closer to them in fear of them betraying her. Mayhap it was the same for Moria. He didn't wish to get close to his crew and felt it was simply safer to deal with underlings?

"Pal, if you think you can become the king by just sitting on your ass and no moving, then you sure aren't going to get anywhere," Franky pointed out as memory Luffy had to dodge an attack from the shadow.

"I told you!" memory Luffy yelled defiantly, "I'll be King of the Pirates!"

Moria only laughed as he told him that his zombie said that too, but soon his shadow will forget all his memories and become one of his obedient zombies. No matter how strong your will is, all zombies are forced to obey him.

"Yeah, and if Moria can control even someone with a strong will like you, Luffy…?" Chopper began nervously.

"Yes, that was what made him dangerous," Brook nodded. "He just needed to be strong enough to be able to steal shadows and that is when he will have his 'victims' fighting his battles for him."

"You think that he would have been weak and lazy after all this time," Usopp sighed, wondering why they could never fight against weak pirates for a change.

"He may have been," Zoro said with a shrug. "He never technically fought us. He had his zombies fighting for him and when he was against Luffy here, he had his own shadow do all the work while he ran around. Even when he faced off against us with Oars, he was controlling that giant zombie, remember? And even at the end, he was using the stolen shadows of a thousand people absorbed into his body to try and fight with Luffy. So he may have really let himself go in all the years he had of stealing shadows."

"Huh, you know what? You're right," Franky said as he thought that over. "Damn. I feel kinda embarrassed now that he was able to push us so hard that night.

They watched the battle going on with memory Luffy and Moria. He was doing his best, but Moria continued to block each of Luffy's punches and kicks with his shadow, either in its giant full-size Moria form, or taking the form of tiny little bats that bit and scratched at him. At one point, memory Luffy went running around the room to try and throw the shadow bats off him before running alongside the wall and almost disappeared from their view as he fell through the massive gap in the hole that Oars went broken through when he woke up later.

Luffy was able to get rid of the bats though before he went rocketing back to Moria, who hadn't moved in all that time. It looked as if he was watching a mildly interest puppet show with how calmly he was taking this.

"Aren't you noisy?" Moria asked, sounding a little impressed at how Luffy dealt with that.

"Shut up!" memory Luffy barked back, already out of breath. He looked ready to fight again until the shadow bats came flying back at him in the form of a dark cloud. This went on until Luffy was covered in blood from the countless cuts from the bites and scratches.

"Come on, Luffy! We know you can do better than that!" Usopp said to their Luffy.

"Hey! I was trying! I didn't know how to get rid of that stupid shadow thing though!" present-day Luffy yelled back angrily as Moria was laughing at memory Luffy's growing frustration. With every bat he managed to throw off him, another two would bite down on him until he finally threw them all off at once. But as the bats went flying in all direction, splattering like goop where they landed, they slowly began to grow and rejoin together until Moria's Doppelman reformed itself and was smiling down at Luffy evilly.

"Robin? Tell me, what's the best way to fight against a shadow like that?" Nami asked Robin anxiously.

"Hard to say," she answered back calmly as drops of blood dripped from memory Luffy, leaving tiny splatters on the floor. Memory Luffy tried… and tried. But each time his fists were blocked until he was growing so annoyed that he looked ready to start tearing the entire freezer apart.

"No matter how lazy he may appear to be, you need to remember not to underestimate your enemy," Zoro said to their Luffy, who was frowning at how 'uncool' he was looking here. "Course, that also works out for us," he added. "But still, be careful, alright?"

"I know," present-day Luffy sighed. "I just wish… I could punch Moria again. Just once. I barely got the chance to do that here."

"Maybe you'll get your chance," Zoro offered as Moria only yawned as his shadow was now swaying tauntingly at memory Luffy. "Old enemies seem to have a habit of coming back to haunt us. Maybe we'll see this loser again. If he hadn't learned to improve by then though, I think that you could take him out easy."

"I hope so," present-day Luffy grunted, actually wishing that he had a chance to meet him again just so that he could break his face.

At long last, memory Luffy had enough and jumped over the ledge, taking Moria by surprise. But as Moria looked over the railing, already guessing that memory Luffy was trying to escape, they saw Luffy there, kicking up at the floor beneath Moria and sent him flying. Moria went flying upwards and crashed into the ceiling before falling back to the floor, pieces of ceiling actually falling down on top of him afterwards.

"Nice! Insult to injury!" Franky roared with laughter. "You really did kick his ass after all! I forgot that you did that!"

"Yeah, too bad that trick won't work again," Sanji pointed out. After all, once a fighter had seen an attack, they usually could figure out a way to avoid it in the future. Luffy took Moria by surprise this time, but it was going to take more than one surprise trick to win this night. Good thing that they were well known for surprising people.

That last attack was finally enough to get Moria's full attention. They could see a muscle going in his head when he pulled himself out of the rubble and was actually looking ticked off. The Straw Hats were all laughing and cheering, wanting to see him get his due. Moria, however, was looking dangerous as an evil grin appeared on his face again. He made only one threat… that he was going to make Luffy pay for that.

Memory Luffy paid no attention to him as he swung from the chain, trying to use the same attack from before, but Moria was able to deflect it when he sent his Doppleman after him.

"Well, no one can say that you didn't try," Robin pointed out as the Doppleman wrapped itself around memory Luffy like a thick, black snake. The battle went on viciously, but the problem was that Moria barely had to fight, while memory Luffy was already getting tired. There was no end to this, unless he figured out a way to deal with Moria's double, then there would be no chance for him to be able to get to the former Warlord for his long over-due ass kicking. Moria soon sat back down and watched as his shadow did all the work.

Memory Luffy tried to attack it again, this time with a Bazooka. However, it blocked that and a Gum Gum whip… which the shadow grabbed hold of his leg and bounced around like a yo-yo. Jumping up to the shadow's hand, memory Luffy actually tried to bite it, but he just pulled out a small piece of it like it was jelly before it fell back and rejoined in the hand like nothing had happened.

"Just asking, what did a shadow taste like?" Usopp couldn't help but ask their Luffy in curiosity. "I mean, it's not usually something that you give any thought to, but…?"

"It didn't taste like anything," present-day Luffy said as he frowned, trying to think back to that day. He had just been so angry that he thought that he might be able to eat the shadow if that was what it took to beat him. He didn't like it… it was like biting down on something wriggly before it slipped between his teeth. Nasty feeling, but no taste.

At long last, Moria laughed and taunted him by asking, "What's wrong? I thought that you said that you were gonna kick my ass?"

"Get off your high horse and actually fight your own battles and he will!" Franky yelled back.

"Yeah, you jerk!" Chopper yelled angrily. "I'll take you on now if you don't stop it!"

"You really want to fight against a Warlord, Chopper?" Robin asked him cheerfully before Chopper realized what he said and went slightly blue in the face at the thought.

"Hey, I hear ya, Chopper," Nami said with a frown. She was also getting sick of Moria and how he was just playing around with Luffy. She couldn't help but feel like she was looking at Arlong again. He rarely felt the need to fight his own battles… except when it came to tormenting and bullying her, of course. But Arlong was much the same way. He would sit there in his chair while he sent his stupid, violent-loving crewmates to go and destroy something or bring him back treasure while he relaxed.

And how she longed to be able break his face whenever he laughed when she was forced to return to his side.

Just seeing Moria was enough to get her blood boiling.

In anger, memory Luffy jumped up to his feet again as he yelled, "I'm going to! Just shut up and wait!"

"I see," Moria said, though he sounded like he highly doubted it. "Don't mind me but… if you don't hurry up, he'll come back."

"Him?" memory Luffy asked, sounding lost, "Who are you talking about? Who's _him_?"

Again Moria laughed. "You of course," he answered as if he should've guessed from the start.

"Huh?" Usopp asked before he remembered their 'big problem' and sighed at the thought. "Oars is on his way back here, isn't he?"

"I'm guessing that it's close to the time that his memories are gone and that he will start to obey, Moria," Robin nodded grimly. "If he's not heading back here right now."

"Just what we didn't need," Nami said as she shook her head, though a part of her was wondering just what kind of zombie did these freaks have set up for her if they got her shadow? She shuddered at the very thought of some stitched-up, rotting creature that would sound just like her. That was really scary.

Memory Luffy was looking confused to Moria's words, but when he came to realize that Oars was on his way, he tried to fight against the Doppelman once more, but it just seemed like no matter how hard he punched, the fight could go on forever.

"You know, I wonder, would Haki work on a shadow?" Sanji couldn't help but ask. "I mean, I know that it works for fighting against Logias, but this shadow isn't a Logia ability? It's a shadow?"

"Huh, that would be interesting to find out," Robin said in mild interest. "Personally, though, I doubt it. Because you can't really hurt a shadow, just a life-size puppet. If you want to take it out then you must go for the puppet master."

"But you have to get around the puppet to get to him!" Chopper pointed out.

"Yes, it is quite a conundrum, isn't it?" she asked lightly. Moria continued to mock memory Luffy, who was now yelling at him to stop acting all high and mighty. Just get to fighting him in person already.

"Seriously, this fight is just getting boring," Franky couldn't help but say, "I mean, there's only so often you can keep using the same attacks before it makes you want to pull your hair out."

As he said that, he pressed down on his nose to create a set of long pigtails just out of sheer boredom. But Moria looked like he could care less with what they were thinking of him. He just rolled over so that his feet stuck over the railing and he was able to look Luffy full in the face and repeated that he was going to become the Pirate King by using the strength of others, and now thanks to him, that day was closer than ever.

Memory Luffy declared that he would get everyone's shadows back no matter how many times it took for him to beat him. But no sooner did he say that than the Doppelman belly flopped right on top of memory Luffy, causing Moria to laugh.

"Cheater," present-day Luffy muttered when the Doppelman moved to see that his memory self was missing. Memory Luffy had rocketed up and was past to try and get to Moria… only for the Doppelman to reach up and grab his leg and stopping him dead in his tracks.

"I don't really care what happens to you," Moria admitted casually, "But your future doesn't look to… bright."

"Oh, boy… he's terrible with jokes," Zoro said as he slapped himself in the face.

"I don't know, I thought it was a little clever," Robin couldn't help but disagree. Zoro looked at her with his eyebrows raised. This woman worried him sometimes.

But there was no time to tell her this, for at that moment, the sounds of giant footsteps approach them and they all felt as though something in their stomachs sank at the thought their captain's new zombie. As soon as he heard them though, a new excitement filled up Moria as he got up and began looking outside the giant hole, almost bounding around with eagerness as his newest puppet was finally coming home.

"He's here…" Moria said excitedly as he laughed. After several more seconds, a massive pair of bandaged hands suddenly appeared on either side of the massive hole in the side of the building and the face slowly pulled itself up so that they could get a good look at it.

"Just how did they get something that big here?" Sanji couldn't help but ask. He had to admit that he wasn't as impressed with it as he should have been. But this guy was probably about the same size of Surume, and look how easily that they were able to deal with him? If only they had all been this strong when they first came to Thriller Bark. They would have dealt with Moria and everything here so much easier.

"So, how did it feel meeting your other half, Luffy?" Usopp couldn't help but ask him as sweat beaded on his forehead. Unlike Sanji, he was still freaked out at the size of Oars here and wanted to go and hide under a rock or something. They were like the size of fleas to this guy… and just one swat of his hand would have been enough to take them all out!

Even memory Luffy was staring up at that thing in shock as the present-day one said, "I knew that you guys said that he was a giant, but I was thinking of something a little smaller than that!"

"Yes, I'm guessing that he was a very special type of giant," Robin nodded in agreement. "Thankfully, there doesn't appear to be many types of giants like him in the world." Well, she knew that there had to be at least one other… Oars Jr.

She knew that he had been part of the Whitebeard Pirates, but she knew next to nothing else about him. Yet, if he was there at Marineford trying to save Ace, then he might have been very different from his ancestor. But as for the rest of these types of giants, she could never be sure if there was some kind of place like Elbaf where they came from.

"Thank god for that," Usopp sighed in relief. "Don't get me wrong, I have enormous respect for giants! It's been my dream to go to Elbaf and meet the warriors there ever since Little Garden, but if we had to meet more giants that big? I don't know if I could handle it."

Moria laughed as he turned to Oars and yelled at him that he had been waiting for him to come back and demanded to know who his master was.

The giant zombie looked down at him. "My master's name… is Master Moria."

"What?!" memory Luffy demanded in outrage.

"Yeah, no way that thing was me!" present-day Luffy snapped back. There was no way that he was ever going to call anyone his master! Especially not Moria!

"I have to admit that his power is truly a frightening thing," Brook nodded softly at the thought of even a shadow with such a strong will like Luffy's could eventually be brought under control.

"Still, the only reason he was so dangerous was because he had so many zombies," Zoro reminded him as he folded his arms and watched on. "And let's not forget that Hogback loser. He wouldn't even have zombies if it wasn't for him. If you ask me, his Shadow Shadow fruit powers are pretty lame."

"And what does that say about you since you had your shadow stolen?" Nami asked as Zoro glared at her.

Memory Luffy was shouting up at him that he shouldn't have to take orders from a jerk like Moria but Oars looked down at him with confusion as if he had never seen him before—which was difficult to say if he had or not. But Oars then asked, "Who are you with the Straw Hat?"

Brook sighed at the sight, remembering the pain he felt when he first confronted Ryuma after he had his shadow stolen. He knew that man held his shadow, but when they met, he asked him the same thing. He had honestly forgotten everything, who he was and their important promise to return to Laboon.

Hearing his own shadow ask him who he was felt like a knife to his heart. Not that he had a heart anymore since he was just a skeleton, but the pain was enough to make him feel like he was about to be sick. Good thing that he didn't have a stomach anymore, but that wasn't the point. The point he was trying to make was that it felt like a piece of him had ripped away and now that piece no longer knew who he was.

That was more painful than dying to him.

Moria laughed as he ordered Oars to look at his arm, to where there were eight wanted posters stitched there. Moria had made sure that Oars would know right away who their enemies were and ordered that he was to go round them up. He wanted to see just the kind of power that he had now with the corpse of a powerful giant and the shadow of a man with a 300 million beri bounty. Oars agreed and then he looked down at Luffy and said with an air of surprise that he found him so quickly,

"Oh… I found Straw Hat!" he said.

"Should I be worried that a zombie seems to follow orders better than you do?" Nami couldn't help but ask their Luffy, who laughed at that.

"Nope!" he said, though once her words sunk in he tilted his head and asked, "Huh?"

"Never mind," Nami said as she petted present-day Luffy's head like a dog. "Forget I said anything."

Memory Luffy was now in serious trouble. Even he would have a hard time dealing with this thing. He glared over at Moria, and they knew that he was thinking that if he could just take him out then he could finish off the zombie as well. But Moria just bid memory Luffy a fond farewell… and then went running for it.

That got memory Luffy's attention as he let out a roar of anger and tried to follow after him… at least until Oars finally struck at him. Despite memory Luffy crying out at him to stop, the memory faded slightly when Oars tried to head butt him. Like Luffy did black out for a moment, but he snapped out of it rather quickly and he was able to avoid most of the damage and they were able to run right after him as he chased Moria down the hallway that they used to get here, with Luffy yelling at him to stop running.

When the memory reappeared, they were back in the middle of the forest, but no sooner did they

They went running after the memory Luffy, who was still chasing after the Moria—though it looked like it was the real one—at the moment. They went running after him as Moria was growing increasingly more annoying with each passing moment that he taunted memory Luffy, who kept yelling at him to come back.

"I don't know why anyone does that," Usopp panted as he ran after them. "I mean, does that ever work? Does anyone actually believe that they'll turn around and stop just because you yell at them to do so?"

They others thought about that as they ran.

"Nope," Nami said with a frown, "I know I'd never do it."

"I would if it were you telling me to stop, Nami!" Sanji swooned.

"I know I'd run even faster if it was her," Zoro couldn't help but mutter darkly. If Nami told him to stop running, no way he'd ever stop.

Meanwhile, memory Luffy tried to fight Moria again by throwing out a few punches, but Moria's Doppelman appeared once more to block him. It was difficult to tell where anything was with the fog, darkness, and crumbling mansion all around them. At first it looked like Moria had been backed into a corner even as he continued taunting Luffy that his crew was probably flattened by Oars by now.

Neither Luffy believed that though as the memory one was declaring that his crew wasn't weak and they weren't going to die that easily. Something that the present-day Luffy proudly agreed with.

"Ah, stop it," Robin chuckled. "You're making us blush."

"Speak for yourself," Usopp declared, though there was some pink in his cheeks and Chopper was happily spinning once again.

"Yeah, well we almost were," Franky pointed out. "And that was just with Oars. We were all almost obliterated by Kuma. Seriously, where did he even come from?"

"Just be glad that he left," Nami said, not noticing how some of the crew had frOarsen up at her words. Though none of them said anything, Sanji, Robin, and Brook were all cautiously glancing at Zoro, who hadn't dared to move so much as a muscle. There was just a stony look in his eyes as he glared forward.

They all knew that if none of the crew was safe from their memories being shone, then they would undoubtedly witness the scene where Zoro made his stand against Kuma to protect his crew. They knew that there was nothing that he was dreading more than seeing that moment. And they also knew that he did not put his life on the line that day just for them all to thank him. He did what he had to do to protect the crew. And if they witnessed what kind of a 'deal' he had to make to make sure that they all left alive…?

"We must do something," Brook whispered to Robin quietly who silently nodded. They had to think of a way to protect Zoro's secret. If Luffy ever found out…?

He didn't even want to think of it. But as they were silently trying to come up with some kind of excuse or way out of here, the others were watching how Moria created the shadow bats a second time and attacked memory Luffy before he slipped away casually. Now growing angry, memory Luffy knocked the bats away and went chasing after Moria with a frustrated roar.

"Seriously, I almost rather he be kicking your ass in a fight right now then playing with you like this," Franky couldn't help but point out. Seriously, that may be less embarrassing than running around like an idiot.

"I hear ya," present-day Luffy frowned. "It was so stupid running around like that! Why didn't he turn around and fight already?"

"That's obvious. It was because he didn't see you as a threat," Sanji reminded him as he continued running with them. "He was just playing around with us because he was an overconfident bastard. Didn't realize he was screwed until his giant lost."

That certainly seemed to be the case as they continued chasing after him and memory Luffy all over the island. Everything from the collapsing manor to the forests and graveyard outside he kept running, using his Doppelman to taunt Luffy whenever he could.

They knew that all he was doing was buying time, for he knew that if he could keep this up until morning, then the sun would finish them off for him. At one point, the zombie Hildon flew down from the sky and flew alongside Moria as he tried to tell him that Oars was destroying everything. Moria just told him to get lost as he continued laughing like how a child would in the middle of having a fun game and was being told to go and clean his room.

Memory Luffy went running right past the bat-man zombie as he kept roaring at Moria to stop running. At one point rubble began falling from the sky, most likely do to the battle happening with themselves and Oars, and Luffy was forced to dodge it as the rock hit the trees. He made it out without a scratch, but he lost sight of Moria.

"Careful, Luffy," Usopp said firmly, knowing the kind of trouble that can happen to someone if they lose sight of their enemy who was trying to run away. But memory Luffy finally had enough. He started destroying everything around him as he screamed for Moria to come out. They followed him as he stretched his arms upwards and went flying up into the sky to try and find him. When he spotted Moria's shape through the trees, he went following after it… only to discover that it was just Moria's stupid Doppelman tricking him.

"Damn, it was his stupid shadow again," present-day Luffy snapped.

"For someone who claimed to be so strong, he was making it very difficult to prove it," Zoro pointed out. "I'm guessing that he must have switched with his shadow at some point and went back to fight all of us with Oars, huh?"

"Would seem to be the case," Robin agreed. "He just wanted to keep you busy long enough that you would be too far away to help us right away. But it was only going to be a matter of time before he realized that he couldn't afford to ignore us any longer and decided to deal with us personally."

"So that was his shadow the whole time?" present-day Luffy demanded.

"I think it more likely that you were chasing the real Moria before," Robin pointed out. "But he used his chance to escape when he realized that you had fallen behind for that moment."

"That jerk," present-day Luffy growled angrily. He remembered just how pissed off that he was getting the more that this guy ran away from him. The more that he ran, the more he wanted to hit him… if nothing else, to break a leg or two to stop him from running.

"You mean… I'VE BEEN CHASING HIS SHADOW THIS WHOLE TIME?! DAMNIT! HE TRICKED ME!" memory Luffy yelled out before he growled, glaring around furiously all around him, "Damn. When did he switch with his shadow?"

"Just head back to the mansion," Chopper said at once. "You'll find him there!"

But as memory Luffy glared at Moria's shadow, the Doppelman seemed to melt away, and began to escape as it went flying into the air. Memory Luffy tried to take it out, but it was like fighting jelly for his fists went right through it before it escaped. Memory Luffy was far from done though as he seemed to finally, fully grasp the situation that he and the others were in. He may have been a little cocky when he first went running off to confront Moria, but now he realized that they were under a time limit. He had to get his and everyone else's shadows back before the sun rose or else.

Memory Luffy began to run off in the same direction that the Doppelman went flying off, reasoning that wherever the shadow was going, Moria was sure to be there too. But he didn't get far because someone stuck their leg out from behind a tree and tripped him. Memory Luffy didn't noticed until he ended up tasting dirt.

"Those two again," Zoro said, recognizing the two pirates. "They look familiar. Didn't we see them earlier in the memories?"

"Yeah, those two squirrel zombies that were carrying our—coffin—through Perona's garden," Usopp said, his voice going much higher at the word 'coffin'. "After we were knocked out and were going to be taken to Moria before they dropped us and woke us up?"

"Oh, right," Franky said as he thought back. "Good thing for you though. Otherwise you would have lost your shadows too."

Memory Luffy began yelling at them as a crowd of people—not zombies—came out of the shadows of the trees. The others tried to calm him down, telling him that they believe that he was going to be the one who would save them and that they had been looking for him.

"Help?" Brook began before the image of what they did to Luffy came back and he shrieked at the memory.

"Boy, this isn't gonna be fun to watch again," Usopp whispered, feeling sick with fear at the thought of Luffy being that big again.

The Risky Brothers introduced themselves as part of the Rolling Pirates before their captain Lola stepped out to meet him. Nami was happy to see Lola again, even if she did feel a bit of disapproval for her having the idea to force all those shadows into Luffy.

And just like last time, the first thing she said to memory Luffy was a proposal of marriage, which he bluntly refuses.

"Rejection!" the Risky Brothers called out, "That's the 4444th rejection!"

"Damn," Franky whistled out. "I still can't get over that. What'll she do if someone actually says yes? I mean, I admire how she's going out and keeps trying even after so many rejections, but you think she'd at least get to know someone before asking to marry them."

"I wonder if she found herself a man after two years?" Nami couldn't help but wonder.

"Somehow, I doubt it," Franky couldn't help but speak up.

"I think she'd just be happy if he was a living, breathing male," Usopp muttered as he thought that over. "She's not exactly picky, is she?"

Lola began to explain to memory Luffy that they were all victims who had their shadows stolen by Moria and wished to see him defeated. They were already aware that the ones who served Moria had already been defeated and the mansion was mostly destroyed at this point. All they had to do was take out Oars and Moria, then their shadows would return. But right now, Moria was inside the giant's stomach.

Memory Luffy freaked out at first, furious at the thought that his zombie had done the fighting for him and took care of Moria for him. At least until the Rolling Pirates explained that Moria was in some kind of room in Oars's stomach. If they wanted to beat Moria, they needed to take out Oars first. At first, memory Luffy tried to head off again when they told him that the rest of the memory Straw Hats were fighting in the courtyard… at least until Lola tripped him up.

That was when they told him they had a way to help him beat Moria. She had the Risky Brothers run in with a shadow before other members of the crew grabbed memory Luffy from behind and held him as they began to force the shadow into his body.

"Right, I forgot about that," Sanji winced as memory Luffy began hollering in pain, asking what they were doing to him.

"They forced all those shadows into you," Chopper sniffled, not liking this at all. Who knows what kind of damage that having those shadows in your body can do? Even for Luffy, that looked like it hurt a lot, and they didn't even explain what was going to happen to him afterwards.

Lola just told him to hold still until the shadow went fully inside his body and memory Luffy fell over and laid on the ground.

"You ok, Luffy?" Chopper gulped as he looked at the memory Luffy.

"Yeah, it's fine," present-day Luffy answered as he put a hand to his chest where that shadow had been forced into his body. Without him realizing it, his hand traced over the X-shaped scar on his chest. Only Zoro noticed this, but did not betray any emotion, nor did he say a word at the movement. He merely turned his head back to the scene in front of him, though his expression was now stony.

"I like Lola," Nami sighed as she shook her head. "Especially after she came to save me like that. But, you think that she would have given you a choice in the matter."

She understood that Lola was just trying to help, and that she wanted to make sure that Luffy didn't lose against Moria, but she didn't like this tactic. At least explain what's going to happen before going off and doing it.

When memory Luffy finally opened his eyes, which now held dark shadows around them and slowly sat up with a dazed expression.

"Just wondering," Usopp said slowly. "Even if that's not your real shadow, would having a shadow, even if it's someone else's in you be enough to keep you from being destroyed by the sun?"

The others blinked at the question and looked at each other. Would that have worked?

"I don't think that it matters since that you can't hold onto those shadows for long, right?" Nami asked as she struggled to remember the rules of these shadows. Lola, however, was now asking memory Luffy if he knew how to use a sword, which memory Luffy honestly confessed that he didn't know how to use one at all.

His voice was hoarse and sounded very different thought they weren't sure what it was. But the others looked thrilled at the thought and ordered one of her crewmates to bring in a sword for him.

"You know, it might not be a bad idea for you to learn to use a weapon," Brook offered to their Luffy. "I know that you use your fists in battle Luffy-san, but maybe just some basic understanding, just in case?"

"I like using my fists," present-day Luffy answered as if it was obvious. "Besides, I think I'll leave the swords to Zoro."

"You might hurt yourself anyway," Usopp said as he flung his arm around Luffy's shoulder and shook his hand at him. Really, would you trust this guy with something long and sharp? Not the bests idea.

But at that moment someone tossed a katana into the air and the moment that memory Luffy saw it, his eyes glinted and he stretched out his arm to grab it… and then hacked down a nearby tree into neat boards to boot.

Since the others knew what happened and had seen this before, they didn't react nearly as strongly as the first time. But it was still a shock to see Luffy able to use a blade so effortlessly when it was so different from his usual character.

"I'm sorry," Nami said as she shook her head with a laugh. "That just looks so wrong when you watch it."

"I do get why you like swords so much, Zoro!" present-day Luffy laughed at the sight of himself holding the sword. He stretched up with his hands behind his head as he watched. "That was actually kinda fun to chop something up like that."

"It's an art form, it's not supposed to be fun," Zoro countered, though he had to admit that Luffy did have a point. Cutting things up never failed to send a thrill down his spine.

Memory Luffy re-sheathed the blade before realizing what he just did and began freaking out, not understanding what was going on. Lola then chuckled as she approached, calmly informing him how the shadow that was put into him belonged to a great swordsman. By putting the shadows of others into his body, he could use their strength and talents against Moria. They were prepared to power him up as much as it takes if his will could handle it.

"You really gave us a fright there," Nami told their Luffy. "We knew you all that time, and you never were able to use a sword before. But there you were, almost as good as Zoro. It was freaky."

"I don't know, I still think that it would be awesome to fight you like that," Zoro countered. "That is, if you think your fists are enough to stand up to me."

"Just watch," present-day Luffy grinned back. "I'll take you out."

Robin giggled at the sight of their friendly rivalry and she couldn't help but state, "How nice to see you getting long so well."

Memory Luffy was looking around and realized that there were more than a handful of shadows scattered around the ground. They informed him that they've been collecting shadows over the years as they looked for their own. But that if they put the shadow into him, it wasn't going to stay longer than ten minutes or so. But judging from the sky, they had about twenty minutes left before sunrise, so they had to take care of things fast. Suddenly, they grabbed hold of memory Luffy and began to force as many shadows as they could into his body.

"Luffy? Did it hurt?" Usopp gulped, trying not to listen to Luffy's screams of pain. He had enough of that with the Impel Down and Marineford memories and never wanted to hear them again.

"I didn't like it," present-day Luffy stated with a frown. That was all he said about the matter, but the meaning was very clear. It hurt… a lot. And it only got worse as they watched how memory Luffy was held down and one hundred shadows were forced into his body even as he thrashed about, screaming for them to let go of him.

But, without a doubt, the worst part was watching how he changed. His body grew larger and his skin grew colder and colder until it was a dark shade of blue. None of the other Straw Hats watching liked what was happening one bit and more than a few of them wanted to go rushing in and put a stop to it.

"Remind me to have a few words with Lola about this when we next see her," Nami said as the Rolling Pirates kept gathering more and more shadows, not even realizing what was going on. But when they ran out of shadows, they realized that Luffy didn't look the same as he did before.

Luffy had grown several times bigger than before—around Moria's size perhaps—and his skin had turned to completely blue… while his face had dark eyes and a serious expression that barely resembled their captain.

"This guy…" Lola whispered in shock, "Just how strong is his will that he's…? It's incredible! I've never seen anything like it!"

"How did you not pass out?" Nami asked their Luffy. It didn't matter how many times she was going to see this. She didn't like it one bit. This didn't look like Luffy. Not their Luffy. The fun, carefree, rubber-brained idiot that they all chose to follow as their captain.

"Wow," present-day Luffy said as he got a good look at himself. "That's me? I look so cool!"

"More like, so scary!" Usopp and Brook all cried out in fear at the sight of Luffy's new body.

"I'm just glad that you weren't going to look like that forever," Sanji sighed in relief. He could only imagine what it would have been like sailing around with him like this. His appetite alone must have gotten a lot more monstrous!

Memory Luffy was panting for air, already showing the strains of what it was like to have all those shadows inside him as the Rolling Pirates recoiled.

"Oi!" one of the Risky Brothers cried out, "Are you ok? Do you still feel like yourself, Straw Hat Luffy?"

"Good thing that you were on our side," Franky said as he shook his head. "Damn, I'd hate to imagine if we were stuck dealing with you along with Oars and Moria. We would've been screwed even before Kuma showed up.

At the mention of Kuma, Zoro felt sweat beginning to pick up on his forehead again. Damn, they didn't have much time left. They were quickly approaching the final battle on Thriller Bark. He had to figure out something… he knew that at least three others knew about his deal with the Warlord, but he rather put down his sword forever than ever let Luffy know what he did.

"Yeah," memory Luffy said darkly, "I'm still me. I'm overflowing with power! I wanna fight Moria so much! I can't wait any longer!"

"What was that like?" Chopper asked him with wide eyes, not realizing how uncomfortable that Zoro had become all of a sudden. "Going around so powered-up like that?"

"It was wild," present-day Luffy said as he thought back. It was a lot like using his Second Gear, only it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it used to. It was a lot more like how his new Second Gear was like… in fact, it was a lot like that new technique that he had been working so hard to perfect in the last two years.

He wondered when he would get a chance to be able to use that new Gear of his? His fourth?

But before he could say anything about that, the Rolling Pirates brought over a massive sword that required at least ten of them to carry it in. But it was the perfect size for memory Luffy's new body.

"Huh? Where did they get that sword?" present-day Luffy asked curiously.

"That's what I wondered last time," Robin couldn't help but point out. "Strange that they would have that ready to go."

"Maybe they had giants visit the island before and one of them left their sword behind?" Brook offered reasonably.

"Lousy swordsmen then," Zoro couldn't help but commit. Really, what kind of swordsman would forget his swords behind?

The Rolling Pirates only stared at memory Luffy, who took the sword and strapped it to his back. But his breathing was becoming ragged. Just standing there like this seemed to take a lot out of him. Who knew how long he could handle it.

"This feeling to fight…" memory Luffy said quietly, "I can't hold it!"

And at that moment he reared his head back and let out a battle cry that was so great that it shook the ground around them.

"That should do it!" Lola yelled out, "Go and give Moria a real nightmare! One that he won't ever forget! You're our only hope now! 'Nightmare Luffy'!"

"Nightmare?" present-day Luffy said as he thought that over before his eyes shone brightly and he cried out, "AWESOME!"

"How is that awesome?!" Usopp barked at their Luffy when the memory faded around them. "You were terrifying! I almost wet myself when I saw what they did to you!"

"Well, I mean it's not like I liked it," Luffy informed them. "It didn't feel… right. Like… there was somebody else trying to take control of my body."

"Really? Sounds freaky," Franky muttered. "Strange though, if all these shadows are around, why haven't they gone back to their owners without zombies?"

"I'm guessing that Moria must have ordered them not to," Robin said. "I guess something happened to the zombies of these shadows. Maybe the bodies they were in simply rotted away, or Moria felt that these shadows were just too weak to be any use to him. I suppose that the shadow was allowed outside, but weren't allowed to leave. It would seem that nothing short of defeating the zombie and breaking whatever spell it was that bound the shadow to this place will enable the shadow to return."

"That seems to be the case," Brook agreed. "After all, the zombies that I defeated usually couldn't wait to leave and go back to their rightful owners. And Zoro-san returned my shadow once Ryuma was defeated."

"Hell of a power boost though," Luffy said. "Afterwards I had so much energy that I just had to start fighting someone!"

"I guess we should just be glad that you were on our side then," Robin said with a smile. She was still unhappy with what the Rolling Pirates did to their captain, but she could understand why they did it. And Luffy obviously held no ill feelings towards them, so she supposed there was no point in worrying about it anymore.

"You do realize just how bad your body was after that fight, don't you?" Chopper snarled at their Luffy again. "You had me worried sick!"

"Yeah, I can't figure it out either," Luffy said as he frowned as he tried to remember. "I remember kicking Moria's ass before the sun started to make me disappear… but I think that I blacked out after my shadow came back. But when I woke up…?"

"I still think that there was something going on there," Usopp frowned as half the crew looked to Luffy. Only the ones who knew what truly happened were avoiding looking at Zoro at all costs—whose eyes were now shadowed over as he started to sweat again.

That moment was coming soon wasn't it? And he still did not know how to come up with some kind of excuse. Was there any kind of excuse that he could use? He doubted that Usopp's trick of causing them to look the other way will work for long.

"It's just been baffling me for a while now," Chopper said as he thought it over. "After all, Luffy… your body was a mess. But then Kuma appeared and attacked us. Which I still don't get why he did that but…?"

"Maybe he thought we all died in the blast and didn't bother to check?" Nami suggested but that seemed unlikely to her. Maybe Kuma only gave them a blast strong enough to knock them out and just left? He showed them mercy before back at Sabaody, didn't he? Maybe he was letting them off easy that time?

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why Luffy was in such good shape afterwards!" Chopper pointed out, "I mean, the first time that he fought a Warlord, he almost bled to death and was out cold for three days!"

"I think that we should just count ourselves lucky that things worked out so well, right?" Brook asked, trying to laugh it off but it came out slightly nervous. Something that Usopp, unfortunately, noticed.

"What's with you, Brook?" Usopp asked him curiously. "Do you have a theory to what happened?"

"What? Me? No! Why even ask that?! My head's just empty inside! You know that!" Brook said quickly.

"That's not true, Brook," Chopper began before Brook interrupted cheerfully.

"You know, that may be true, Chopper-san," Brook said as he grabbed hold of his hair and pulled gently to lift the top of this skull up. "I believe I may have some things stored away in here somewhere."

"WOULD YOU NOT DO THAT?!" Sanji barked at him as Chopper and Luffy both stared at him with starlit eyes at how cool that was.

The darkness faded around them until they were back in the room of the tower, which led Luffy to leading the way with Chopper and Usopp right behind them, leaving Franky laughing at Nami, who was now scolding them into being more careful. The rest of the crew followed behind more slowly as they muttered to each other.

"What are we going to do?" Brook whispered to Sanji in worry. "That moment is coming up, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and Luffy still doesn't know what's coming," Sanji nodded, his eyes drifting over to glance back at Zoro, who was trailing behind them all. "God, I don't know what I would say to him if he finds out. That's going to be awkward."

"I'm a little surprise they haven't figured it out for themselves already," Robin said slowly. "After all, Luffy had all but recovered but Zoro was in even worse shape than ever before."

"They didn't have time to ask questions because we were trying to stop Moss Head from bleeding to death," Sanji reminded her. "Besides, he was out for a few days anyway so they couldn't ask him any questions. But by the time that he finally did wake up, everyone was so excited over Brook joining and us leaving the place that it sort of just got pushed to the back of their minds."

"That easily?" Brook asked in surprise.

"They did ask him a few questions when he did wake up, but he insisted that nothing happened," Sanji reminded him. "And since he was on the mend, the others decided that they'll take that excuse just this once. It's one thing for Nami-san and the others to find out. But Luffy…?"

"If Luffy finds out, I can only imagine how devastated he'll be," Brook said, biting nervously down on his boney hands like fingernails. "For him to learn that, not only Zoro-san, but you as well Sanji-san, were prepared to die for him…?"

Sanji smacked his forehead at that as he hissed, "Damn, they'll be seeing that moment too?"

"You think that maybe we tell the others, except Luffy, about what happened and then have them help us try and explain it to Luffy?" Robin asked quietly.

"I don't know, I mean its bad enough that the three of us know," Sanji grunted. "But I suppose if worst comes to shove, Zoro could accept the others learning about it. But I think he made it clear that he never wanted Luffy to ever find out what he had done."

"But why?" Brook asked, though he already suspected the answer.

"He didn't go and risk his life like that on one of his crazy whims," Sanji said knowingly. "He did it because… because, believe it or not, there is a heart in that otherwise empty cavity in his chest. And he does care about the crew. He did what he felt was the only choice he had to try and protect everyone. And he knew how Luffy would react if he learned that the reason he was courting with death that time was because he took all of his pain." Sanji gazed up to the darkness in front of him, barely noticing how cold the tower was anymore and just how deep the dark seemed to grow the further up they all went.

After a while he spoke again, "Those two… those two have been in this together since they first met. So it really doesn't surprise me that they're willing to die for the other."

"Sanji-san…?" Brook whispered, actually feeling tears welling up in his eye sockets as they all looked behind them to where Zoro was still falling behind.

Zoro finally noticed that they were looking back at them and looked up darkly as he asked, "What?"

"Nothing," the three of them said as they looked forward again.

"The point is that I think that idiot would rather eat his swords than ever have Luffy learn what happened," Sanji said firmly. "When I ran into him after I woke up that day and saw all that blood everywhere…? All he said was that nothing happened. So I made a vow to seal that memory away inside me and pretend that to. So long as everyone was alive and safe, that was all that mattered."

"I like to think that they will be understanding of it since it has been two years," Robin pointed out, but she frowned slightly, already guessing just how the others would react. He could see Franky, Usopp, and Chopper all breaking down in tears at how cool Zoro was and the depth of his sacrifice for the crew. And Nami would be both shocked and angry that Zoro was risking his life for them like this and would most likely have some very colorful words to share what she really thought.

And Luffy…?

Oh, just the thought of his expression was enough to break her heart.

"How about this?" Brook asked, "I can play them a lullaby to knock the others out before the memory takes? It will put them to sleep and they can sleep right through this?"

"How do you intend to explain it when they wake up?" Sanji hissed back. "Besides, that melody doesn't seem to work on everyone."

"But it works on Luffy-san?" Brook reminded him as they thought of all the times that Luffy had drifted off to sleep whenever he heard it.

"Good point," Sanji frowned. "But there are times that he's able to fight it off. I think that his Haki might be somewhat responsible for that since he's gotten stronger. Hard to say, but now's not the time to wonder that. But that's a place for us to start from."

"How about we just insist that the memory was lying that one time?" Robin suggested. "Though I doubt that they will fall for that. It seems to me that the only way that we can get out of this is to find an exit, however that seems as unlikely to work."

"Right," Sanji nodded as they heard voices from the others up ahead and knew that they were almost at the next floor. "We still have time before seeing the memory with Kuma, but not a lot of it. Everyone start thinking of some kind of excuse or trick that we can use. We don't' want to hurt the others, especially Nami-san, so try to go as least painful as possible. We'll go for Brook's plan if we can't think of another. If worst comes to shove we'll just knock Luffy out before the memory comes up and make up some excuse when he wakes up."

"But then Nami-san and the others…?" Brook reminded him slowly.

"Then knock the others out too if you have to," Sanji snapped, "Except for Nami! She's too cute to be handled so roughly, but we have to really start thinking now of some kind of escape plan here."

Brook was about to ask another question but Robin held up her finger to silence him as Nami stuck her head out from the next landing that led to the next door.

"There you are," she said in relief. "We were starting to think that something may have happened to you guys!"

"Sorry about that, Nami," Robin smiled. "I guess that we're all starting to get tired or something, that's all."

"I'm hungry," Luffy whined from inside the room as they stepped in to join the rest of the crew.

"I told you, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner that we can find something to eat," Sanji said with a roll of his eyes, though silently hoping that Luffy's hunger would prove an accept to them for once by being single-minded enough to find some way out of here.

Zoro was the last to join them, having been dragging his feet and seemed to take an unusually long time to get up the stairs and through the door. Luffy complained about Zoro being slow, and Sanji couldn't help but suggest that maybe Moss Head got lost on his way going up the stairs, which resulted in him being yelled at with death threats. But he knew the reason, Zoro was also trying to figure out some way out of this mess that they dug themselves into.

But hell… when they made this choice, it had been over two years ago! And it's not like they ever expected to be revisiting old memories like this, right?

They stepped into the room as the door shut behind them again and the memory soon appeared. This caught them off guard, for they were back on the rooftop with Zoro, Brook and Franky. It looked like they had just finished things up with Ryuma, and memory Zoro was holding up his new black sword as the memory versions of Brook and Franky were looking around from the broken rooftop at the source of whatever was causing the shaking.

"I remember this," present-day Zoro said suddenly. "This was right before our showdown with Oars, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that's right," present-day Franky nodded in agreement. "In fact, we should be seeing the big guy coming out any second!"

"Hey, that felt like an earthquake, what just happened?" memory Franky asked, sounding nervous as he looked about.

"I… haven't a clue," memory Brook answered as they looked down at the crumbling mansion. "Whatever it was, it made my hair stand on end. Ah, but I'm a skeleton so I don't have… ah, wait a moment… ah, that's right I do have hair," he said fondly as he petted his afro.

"It's one of the only few things you have going for you," Usopp reminded him darkly. "How could you forget how important it was to you?"

"I suppose it was just the excitement of what was going on around me," present-day Brook suggested as he patted his own afro tenderly. "That, and I was still so overcome with joy at the thought of my shadow returning to me that it slipped my mind! Yohohoho!"

"YOU FIGHT SO HARD TO PROTECT YOUR AFRO THEN YOU FORGET YOU HAD IT!?" memory Franky yelled at him. "MAYBE I SHOULD GIVE YOU A POMPADOUR LIKE MINE! WOULD THAT HELP YOU REMEMBER?"

"No! Please, Franky-san! Not my afro! It's my treasure!" present-day Brook gasped at the thought.

"Then stop acting like you forgot all about it!" present-day Franky yelled back. "There's a time and a place for your jokes, and now wasn't the time for them!"

"No, no thank you," memory Brook said quickly to the memory Franky's offer. But memory Franky continued with his threats after that as memory Zoro was looking down at the ground while the shaking started up again, getting everyone's attention.

"What is that?" memory Franky asked at once, immediately forgetting that he was pissed off with Brook.

"No idea," memory Brook answered again, "But whatever it is, it's giving me goosebumps. Or it would but…?"

"Now, Brook," Robin informed him as memory Franky had enough and gave him a few hits to the head and left him a swollen mess on the ground, "You do know that you deserved that, right?"

"Yes, Robin-san," present-day Brook sighed. "Just thinking about the pain that cost me, it makes my skin crawl. Ah, not that I… ah…"

He stopped dead when he saw the present-day Franky holding up a fist threateningly.

"Never mind," he finished meekly.

Just then, Oars went punching his way through the building, taking everyone buy surprised once again, causing screams of terror from the memory versions of Franky and Brook.

"OH MAN!" memory Franky hollered, "IT'S SOME KIND OF GIANT MONSTER!"

"SO… MASSIVE!" memory Brook screamed so much that he would surely get that thing's attention.

"Why is this crew so loud?" Nami moaned out

"At least they're lively," Robin offered with a smile.

"That's… that's a zombie!" memory Franky gasped. "Oh, crap! That must be Luffy's zombie!"

That was when something near Oars's feet caught his attention and he seemed to forget all about Brook, who was still screaming his head off.

"Hey! Look down there! Somebody else just came outta the building and it looks like Chef Curley brows!" memory Franky yelled as he pointed to the ground.

"Chef Curley-brows?!" present-day Sanji barked furiously.

"It suits you, Curley-brows," present-day Zoro reasoned.

"Oh yeah?" Sanji retorted, "At least I'm not a Moss-Headed swordsman who can't tell his left from his right!"

"Hey! Look at that!" present-day Brook called as he pointed at the small figure that was moving below them. It was enough to get their attention and stop the fighting when they saw that it was memory Sanji, who pulled himself out of the rubble, coughing up blood the whole way.

But he didn't seem interested in his injuries as he punched the rock underneath him as he spat out, "Damnit, I failed her!"

He pulled himself upright, still coughing up blood the whole way. While getting stepped on by Oars wasn't enough to kill him, it certainly did damage to slow him down.

"What the hell is he doing?" memory Zoro demanded irritated from next to them, "He's gonna get stomped on!"

"Thanks Moss-Head, I never knew you cared about me that much," present-day Sanji said to him with a grin.

"I just didn't want to be the one to answer to Luffy why you were stupid enough to get yourself killed," he shot back. Truthfully, he did feel a little bit of worry for the cook that day, not that he would ever admit to it. He rather blind himself in his other eye than ever tell him that.

Rather than risk it, he went and jumped down to the bridge right below them, yelling up that he just spotted some familiar faces there. The others were surprised and followed to see that he was right. The memory versions of Robin and Chopper, who had just escaped when Oars went marching in through the manor, were running up the bridge through Perona's Garden when they spotted memory Usopp there, looking at Oars through a pair of binoculars.

"I hate to tell you this, pal," present-day Sanji pointed out, "But I don't think that you need binoculars to see him."

"That wasn't what I was looking at!" the present-day Usopp retorted as memory Chopper cried out to his past self in relief to see him safe.

"Hey! Chopper! Robin! We're in trouble here! Big trouble!" he cried out as he pointed. "The Luffy-Zombie has our faces!"

"Wait?" Luffy asked as he looked to Oars and back at Usopp again. Strange, Usopp didn't look anything like Oars?

"No, wait!" memory Usopp said as he tried to correct himself. "I mean, on his arm! He has our wanted posters! What do we do now?! Oh, man this is no joke! He's gonna hunt us down!"

"SHOW YOURSELVES! COME OUT STRAW HATS! YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!" Oars yelled, getting angry as he couldn't find them.

"COME ON CAPTAIN! YOU'RE NOT GONNA TEAR APART YOUR OWN CREW!" memory Usopp begged as he cried out in fear.

But at his cry, the three up on the tower heard him and they heard memory Zoro suddenly shouting down at them, "HEY! USOPP! IS THAT YOU DOWN THERE?"

"Did you just hear that?" memory Usopp said as he looked around. "What the…? Someone just yelled my name!"

"Yep! The crew's almost all here!" present-day Franky chuckled. "All we needed were Luffy and Nami and we'd have the whole set!"

That was when memory Usopp looked to the top of the manor and cried out, "ZORO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?!"

"FRANKY'S WITH HIM! AND LOOK! BROOK'S WITH THEM TOO!" memory Chopper cried out when he saw them there. "THEY'RE ALL SAFE!"

"For now," memory Robin said with morbid. "It looks like they managed to save the skeleton in time at least. Nami on the other hand, I'm still pretty worried about."

Memory Sanji jumped from rock to rock until he was directly beneath Oars and barked up at him to get his attention, "Hey! You're standing in my damn way! What are you doing interfering? What's gotten into you, Luffy?"

"That's not me!" Luffy yelled. "I'd never go after you guys like that!"

"You have more than once," Zoro pointed out as he remembered when he attacked him at Whiskey Peak what felt like a lifetime ago.

"Not without reason," Luffy answered back.

"What?" Zoro yelled, sounding like he was about to yell at him, but Oars started speaking again.

"Luffy?" Oars asked stupidity, and soon he started speaking to himself. "I think I'm supposed to crush that guy? He's my enemy. My name's Oars. Hello there."

"You know? I wasn't sure at first, but he really does have your shadow in him, Luffy," present-day Usopp said as he thought it over. "That sounds like something you would say."

"Man, and you say I'm rude," Luffy retorted.

"You are rude," present-day Sanji grunted, "That was just the truth."

Meanwhile, memory Sanji just put his bent cigarette into his mouth before lighting it. "Really?" he asked. "What's with the introductions? Idiot. He just says whatever he wants, huh? Definitely takes after Luffy."

"This is bad! This is really bad! Sanji's in trouble!" memory Chopper cried out from next to them, clearly thinking that Sanji was out of his league.

"This is unexpected," memory Robin added, "I was under the impression that all they wanted from us were our shadows. But he looks more prime for violence."

"I guess they already got the cream of the crop with Luffy's shadow," memory Usopp suggested.

"What are we? Chopped liver? We're the ones who do all the real work around here," Nami countered.

"Still," present-day Robin pointed out, "It looks like Oars was also ordered to go after Luffy. If he kills him then they're out of a zombie."

"Well, Moria doesn't strike me as someone who thinks too much," present-day Zoro offered. Besides, if they had their bounties so high, he probably figured that if they got killed then they weren't worth having anyway.

Memory Chopper, who looked like he was about to freak out, "Scary! It's scary! No way we can fight that thing!"

Memory Robin held up her hands and said, "Well, we can't just stand back and watch as Sanji gets slaughtered."

Present-day Sanji gasped. "You… Robin? You mean… you were worried about me?!"

"Shut up and keep watching," Nami sighed, having heard enough of love-sick idiots for one day.

But memory Usopp held up his hand to stop her from doing something when he had an idea. "Whoa! Hold it! Listen, we're just all gonna get ourselves killed if we all try to get involved. Sanji can handle this guy on his own. And don't worry. He's got a better chance than any of us getting out of here alive."

"What? How is his situation any differently than ours?" Nami asked their Usopp, thinking that she must have heard wrong. Sure Sanji was strong, but at this point in their adventures, Sanji wasn't strong enough to take down Oars on his own. She wasn't the only one for Robin didn't look like she understood his line of thinking either.

"How? His face is on a wanted poster to, right?" memory Robin. "I don't see how his situation is any better than the one we're in here."

"That's exactly where you're wrong," memory Usopp said as he shook a finger at her and grinned. "You're not thinking clearly here, Robin. You've seen his wanted poster haven't you? There's no way he'll realize that's Sanji!"

"Oh, you got to be kidding me, why bring that up?" present-day Sanji sighed. What was the point in having a wanted poster if you weren't even recognized by the world? It was some bullshit in his opinion.

"That's true!" memory Chopper cried out in realization. "Sanji's wanted poster doesn't look anything like him!"

"You've got a point," memory Robin agreed slowly as she thought that over. "I'd forgotten about that."

"I wish I could…" present-day Sanji sighed miserably.

"I think you said something about wanting to send in a picture of yourself to the government so that they could work it out?" present-day Usopp asked their Sanji as he tried to think back to the first time they saw Luffy's memories and they had a conversation like that.

"Right! I forgot about that!" Sanji said suddenly as he looked up. "Damn, I've been so busy I forgot about that! I need to get my picture taken as soon as I get back to the ship!"

Oars looked from Sanji down on the ground to the poster on his arm.

"You look just the same as your wanted poster," he said, causing the memory versions Usopp and Chopper to scream in shock.

"You got to admit that he's got a good point," present-day Zoro said as Sanji sighed grimly at that. "I mean, it's practically a mirror."

"SHUT UP! THAT THING DOESN'T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE ME!" present-day Sanji yelled as his past self was looking more horrified at that than at any of the zombies on the island.

"THAT DRAWING LOOKS NOTHING LIKE ME!" he roared out in fury.

"What do you mean?" Oars asked confused. "It's so good?"

"ARE YOUR EYES ROTTING, IDIOT!?" memory Sanji demanded as the present-day one ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. Really? How could Luffy think that disgusting excuse for a drawing and he look anything similar, but couldn't tell that Usopp was Sniper King? It boggled his mind.

"But you admit you're part of the pirate crew, huh?" Oars asked.

Nami could see where this was going and gasped, "Don't answer…?"

Too late.

"YEAH! WHAT OF IT?!" memory Sanji yelled back in outrage.

"Right," present-day Zoro said slowly, "You realize that you were pretty much screwed at that point?"

"Shut up! I don't regret saying it!" he yelled back.

"Then you're dead," Oars said, and memory Sanji's fury left as he realized that by admitting that he may have signed his own death warrant.

"Oh crap… oh crap…" memory Usopp choked as Chopper began crying. But memory Sanji stood his ground as he challenged Oars, telling him to bring it on.

Nami smacked herself in the face as she demanded, "Are you an idiot? No, don't answer that, are you trying to get yourself killed is a better question!"

"Well, to be fair, he already decided that I had to die at that point," present-day Sanji reasoned as Oars began to throw at a series of punches right at him, forcing Sanji to jump around and avoid it.

"STAY STILL AND LET ME SQUASH YOU!" Oars bellowed out.

"Like that's gonna make me stand still?" present-day Sanji replied as he puffed out some smoke.

They couldn't do anything but watch as Oars tried again and again to hit him. At one point he did manage to corner him and Sanji was pounded into the earth. But Oars stopped, Sanji walked out on his own two feet. He was bleeding alright, but didn't seem to be badly injured.

"You punk," memory Sanji snarled, "You almost broke my damn cigarette." He stopped as he warned, "Alright you got your shot in! Now it's my turn!"

"WOW! THAT'S BADASS, SANJI!" present-day Usopp cried out in awe as Luffy and Chopper had sparkling eyes.

"GO FOR IT, SANJI!" the two of them cheered as their past selves were sighing in relief that he wasn't as flattened.

"I'm not finished yet you twerp," Oars threaten as he cracked his knuckles. He then threw his arm back as far as he could and started, "GUM GUMMMMMMMM."

That drew concerned and shocked cries from all over.

"THAT'S LUFFY'S MOVE!"

"CRAP! CAN HE STRETCH?!"

Oars threw his punch and shattered the earth beneath him. While it didn't stretch, that was hardly the point, the fact was that he was powerfully dangerous without the ability to stretch out his arms.

"ALRIGHT! SO HE DIDN'T STRECH, BUT DOES IT REALLY MATTER?!" memory Chopper demanded.

"I'm going to say no," present-day Franky said firmly. "Not that he needed it to begin with. He's huge! It's not like he has to reach very far to pick up whatever he wants, does he?"

"WITH THAT STRENGTH AND AS LONG AS HIS REACH IS, IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME THING!" memory Usopp added.

As for memory Sanji, he was now forced to jump around again to avoid the falling debris.

"Alright, I gotta admit," present-day Sanji said to Luffy, "Your zombie is kinda a badass."

"You think?" Luffy asked eagerly.

"Enough," Nami hissed, wishing that she could knock some sense into their heads.

Memory Sanji went charging in right at him, leaping around once more as he avoiding his fists. He then brought his foot jump to kick him in the head, which Oars countered with his own head-butt. The present-day Sanji watched with a grimace, remembering how it almost broke his leg when he kicked him.

His past self was forced to jump again to avoid Oars when he started punching at him again. But then Oars stomped down hard, causing the ground to shake and caused memory Sanji to lose his balance. Oars then finally hit him and sent him flying to the mansion and he went crashing right into it. The Straw Hats were shocked to see someone that size move so quickly and were calling out in worry to Sanji.

But he seemed to be out cold as he fell, causing Oars to race over and catch him like a doll in his hands.

"No more fancy footwork for you, pipsqueak!" Oars yelled as he held up memory Sanji upside down. He only looked at him with interest for a moment before he held him up, above his head, and they all knew right away what he was planning.

"NO! STOP IT!" cried out memory Zoro of all people, who actually sounded like he was close to panicking here.

"Again, I just didn't want to deal with your worthless corpse," the present-day Zoro hissed to Sanji before he could say anything about that.

"SANJI LOOK OUT!" memory Chopper screamed.

"ALRIGHT PIRATE!" yelled Oars. "SQUISHING TIME!"

They watched in horror as he was about to ram Sanji straight into the earth, but at the last possible second…?

"FIREBIRD STAR!"

Out of nowhere, a familiar flaming attack came flying out from the direction of the bridge. It stuck at Oars's head from behind.

"Where'd that come from?" present-day Sanji blinked in surprise.

"I'm more surprised that it didn't work," Nami said, "You think with all that hair, he'd go up in a bonfire?"

But Sanji was looking up to the bridge to see memory Usopp standing there, having been the one who fired the attack. It didn't do much to Oars, but it was enough to get his attention and stop himself from killing Sanji.

"Hot…" Oars growled, more in irritation than in pain as he slowly turned to face Usopp, who was shaking from head to foot.

"I'm-I'm sorry!" he called shakily.

"Wow, you did that for me?" present-day Sanji asked in surprise, wishing that he could remember that but was sure that he was out of it at that point.

"I, yeah… I mean, I wasn't thinking, I just sort of… did it," present-day Usopp said as he watched on. "I forgot about that. I just knew I had to try something, and this was all I could do."

But now he now had Oars full attention, who threw memory Sanji away like a rag doll, memory causing Chopper to cry out in fear. Oars ignored them for the moment as he checked his arm again, as if he were checking the time.

"Tall woman with black hair…" Oars grunted, recognizing them, "And that's the little fuzzy thing?"

"Little fuzzy thing?" present-day Chopper demanded hotly.

"You have to admit that you are cute and fuzzy, Chopper-san," present-day Brook offered with a chuckle.

"Shut up! Don't make fun of me!" present-day Chopper shot back, though he was blushing red at that.

As for Oars, he laughed a little as he shook his head, getting rid of the rest of the fire before he began heading over to them.

"AH! HE'S COMING!" memory Usopp and Chopper screamed in panic.

"This is bad! Franky, we gotta do something! Draw him this way!" memory Zoro's yelled from the top of the tower. Even from this distance, they could hear his voice and saw how he flicked his swords out, ready to charge.

"I'm on it!" memory Franky said as he held up his arm, preparing to fire. "I think this'll get his attention!"

It certainly did, forcing Oars to change direction and aim a kick at what was left of the tower that they were on. Memory Franky jumped off with Brook, the skeleton screaming the whole way. Memory Zoro, however, leapt onto Oars's leg and began running, barking orders at Franky and Brook to get down to the lower levels as he went flying up to Oars's face, his muscles pumping up the whole way.

He succeeded in taking out one of his enlarged fangs—but failed to do any serious damage to him in time. Oars countered but kicking him straight upwards, actually becoming level with the top of the mast.

"Owww! That had to hurt, I'm amazed that it didn't kill you right away!" present-day Usopp winced at the sight. "Though even for you, if that kick didn't kill you, the landing would when you came down!"

"Give me some credit," present-day Zoro retorted. "I'm not that weak."

"It's not a question of weak! I meant that there are limits to humans! Though I confess that you barely count in that category," present-day Usopp yelled at him, though he had to wonder just what exactly was Zoro to get such a big beating but still get up to fight like that.

Oars was waiting for him to come back down, but memory Franky who managed to make it to another rooftop with Brook stood back up.

"TAKE THIS, YOU MONSTER!" he cried as his left arm opened to reveal the cannon and fired. But Oars dodged it again by doing a nimble backflip and landed lightly on his feet.

"I always thought that you would be a good dancer with how light you are on your feet, Luffy," present-day Robin teased their captain.

"Huh? What do you mean, Robin?" Luffy asked curiously. He danced whenever they had parties, didn't he? She just smiled fondly at him as he tilted his head in confusion. Robin was strange sometimes.

"HE DODGED IT AGAIN?" memory Franky cried out in shock, lifting up his sunglasses so that he could get a better look. "HOW CAN HE BE THAT AGILE?"

Oars then went over to another pointed tower and with his strength, he went and tore the pointed top half off.

"What's he doing now?!" memory Brook cried out in fear as Oars jumped.

The two of them then screamed even louder when they saw him aiming right at them and threw the pointed rooftop like a javelin. They managed to avoid getting hit with it head on, but they fell hard to the ground with rocks falling from all over. The memory versions of Chopper and Usopp were crying out for them before Chopper looked up and saw memory Zoro falling back down again.

He then pointed upwards and shouted out loudly, "ZORO'S FALLING TOWARDS US!"

"OH CRAP! HE'LL DIE IF HE HITS THE GROUND!" memory Usopp shrieked at the sight, but unable to do anything to help.

"Guess I owe you for this one Robin, huh?" the present-day Zoro asked as the looked at her and she smiled back.

"After everything that happened that night, I honestly don't have a clue who owes who, anymore," she reminded him. "But your welcome."

The others didn't know what to make of that, at least until memory Robin caused a hundred or so arms to sprout out underneath Zoro, catching him safely as they formed together to create a net. Though injured and spitting up blood, he avoiding a killing blow. But Oars was right there above him, taking them all by surprise and memory Chopper shrieked out louder than ever.

At last, memory Usopp had enough as he caught the giant's attention by holding up his slingshot and declared, "You might be huge! But you're still a zombie!"

He then fired the salt right into Oars's mouth, who instinctively swallowed it with a loud gulp.

"Taste good?" memory Usopp asked smugly. But as the seconds ticked by, they were all realizing that nothing was happening. Oars just stood there for a moment as he seemed to be wondering what it was that he just ate. Once memory Usopp finally noticed he turned a sickly shade of green as he croaked, "It… it wasn't enough? He's too big!"

"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that a little bit of salt won't work," present-day Nami gulped down. "It won't work on something like that. I don't think anything less than forcing him to swallow ocean water will be enough."

"It was a nice try anyway," present-day Sanji reassured him. "Thanks for trying, Usopp. If nothing else, it saved me from getting slammed into the concrete."

"You still did though!" present-day Chopper pointed out as he looked down anxiously to memory Sanji, who was stilly lying there out cold.

His memory self suddenly grew to his Heavy Point, willing to at least try and go down fighting.

"NOW HEAVY GONG!" he cried out as he rammed his fist right at him. But Oars slammed the broken building down on top of them and the memory blacked in and out as the roaring was loud enough to deafen them. Most of the crew had to cover their ears as they suddenly went falling down from the bridge to the ground below them to where the others all here.

Some of the crew had to curl up into balls as they fell, trying to instinctively protect themselves from the fall, despite knowing that they were all safe. Yet, the noise was easily enough to make them forget where they were, that this had already happened and that it was a desperate fight for survival.

Eventually though, the noise died down and the Straw Hats—who were safely on the ground—were all cautiously looking around, mildly surprised that there wasn't a scratch on any of them. But still, some of them, such a Zoro and Franky had to remind themselves to put their weapons away, despite feeling that they were ready to fight.

They all laid in a bleeding mess on the ground—the memory still showing through, but it was so dim and the voices so muted from the ringing that they knew that whoever was still conscious that it wasn't going to last much longer. It seemed that these were Usopp's memories for he was near them and seemed to be the one who was fighting to stay awake.

"Luffy… you jerk…" memory Usopp croaked and the memory darkened even more.

"I don't know you, my names not Luffy," said Oars in his slow voice. "I'm Master Moria's servant. The name is Oars."

"No, you're not!" Luffy yelled out in outrage, wanting to beat up Oars a second time for saying that. He was no one servant!

Oars, seemingly thinking that he had taken them all out, looked down at his arm to where the crew's wanted posters were all stitched onto. He began counting them out, and adding up the pirates on the ground.

"Don't know who those two are, but whatever," he said when he looked down at the memory versions of Brook and Usopp. There's that Straw Hat guy, orange hair lady, and awesome super hero."

"Hey, that's right! He still thinks that Sniper King's part of the crew!" present-day Chopper cried out. "And this was before Brook joined us! So he wasn't after you two!"

"Yeah, I suppose," present-day Brook nodded. "But that didn't stop him from giving us a beating anyway, Chopper-san."

"Oh… right," he said as Oars scratched his head.

"That's five down and three to go. Wonder where they're hiding?" Oars said as he began to march off, looking for Luffy, Nami, and Sniper King—leaving the rest of the Straw Hats in that courtyard. The memory blacked completely at that point.

"What happened to you all?" Nami asked them in concern. "Were you all ok?"

"It wasn't fun, if that's what you're asking," Robin reassured her. "But don't worry. We were all hit hard, but we got back up once we managed to catch a quick cat nap."

"What's going on now?" Chopper gasped fretfully.

"Yeah, it was starting to get good!" Luffy said, "I wanna see you guys go and kick Oars's ass!"

"What fight were you watching?" Sanji demanded, "We got our asses kicked!"

"Yeah, at first! But you guys got him in the end, didn't you?" Luffy asked eagerly. "I wanna see that part when you get back up!"

"Quiet," Franky said as he looked around, "I think I hear voices?"

They all fell silent as they listened, and they realized that he was right. They heard what sounded to be whispering, before they steadily grew louder and louder until they could hear a wheezy voice say, "You may now kiss the bride."

"Oh, no!" Nami gasped, guessing at once what was happening. And she felt her skin crawl when she heard another voice speaking up, "Finally! I've been waiting long enough."

"NO! DON'T TELL ME IT'S…?" Sanji yelled out, also recognizing that smug voice. The memory slowly started to become clear and the first thing they saw was a pair of furry lips coming in at them. There were screams of shock and horror at the sight of it from the rest of the crew as the memory cleared more until they saw what was happening. The memory was from Nami, and she had finally woken up—and not a moment too soon. She was being held up by another zombie at the altar, with Absalom leaning in about to try and kiss her.

Memory Nami was now fully awake and her eyes were wide with horror as she began to shriek and thrash about. She began screaming, her head leaning as far back as she could make it to try and avoid his lips as she screamed for him to let her go.

Absalom looked annoyed as he cracked open an eyelid to see her as he growled, "Dammit, so she finally woke up, huh? Well, that won't stop me!"

"That gave me nightmares for weeks after that!" present-day Nami cried out in outrage. "Imagine waking up with that thing's face the first thing you see? God, I need to take a shower once we get back to the Sunny."

"He didn't do anything else to you, did he?" Robin asked her in concern.

"Not that I'm aware of, no," she answered back as Absalom leaned further in to try and kiss her as she was doing everything she could to avoid him. "I don't remember anything that happened. I mean, I didn't even know that he and Sanji were fighting each other. But at least I finally get what happened."

"If he had, then you can bet I sure as hell would've murdered him!" Sanji vowed, actually hoping to meet with that invisible freak again someday… just so that he could deal out proper punishment.

"Come on, my dear," Absalom said through puckered up lips, "We already went through the boring stuff! Just let me kiss you so we can be husband and wife!"

"Am I the only one here who feels kinda bad for him for wanting to marry, Nami?" Usopp couldn't help but whisper to some of the other men.

"Poor guy has no idea what he's in for," Zoro said as he shook his head piteously. "She is going to eat him alive."

"I SAID NO! THOSE AREN'T EVEN HUMAN LIPS!" memory Nami screamed as she kept leaning back more and more until she was bent almost double over. "AND I'M A PIRATE! I'M INTO ADVENTURE AND TREASURE! NOT ROMANCE!"

"Really? You really do like adventure, Nami?" Luffy asked brightly. "I thought that you thought it was scary!"

"If you're involved, then of course I'm gonna be scared," the present-day Nami said sarcastically. "You're the one who's always insisting that we go the hard way."

"I'm the Graveyard King! You'll be the Graveyard Queen!" Absalom reasoned. "Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"Yeah, you're stupid title doesn't mean anything to me," the present-day Nami retorted sourly. Seriously, she had standards too! She wasn't going to marry him even if he was king of the world!

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" memory Nami demanded. But before this could go any further, the ceiling began cracking apart and it broke. For a split second, everyone thought for sure that it was Oars again, but it turned out that it was something just as scary.

"NAMIZOOOOOOUUUUUUU!" Lola shrieked as she came breaking through the ceiling, spinning about and her swords were cutting anything that was unfortunate enough to be in her way. It was enough to knock Nami away from Absalom and the zombie that held her in place as screams rang out.

"Lo…?" memory Nami gasped.

"LOLA! NO!" Absalom shrieked in terror.

"Where'd she come from?!" Usopp yelled out with wide eyes.

"Well, I guess she would come if it's her man's wedding," Franky offered with a shrug. "Too bad for him."

"And Nami! She's gonna think that she's stealing him!" Brook pointed out anxiously.

"No worries," present-day Nami smiled warmly at the sight of Lola. "She's one of a kind, Lola. I hope we get to see her again!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Nami?" Chopper asked as Lola stood between Absalom and Nami as she glared at him with her blades held up threateningly.

"Namizou…" Lola growled as she turned to glare down at her, fire burning in her eyes before spreading through her whole body.

"You… ah… sure she's on our side?" Franky gulped, "She's looking pretty scary here, Nami!"

"Don't worry," she replied again knowingly. Looking at it now, she knew that it looked serious, but it seemed that Lola was one hell of an actress.

"How dare you do this to me, you traitor? You said Master Absalom and I would make a beautiful couple!" Lola demanded.

"I take it back," present-day Nami sighed, "You're way too good for him, girl. You can do so much better."

"And I turn around for 5 minutes and you're marrying him?" Lola went on furiously.

"Not by choice!" present-day Nami couldn't help but say as Lola finished, "You said you were my friend! But all you wanted was my man! I should have known better than to trust a thief like you!"

"Hold on a second Lola!" memory Nami tried to explain. "You got this whole thing wrong! I mean, for one, I was knocked out this whole time, I don't have a clue what…?" that was when she noticed what she was wearing. "Huh? Is this a wedding dress? Why am I wearing this? It's pretty though."

She said the wrong thing.

"Oh? It's pretty is it? Well how wonderful for you!" Lola screamed as she charged in swinging her swords, forcing Nami to scoot back along the floor as quickly as she could.

"THIS IS ALL JUST A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING!" memory Nami screamed as she tried to move back.

"WHAT? SHE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU!?" Luffy yelled in shock.

"SHE'S GONNA CHOP YOU UP INTO LITTLE PIECES, NAMI!" Chopper cried out in terror.

"Yes, she should be going after Absalom who was cheating on her," Robin reasoned. "At the least it would give you time to run for it."

That was when she blinked and noticed something along the same time that Zoro did.

"Before when she went after you in the graveyard she knew how to use those swords," he said as he watched almost the wild slashes made. "But here, she's not even bothering to use them properly. What's going on?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked, "You mean she's not attacking her for real?"

Present-day Nami smiled as she gave them the thumps up. "No real friend would stand by and let you get married to a jerk like that Absalom guy! She was here to help the whole time!"

"Wow! Really?" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all asked eagerly.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Absalom yelled. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST BURY YOUR ROTTING CARCUS IN A HOLE SOMEWHERE, SO I CAN GET MARRIED ALREADY!"

Lola stopped going after Nami as she spun around to glare at him as she barked, "You wanna get married then marry me!"

"I WOULD RATHER DIE!" he yelled back, causing steam to puff out of her snout.

"I don't know what his deal is," Franky said as he folded his arms. "I mean, he wants to get married, and Nami sure as hell doesn't want to marry him, but we have a lady who's raring to go. What's the problem?"

"So people are just so picky," Brook shrugged. "Guess that there's just something about you, Nami-san that he likes."

"Good thing for me that I'm even more picky than he is," present-day Nami said with a roll of her eyes. "If I'm ever getting married, I'm going to go for someone who's the complete opposite of him."

"Huh? Really?" Sanji asked, his eyes shining at the thought. "There's hope then!"

"My poor little Ab ignorant of the terrifying truth," Lola said, almost piteously cruel. Her words took him by surprises and he was demanding to know what she was talking about. Lola's eyes flashed as she pointed at memory Nami behind her and said, "This so-called woman's real name is Namizou. And she's really… a MAN!"

"What?" Brook asked in confusion. "Oh, that's right! I almost forgot that was what you told her!"

"How could anyone ever believe that?" Sanji muttered, having spent enough time with Okama's to last for several lifetimes. No way that his sweet, beautiful Nami could ever pass off as one of those ugly as sin creatures.

Still, the look on Absalom's face was priceless, it was almost worth going through all that happened that night just to see it.

"WWWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?" he screamed. "NO! THAT CAN'T BE TRUE!"

"I see! If you just stick to that story, then you can get out of there without having to count yourself as married!" Usopp said excitedly. "What a lucky break!"

"I wish," present-day Nami sighed as she shook her head. "I mean, it worked at first, so it did buy us some time. But I guess we should be glad that this guy has got the brain the size of a marble."

"So how's that? Still wanna get married Ab?" Lola demanded nastily, "You into guys now?"

"And to think…" Absalom said, looking completely aghast at this new information. "If she hadn't burst in, I would have married a man! I was just a few seconds away from kissing him right on the lips!"

"Don't remind me!" present-day Nami hollered, shivering at the thought and feeling an urge to wash herself again. "I knew that he was dumb, but I didn't think that he would believe something like that so easily. Too bad it didn't work for long. Remember, he saw me in the bath so once his marble-sized brain starts working again, he's gonna realize that she's lying."

And judging from the lectures look on Absalom's face, she could guess what he was thinking of. The sight of it was enough to cause Sanji to burst into flames of fury, actually charging forward and tried to kick him, only for his foot to go right through him once more.

"DAMN THESE STUPID MEMORIES!" he shouted out, "JUST ONE KICK! PLEASE, LET ME KICK THIS IDIOT ONE TIME! I WANNA BREAK HIS FACE!"

As Absalom blushed and drooled, Lola turned her attention back to memory Nami, who had gotten to her feet and was quickly blacking away.

"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!" she screamed as she went after her with the swords again.

"I KEEP TELLING YOU IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" memory Nami yelled, trying to protect her front as she backed away even faster.

"NO CUTTING UP MY BRIDE, LOLA!" Absalom roared when he came back down to reality. But Lola ignored him as she continued going at her.

The Straw Hats were starting to feel real concern for Nami here, since it looked like Lola was really trying to kill her.

"I SAID GET OUTTA HERE!" Lola yelled hysterically as Zoro frowned at the sight. She was just flailing the swords about now, and he could tell that she was purposely missing Nami. So while it looked dangerous, she really wasn't planning on trying to hurt her.

Memory Nami seemed to notice this as well as she kept moving backwards, confusion on her face now more than fear.

That was when Lola started whispering to her, so quietly that Absalom couldn't hope to hear her, "Namizou," she whispered, winking her eye and getting Nami's attention.

Memory Nami blinked at that and whispered back in shock, "What?"

"Run for it," Lola told her. "While you still can. I'll hold him off, but I don't know how long I can last. I came here to save you… my friend."

"OW!" Franky gasped at the sight, holding onto his chest. "Oh, that is so sweet! Even with a rotting zombie, there is friendship! The sight is just… too much!"

"I'm also touched," Brook gasped as he dabbed his eye socket with is feathered boa. "Oh, Lola-san! I wish that I could be your friend too!"

Memory Nami seemed to agree with him on that much.

"Lola…" memory Nami gasped, her eyes wide with shock before Lola spun around and went charging at Absalom with her lips puckered up.

"Damn! That's scarier than Oars!" Zoro gulped at the sight. No wonder the guy ran from her?

"Come here, Master Ab!" she called, and Absalom was filled with horror the closer she got. "That's right, sweetheart! If you're looking for a kiss then pucker up! Cause Lola's got a big wet one right here for ya!"

He stepped back, looking like he was about to have a heart attack, meanwhile memory Nami stared on, shaking, before she turned and began to run for the door—knowing that she had to at least and try to do what Lola told her. However, the sight of her fleeing to the door seemed to infuriate Absalom.

"Dammit! My bride's getting away!" he yelled.

"Get it through that thick skull of yours!" present-day Nami began, "I'm not your… oh, whatever! He can't hear me anyway!"

"Your bride's right here, baby!" Lola declared as she continued charging right at him.

"Nice try," Absalom said as he held up his hand and they all knew what was coming. "But you can't convince me my bride's a man. Move! Or suffer!"

But he didn't give her the choice for he fired at her. The blast was enough to knock Lola backwards, causing her to drop her swords and go flying. Memory Nami turned around just as the attack and watched with horror as Lola was sent flying back and crashing through the wall.

"LOLA!" she screamed in terror, almost knocked her feet from the shockwave and debris falling everywhere.

"Was she ok?!" Chopper gasped, not having the faintest idea how to help treat a zombie.

"Don't worry about her," Franky said firmly, thought there was some worry in his voice as well. "She's a tough cookie. She won't be going down that easily. Besides, she's a zombie. It's not like she can die that easily!"

"Also, I doubt that attack did nearly as much damage as Absalom seems to think," Robin added as she looked over at him. She seemed to be right, for it looked like that attack had taken a bit out of Absalom, who was still exhausted from his battle with Sanji. He was panting hard as if he had run miles as he wheezed out, "You're nothing but a lowly zombie. How dare you make me waste so much strength disposing of you?"

Luffy's eyes narrowed angrily and he was suddenly wishing that he could punch this guy. Any friend of his crew was a friend to him! And after seeing how far Lola went to try and help Nami, there was no way in hell that he wanted to stand there and watch her get treated like that.

Lola just laid there, her eyes rolled back and out cold, but it was enough to enrage memory Nami. She had stepped forward, determined to avenge her friend, and she had her weapon at hand.

"No one messes with my friends and gets away with it!" present-day Nami vowed as she held up her fists. "I'm the only one who's allowed to beat them up!"

"Ok, I was feeling all warm and fuzzy at those words until that past part," Usopp snapped at her.

"Where were you hiding that, Nami?!" Luffy asked as he pointed to her Clima-Tact. "I thought that they took it or something?"

"Let's just say I kept it hidden on me without them noticing," she smiled. "I mean, it's not that it looks dangerous, does it?"

"But where did you…?" Usopp began before blinking and shaking his head. "No, never mind! I rather not know and risk getting beaten up for saying something I shouldn't."

"Ah, that's a good girl," Absalom purred approvingly when he turned around to see her standing there. "Finally wised up and stopped running did you?" She didn't answer as she glared at him with a furious look they all knew too well as he said, "You can't hide and you can't escape! Because no matter where you go, I'll hunt you down! And I can assure you'll never see me coming!"

"Now thunder Charge!" she cried as the tip of her staff began to glow yellow with electricity and she snarled, "How dare you? You can't do that to Lola!"

"He really should start running," Usopp whimpered at the furious look in memory Nami's face. Hell, even the present-day Nami was looking angry at the sight of her friend lying there like that.

The last part of the staff suddenly fell away before she was able to swing it about on a cable and it built up a charge. With a blazing new determination in her eyes she went charging at him, swinging her staff about as she ran.

"Yes my dear," Absalom said, either too dumb or naïve to believe that he was in any danger. "Come flying into your husband's arms!"

"I guess you gave him a harder beating than we first thought, Sanji," Usopp offered, unable to believe that a man could be so brave that he would be standing there, waiting for Nami to finish him off. "His brain turned to mush!"

"I would think so," Robin nodded as the Clima-Tact built up to a full charge and memory Nami was right in front of him.

"Swing… ARRRMMMMM!" she cried and swinging her weapon around at his chest. As soon as it collided with him, the blow was enough that it lit up the entire room. Lightning went through his entire body, his hair stood on end as he was being fried and shrieked with pain. Suddenly he fell over backwards and landed with a crash on the floor and moved no more.

"Well that was… lame," Luffy frowned at the sight. He was expecting something bigger than him just standing there and letting himself getting hit.

"Yeah, a bit anti-climatic," Zoro nodded. "Well, I guess we can safely assume that this marriage between you two wouldn't have worked out, Nami?"

"Oh, I think that's a safe guess," she sighed as her past self was taken aback by how easy he went down. She clearly couldn't believe that she won so easily, and cautiously slowly approached him and poked him with the end of her staff, but he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

"And I felt so proud of myself, thinking I took him down on my own," the present-day Nami sighed at the sight. "I guess I should thank you though, Sanji. For weakening him enough for me."

"If only I had finished him off before," Sanji could only reply regretfully, still feeling like he let her down.

"Don't worry," she replied honestly as her memory self was now poking Absalom in the face, but still he didn't move. "If you had, then I never would have become such good friends with Lola! No need to feel bad."

"I don't get it," memory Nami said, "It hardly seemed to hurt him at all the last time I did that? Well, whatever, right? I win! YEAH!" She grinned proudly as she added, "I guess I must have hit his weak spot or something?"

"Not a word," the present-day Nami said to them all warningly as they opened their mouths. Just then, Lola came too, now coughing and gasping for breath. That was enough to get Nami's attention and went running over to check on her in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked anxiously, "Hang in there!"

Lola struggled to breathe as memory Nami thanked her over and over again. She didn't know what she would have done if she hadn't shown up when she did.

"You don't have to thank me, Namizou," she said as she chuckled through her gasps. "We're friends, right?"

"I felt so lousy when she said that," present-day Nami confessed as she shook her head. "I know that we said we were friends, but I didn't think she'd ever go so far to help me?"

"She is something else," Brook nodded in awe. "To think that a zombie would have such a strong since of self that she could openly defy her master's orders like that? I know that Cindry-san was able to do that, but even then that was only preventing herself from moving. And I know that Sanji-san's zombie also defied his orders, but that was because he was still new. Lola-san's shadow had been in that zombie for a few years now, hasn't she?"

"I guess she's someone who follows her heart and doesn't take orders from anyone," present-day Nami said proudly.

Memory Nami, however, had lowered her head in guilt at Lola's words as she said sincerely, "I owe you an apology, Lola. When I first saw you, I was scared and I told you a lie. It's just that, I thought that if I said I was a man, you'd leave me alone."

"True, but don't worry about it," Robin reassured her kindly. "It wasn't anything harmful. And it wasn't like you were really trying to steal Absalom away from her."

"Yeah, but I said that we were friends when I didn't really mean it at the time," present-day Nami confessed grimly. "I was willing to say just about anything if it meant getting away from her."

"Still, you made up for that in the end by standing up for her, Nami-san," Brook answered happily. "And you were friends by the end of all this! No need to worry!"

"Yeah, especially since Lola doesn't look angry," Usopp added as Lola chuckled, not looking the least bit surprised to hear the confession.

"You big silly," she said, "It was pretty obvious."

At that, memory Nami smiled back as she laughed, "I guess so."

That was when Lola realized something and her eyes widen as she sat right up and stared around her. She did this so quickly that she took them all by surprise as she hollered, "WAIT JUST A SECOND! MASTER ABSALOM IS COMPLETELY HELPLESS RIGHT NOW!"

"Wait! She's right!" Sanji said and they all looked to where the stitched-up animal man was lying with his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Lola then found new strength as she jumped up, running towards him.

"I'M GONNA MAKE YOU MINE, BABY!" she threated before jumping up into the air… and crashing right down on him. Well, if he wasn't out before, he sure was now.

Memory Nami just watched on with a bright smile as the memory faded, disappearing completely when Lola pulled out a marriage certificate and pressed down Absalom's fingerprint on it.

"Will you sign it as our witnessed?!" Lola asked eagerly.

"With pleasure!" memory Nami beamed as she sighed her name with a flourish.

"I love weddings!" Brook cried out happily.

"I have to admit, I've never been happier to see a pair get married," present-day Nami laughed out as the memory faded completely and they were in the dark again. "I only wish that I could have seen the look on his face when he woke up to see that he was married!"

The memory soon returned and when it did, they were back in the courtyard, and Oars was now looking underneath the rubble trying to find the Straw Hats. He was acting much like how a child would, looking under rocks trying to find bugs to play with. It wasn't until that moment that they looked at his childish antics to realize that Luffy's shadow really was in that thing.

"Under here?" Oars asked as he looked underneath a large slab of the broken manor wall. "Hello, Straw Hats?"

He then goes and tosses the boulder over his head before he leans over the building to look in the windows as if it were a dollhouse, as he called, "Anybody in there? Straw Hat maybe? Orange-hair lady? Hero guy?"

"He's still looking for you and me," present-day Nami said with a nod. "And…?"

"And Sniper King too, apparently," present-day Usopp nodded quickly. "Shame he's never gonna find him. Sniper King knows how to avoid getting caught."

"Apparently he also knows how to hide when there's no need for it," Zoro added to him quietly and Usopp did his best to ignore him as he forced a laugh.

"I hope that he made it off the island alright," Chopper said with a frown. "I'd hate it if Sniper King got hurt trying to help us again."

"I just wish he could have stayed long enough to say goodbye," Luffy said as he folded his arms. "I really wanna thank him for all his help back at Enies Lobby."

"Hey! Look!" present-day Usopp said as he pointed to some moving stones a little bit away from them, getting their attention and making them forget all about Sniper King at the moment. That was when they saw the memory versions of Robin and the Straw Hat men, apart from Luffy, pulling themselves out of the rubble.

"There we go!" present-day Franky laughed as his past self heaved a heavy rock from off the top of him. "We get pummeled by a giant zombie and we still get up to fight! We're just badass that way!"

"Crap… this guy's gonna be one pain in the ass," memory Franky growled angrily as memory Brook also pulled himself free. However, he was now so beat up that he couldn't even get up to walk at his point.

"He's not just strong, he's fast as well for a guy his size," memory Zoro added as he also got up from where he was lying, his hands still holding onto his swords as he walked by, leading the others behind him.

"Yeah, he's got your speed and agility, captain," present-day Zoro reminded Luffy. "So we can just blame you for whatever happens next."

"Right! No, wait, NO!" Luffy yelled out in horror.

"What was his name again?" memory Sanji asked.

"Oh, ah…?" memory Chopper said but he couldn't recall the name that was given to this massive zombie.

Memory Zoro thought it over and offered, "I think it was Roast?"

"Roast? Seriously, I thought that Luffy was the one here who thought with his stomach," present-day Sanji said in annoyance.

"Oh, like you could remember his name?" present-day Zoro snarled back.

"No, not even close," memory Usopp said with a frown, "I think it had an 'S' at the end of it, didn't it?"

"Fours?" memory Sanji suggested as memory Zoro tied on his bandana.

"At least my guess was closer!" present-day Sanji added to their Zoro, who responded with the death glare again.

"No," memory Usopp said unconvincingly, "I think you're close but…?"

"It's Oars," memory Robin reminded him calmly as she brushed some dirt from her clothes as she walked with them.

"That's it!" they all said as they recognized the name.

"Wow, you think that you'd all remember the name of something like that," present-day Nami couldn't help but ask as she looked up at Oars. He was going to be one nightmare that they would all like to forget.

"It was just a puppet though who had Luffy's shadow in him, I don't' think that he counts," present-day Zoro shrugged. "Oh well, nothing we can do about it now."

Memory Brook was having a hard time moving as he struggled to get up to his feet. After several failed attempts, he simply fell to his knees and said, somewhat shamefully, "I'm sorry. But my injuries are quite terrible…?"

"Right, you took quite a beating from Ryuma," present-day Sanji said as he remembered the fight before. "No worries about it. You came back in the end, didn't you? How'd you recover so quickly, anyway?"

"Yohohoho, I have a feeling you'll see soon enough," present-day Brook said happily. "Milk… it does a body good. Especially for him since he was nothing but a skeleton. Yet still, it only makes sense that he would recover quickly since he had no blood to spill or flesh that needed time to heal. One of a few perks of being made of nothing but bones.

"Its fine, we understand!" memory Franky brushed off. "You can still move around though, right?"

"Yes?" memory Brook said as he finally limped to his feet, forced to lean on his sword just to get up even partway.

"Then move yourself outta the way," memory Franky said.

"Of course," he croaked out as he stumbled and limped out of the courtyard, heading to—of all places—the mostly destroyed manor.

"Where were you going, Brook?" Luffy asked their Brook in worry.

"The kitchen," he answered back as he watched his past self grab hold of the wall to steady himself for a moment before he forced himself inside. "I still wanted to help. And I knew that if I could just find some salt, then I could be doing my part in helping to fight Oars. Not that it did much good, though, now that I think of it?"

"Hey, don't worry about it," present-day Franky said with a wave of his hand. "It's cool."

"Hey Oars!" memory Zoro suddenly yelled, getting the giant zombie's attention as he looked up. "If that's really Luffy's shadow you got inside you, then I probably shouldn't have to tell you this… but you should never underestimate the strength of your own crew!"

"Hell ya!" present-day Usopp grinned at the sight of seeing them all there, ready to face off against the giant zombie. They were the crew of the future King of the Pirates after all! There's no way they were going to lose even if this guy had Luffy's shadow! This substitute was nothing to the real thing!

 **(And that's the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the long wait, but I'm moving next month, so I've been busy looking for a job and packing. Don't worry. The next chapter will be having Kuma showing up, so the big question now is… are the Straw Hats gonna let Luffy see it? Or do you think that something else is gonna happen? Only I know the answer to that! I will be putting the chapter up before I move though, so please keep an eye out for it!)**


	22. Floor 21: Straw Hats vs Oars

**Floor 21: Straw Hats vs. Oars**

Oars was still looking down from the building he was perched on, laughing at the sight of the six memory Straw Hats there.

"You tiny pirates are tougher than I thought you'd be," Oars declared.

"No duh!" present-day Franky said as if it was obvious. "Too bad that he didn't remember that he's got our captain's shadow in him. Otherwise he would have known all that."

"It is sad how the shadow will lose their memories of their previous life," Brook nodded thoughtfully. "But there will always be traces left behind. I wonder if, deep down, he does know that."

Well, if that was true and those feelings were in there somehwere, they sure seemed to be buried deep. With a great leap, Oars jumped up and landed with a crash right in front of them; but they didn't even move even as the ground shook beneath them. Not even memory Usopp budged an inch as he stood tall and memory Franky just grabbed a couple broken pillars and fashioned himself another pair of giant nunchucks.

Memory Zoro smirked as he looked up at him. "I'm tired of being thrown around so much," he said to the rest of the crew, "Why don't you say we turn the tables and throw him around for a change?"

"I wish we were as strong here as we are today," present-day Sanji sighed. "We really could have done it then."

"Yeah, but then it would be boring," present-day Zoro offered.

"Boring? I'd take that over being half killed!" Nami snapped at him. Fighting battles where they were sure to win? She liked those fights because it didn't mean that one of them would end up with life-threatening injuries.

"Huh?" memory Usopp asked, taken aback by such a suggestion, "Hey, come on Zoro!"

"I can get behind that," memory Sanji said, unexpectedly backing up Zoro's idea, as he puffed on a cigarette. "We let him run around and have his fun for long enough."

"True," present-day Robin nodded. "Besides, he's under orders from Moria as well, don't forget. I don't think that he would let us go so long as he was still commanded to deal with all of us."

"I almost feel bad for him now," Brook said, feeling pity because Oars was just like a young child who didn't know any better. In fact, a lot of Moria's zombies were like that… the minds of children who were just ordered to obey. He couldn't help but feel sympathy for them… even Ryuma… who had only done what he did because he had no choice.

"Hey, whoa! Wait a moment! How are we supposed to throw him?" memory Usopp demanded. "In case you haven't noticed, he's a giant!"

"Really?" present-day Sanji asked with a roll of his eyes, "No, I hadn't noticed! What makes you think that?"

"We noticed," memory Zoro snapped back at Usopp. "And don't forget he's got Luffy's speed and fighting style as well."

"Man, this whole thing is stupid," Luffy pouted, hating seeing his own moves being used against his crew like this. He had no problem fighting against them for fun, but this was anything but fun. He was glad that he was able to kick Moria's ass for all of this.

"You know, I think he would make a terrible pirate king," memory Robin offered and everyone nodded in firm agreement at those words. Even if he did have Luffy's shadow, there was no way that anyone could let a giant zombie become the king of all pirates.

"So how do you wanna approach this?" memory Franky asked thoughtfully, reminding them that they were up against an opponent who could step on them and not realize it, "I got a ton of plans, one of 'em's gotta work?"

"Too bad we didn't have time to try them all," present-day Usopp whispered as he looked up to the sky again in worry. Was he imagining it, or was it already starting to look lighter?

"He's got to have some kind of a weak point," memory Chopper said firmly, already looking over the usual weak points that a normal body would have.

"When you're frying a fish this big you gotta descale and debone it before you put it in the pan," memory Sanji added.

"Would you stop with the stupid cooking references in a fight, you stupid cook?" present-day Zoro grunted in annoyance. "Seriously…"

"Hey, don't hate me because I don't have the mind of a brute like you do," present-day Sanji mocked, getting a death glare from Zoro, his hands twitched violently as he ached to draw his blade.

Memory Usopp was still looking freaked out that no one was backing him up, but he still suggested, "Maybe it's not completely hopeless. But… I'm scared…"

"At least you're trying to look at the bright side," Luffy offered their Usopp, who just sighed, wondering why it felt like no one ever takes his side in a fight.

Oars laughed while he yelled, "Smashing time!" Oars jumped again, falling back towards them shouting, "Now Gum Gum Giant Butt Stomp!"

"What?" Luffy asked in confusion as Oars landed on his massive backside, shaking up the earth and forcing the others to run for cover.

"THAT IS NOT ONE OF LUFFY'S MOVES!" memory Usopp cried as they ran.

"And it better not ever become one!" Nami snarled at their Luffy, who was laughing at the sight of it.

"But it's funny!" he snorted out, unable to control it.

"I don't care, you better not ever think of using something so stupid," present-day Sanji said in full agreement. "Come on, you already embarrass yourself enough when you fight. No need to really give our enemies a chance to laugh at us."

"Now Gum Gum…" Oars began again, raising up his fist. Memory Zoro cried out a warning to Franky, who was already aware of what was coming. Oars brought his fist down, forcing memory Franky to jump up to avoid getting hit by it.

"Kay punk," memory Franky growled when he landed and skidded a few yards away. "You've only left us with one option here. YOU WANNA FIGHT?" Franky dropped his nunchucks and ran. "THEN FEEL THE POWER OF ALL OF US COMBINED!"

"What're you talking about, Sanji?" Luffy asked as he scratched his head.

"No idea," Nami said, also wondering what was happening… though she knew that it had to be something stupid—judging from the irritated looks on most of the crew's faces.

Memory Franky was running straight at the memory versions of Chopper and Usopp and yelled, "HEADS UP YOU GUYS!" This took them by surprise as he yelled, "I KNOW THE PLAN! WE'RE TAKING HIM DOWN WITH TACTIC 15!"

"WE'RE WHAT?!" memory Usopp cried out in shock.

"REALLY?!" memory Chopper gasped, in equal shock, "BUT IT... IT'S STILL UNTESTED!"

"What is it?" Nami asked, not getting what was going on. "What's Tactic 15?"

"Don't ask," present-day Robin sighed grimly, shaking her head at what was about to happen. What worried her though… if this was Tactic 15, then what happened to the other 14? How bad must they be if they don't even bother thinking of using them?

Still, the three of them all began to run straight towards the memory versions of Zoro and Sanji, getting their attention.

"ZORO! EYEBROWS! STAND BY!" memory Franky yelled, getting them to look up.

"Stand by for what?" memory Sanji asked as the present-day Sanji shook his head, now hiding his face in his hand at what was happening. He couldn't believe that he let himself get swept up in something so dumb. He suspected that all the fights he had on the island up till now must have taken a toll on his brain—what other explanation was there?

"Trust me!" memory Franky yelled, "Just grab on to my legs!"

"Feels like it's about to get weird," memory Sanji sighed.

"Oh, yeah," the present-day Sanji sighed as Luffy watched with wide eyes, wondering just what was happening.

"Here we go! Let's do this!" memory Franky yelled and they all morphed together. All the moves were dramatic as memory Franky's shoulders moved up so that it looked like his shirt was hanging off his head. And then things got really stupid when memory Zoro took hold of Franky's right foot while Sanji the left. Meanwhile, memory Usopp clung onto Franky's right arm and Chopper was now attached to Franky's head.

"Straw Hats Docking 6!" memory Chopper cried out.

"Giant Robot Warrior!" memory Usopp added and they posed, all stacked up on top of each other. There was silence coming from the present-day Straw Hats. Nami did not answer as she watched on for a moment. Finally…

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen!" she cried out in humiliation at the thought of knowing these guys.

"You kidding me?" Luffy cried out as present-day Robin patted Nami on the shoulder sympathetically, "It's awesome! WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL ME THAT YOU GUYS HAD SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!"

Present-day Usopp grinned proudly at the sight. "If only you were there that day, captain. We could have finished it!"

"What do you mean finished it?" Luffy asked, wondering just how something so cool-looking could possibly get any cooler?

"Because someone refused to dock with us," present-day Usopp said darkly and he pointed when memory Chopper gasped, crying out that they weren't complete because their left arm hadn't docked yet.

"What?! Why not?!" Luffy demanded with his eyes wide. "You can't just stop there!"

They gasped as they looked down at memory Franky's empty hand and memory Robin standing off to the side as if she was embarrassed to be seen with them.

"What the hell are you doing to us, Robin?" memory Franky demanded, "Hurry up and dock onto my left arm!"

"Robin, we need you!" memory Chopper cried.

"C'mon! It's fine! Just do what I'm doing!" memory Usopp resigned.

"Yeah, what's the problem, Robin?" Luffy asked their Robin, wondering just why she hadn't docked on yet.

"I have my pride," she answered back calmly.

"No," memory Robin said firmly, causing the three to blink. "I'm not embarrassing myself like that."

She may have as well have told a bunch of little children that there was no Santa Claus.

"She won't…?" memory Chopper began.

"…embarrass…" memory Franky added as if he were in a nightmare.

"… herself like that…?" memory Usopp finished as if mortally wounded.

"I will do just about anything for you all, make no mistake," the present-day Robin reassured them. "You ask me to fight a giant zombie to save everyone's shadows? I will do that with no complaints. But asking me to dock is crossing a line."

"As human beings you should be ashamed," memory Robin finished explaining, only to see them all horrified at her words.

"SHE REJECTED US!" the three cried mournfully.

"What's the matter? She won't do it?" Oars demanded, causing them all to look up at him—disappointment written all of his face like a child who had been promised a special toy… only for him to open the box and see that it was broken.

"What?" memory Sanji asked in surprise, "Why are you acting all disappointed?"

"Why'd you think?" he demanded. "I wanna see the robot!" raising his arm he cried as he struck, "Do it, you jerks! I wanna see the robot!"

"Yeah! I bet that it was gonna look really cool! How could you betray us, Robin?" Luffy cried out mournfully.

"Don't worry, captain!" present-day Usopp reassured him. "One day we shall have the docking techniques down perfectly! For right now, though, we still have the General Franky!"

"Hey, yeah!" Luffy cried out as he remembered that they did have a giant robot. "We do have something super awesome now, don't we?!"

"Of course! Nothing's cooler than the General Franky!" present-day Franky declared as he posed proudly, the three younger men jumped around him excitedly as the women watched on, torn between amusement and disinterest.

"Note to self, never leave Franky alone with them. He's a bad influence on them. At least they've given up the idea of us all docking," Nami whispered to their Robin. "Don't question yourself, I never would have docked on either. We have to have some self-respect. Though, I am kinda surprise that Zoro and Sanji would go along with it?"

"Maybe one to many fights to the head?" present-day Robin offered as the memory versions of Franky, Usopp, and Chopper were slammed into the rock by Oars's attack and memory Sanji and Zoro were knocked back to their senses.

"Oh man, I've never been so relieved to get punched before," memory Zoro, red in his cheeks. "That really was embarrassing!"

No one heard this though for the three were now demanding answers from Robin.

"Why'd you bail on us, Robin?" memory Franky demanded hotly from the rubble. "We could've form the Giant Robot Big Emperor!"

"Betrayed by one of our own!" memory Chopper cried, "Who would've thought?!"

"Luffy never would've left us hanging like that, you know!" Usopp yelled.

"I'm not Luffy thought," present-day Robin reminded them.

"Damn, what's with boys and their toys?" Nami couldn't help but wonder.

"Don't ever ask me to dock with you again," memory Robin warned as she walked away. "I'm serious."

She really did sound serious there. Still, the others were far from beaten as they broke free from the stone they were trapped under and got ready to fight.

"Alright, it's time for a fresh start!" memory Franky yelled.

"I agree," present-day Sanji nodded, perfectly happy to believe that moment of stupidity never happened.

Just then, memory Zoro had gone over to Franky's nunchucks, sticking his swords into them and hoisted them up before crying out, "I hope you don't mind me borrowing these things."

"Hey, hold on!" Franky yelled, "Those things are my heavy nunchucks!" But he seemed to realize who he was talking to and sighed, "Alright, fine! But don't break them!"

"What's the point? It's not like you're gonna leave with those things?" Nami asked him, "I mean, it's not like you're gonna carry them up on the Sunny?"

"Doesn't matter! They were mine and I might still need them before this was over," present-day Franky stated firmly.

Meanwhile, memory Sanji was running around to the other side of Oars.

"Listen you sack of crap," memory Sanji yelled. "It's time to finish this! I'm not gonna let you keep me from saving Nami any longer!"

"Oh, no need to worry about me," present-day Nami said, thinking back to Lola with a smile. She was probably already running through the manor, trying to get back to the Sunny at this point. That was when she blinked and remembered who she had seen there that night. Kuma. She wondered just what he had been doing on this island to begin with. Was he really after them? If he had been, then why did he just up and leave? And why would he later help them escape from Sabaody? At first, she just assumed that after he released that explosion and left, it was because he just assumed that they were all killed and didn't bother to check for survivors. But now…? Now, the more that she thought about it, the more fishy that seemed to her.

"Huh?" Oars asked, slowly turning his head to look at memory Sanji, who had just kicked up a massive boulder in the air.

"Perfect size," he muttered, and he kicked it, knocking it right into Oars's head. While that was happening, memory Zoro was running, still carrying the massive pillars as he called to Robin.

"Robin!" he called when she turned her head towards him, "I'm gonna give his left arm a pounding and then I'm gonna need you to put him into a submission hold."

"Sure you got it," she said as she folded her arms.

"Let's do this," he said as he swung the pillar nunchucks. Oars crushed more rock under him as he turned his attention to Sanji. "I'm gonna squish you," he warned as he held up his fist. "Now gum gum…"

"Usopp! This is your chance!" memory Sanji yelled.

"Coming right up!" memory Usopp said as he loaded a projectile into his slingshot and took aim at Oars's hand that was supporting his upper body. "Take this! Let's see how you like my special Oil Star Triple Shot Punishment!"

The triple shots hit Oars hand, and the oil that spilled from them caused Oars's hand to slip and he began to fall. The present-day Straw Hats watched with excitement at how well they were working together to try and bring this big guy down. Their teamwork was nearly perfect here!

But it wasn't done yet. Memory Zoro caught sight of Sanji and yelled, "Hey Eyebrows!" Memory Sanji looked to see Zoro running at him, "Give me a boost will ya?!"

"What? While you're carrying those big ass things?" he demanded.

"Well if you're not man enough," memory Zoro said reasonably and jumped—already knowing that he got what he wanted. That insult was more than enough for Sanji's eyes to flash angrily.

"What'd you say?" memory Sanji demanded she held up a leg and memory Zoro landed on his foot. "Of course I can handle it!"

"Then stop complaining and prove it," present-day Zoro grinned at their Sanji smugly. "Because the way that I saw it, you sounded pretty worried."

"What? Rot in Hell! I was just thinking that there was no way that a weakling like you could handle all that on his own," present-day Sanji shot back. "That was why I decided to help you out. After all, you were the one who asked me for help. If you couldn't do it on your own…?"

Present-day Zoro drew his sword and pointed right at his face as Sanji grinned.

"You are treading on thin ice, Eyebrows," he warned him.

"What? Did I strike a nerve?" present-day Sanji asked teasingly.

"Enough," Nami snapped, wondering just which one of them was more irritating to deal with. That was a tough question.

Going back to the memory though, they saw that their combined strength hit Oars's arm, giving memory Robin time to sprout a hundred or so arms out of Oars back. It wasn't like her giant hands that she could create now, but it wasn't a bad try as the thousand arms reached down to grab hold of Oars's wounded arm and held him there—unable to move and dangerously off balance. It was everything that he could do to keep himself from falling over.

"Keep those planks coming bro!" memory Franky yelled and they turned to see him in the air making a wooden staircase with nothing but planks while memory Chopper followed carrying more. The stairs were flimsy though, and it was no surprise that they fell over but not before getting them up to Oars at eye level and together the two of them punched him in the face with a heavy gong noise.

"Yeah! Keep it up!" Luffy cheered, wishing that he could come in and be part of the action instead of being stuck running around the forest all night.

"It doesn't matter how big you are, the weak points of the body never change," memory Chopper declared firmly as they began to fall back down to the earth. "One crack of the jaw and the brain goes spinning!"

"Not that he has one," present-day Sanji couldn't help but point out. This guy was brainless… in more ways than one.

The two memory Straw Hats landed safely on the ground while memory Sanji calmly breathed out more smoke. "You're looking a little dizzy," he warned, "And you only have one leg to hold you up. You're going down, Luffy-Monster."

He ran at him so fast that he was a blur, but he kicked at Oars one standing leg. Oars did his best to stay upright but memory Sanji wasn't given an inch.

"FALL DAMN YOU! FALL!" he roared out before he finally was able to deal a critical blow and Oars couldn't stand up anymore.

"Guess this guy doesn't have a leg to stand on," present-day Usopp said while there were groans at the bad pun.

"Your face is about to be introduced to the ground," memory Zoro said with a proud grin as Franky cheered for Oars to fell. Oars's body crumbled, falling backwards into the manor and smashing through it before leaving his legs sticking up comically.

"That was great!" Luffy roared out approvingly, punching the air.

"WE DID IT! THERE'S NO STOPPING THE POWER OF THE STRAW HATS!" memory Usopp yelled.

"DAMN STRAIGHT! HOW'S THAT DIRT TASTE JERK?!" memory Chopper cried as well.

"Don't get cocky," present-day Robin reminded him. "We just knocked him over. If it was going to be that easy to defeat him, we wouldn't have had anything to worry about."

"True, but I like to think of this as a symbolic victory," present-day Sanji said. "The bigger they are, the harder they're bound to fall."

"Slow start," memory Sanji said coolly, "But… score one."

"Ow, ow, ow… this really hurts," groaned Oars, coughing up dirt while the straw hats surrounded him. Once the dust cleared and he saw them there, "Stupid bunch of little sea slugs! NOW YOU REALLY PISSED ME OFF! I'M GONNA GRIND YOU DOWN INTO PIRATE DUST!"

"Hey! What's happening?!" Luffy demanded as the memory faded around them. "No! Don't go black! It was getting really good! I wanted to see the rest of the fight!"

"I guess someone else's memories are going to be shown," Nami said, trying to guess who it could be. "If it was only the Straw Hats memories they were going to see, and if most of the crew was with Oars, then that mean it could only be either hers, Luffy's, or Brook's.

She had her answer when the memory came back and they were back in some part of the manor and they spotted memory Brook there. He was holding onto his sword-cane in one hand, while the other was gripping his wounded arm. He was limping through the hallways, keeping a careful eye out for any zombies or enemies. Not that he had an eye…?

She blinked and shook her head, unable to believe that she was making Skull Jokes in her head. She was starting to worry for her sanity here.

"Hey! That's me!" present-day Brook said happily at the sight of his past self there. "I think I remember this! It was just after I left you all and I was looking for the kitchens."

"Kitchens?" Luffy asked, his mouth drooling at the thought of food. Oh, he was so hungry right now… why didn't they grab some lunchboxes before coming into the tower? He wished he thought of that, even though it was pretty fun in this weird tower.

"Luffy looking for the kitchens, I can get," Usopp pointed out, "But why were you here?"

"I was injured," present-day Brook watched his past self lean up against the wall for a moment to catch his breath before he was able to continue. "But I still wanted to help you all. I knew that the only way to truly bring down a zombie is by purifying it. But to do that with Oars, we needed salt! And lots of it! Surely they had to have a kitchen and salt nearby."

"I find it strange that they would keep salt on hand at all," Chopper said slowly. "I mean, wouldn't it be easier to get rid of it?"

"Not everyone on this stupid island is a zombie," Sanji pointed out. "And they all need to eat. Salt is a basic ingredient, but also the very foundation of all cooking. There won't be any flavor to any food without it. I doubt that they would want to eat bland meals all the time."

"True," Robin nodded. "But they wouldn't leave it around either. I think they would keep it under lock and key."

"They did," present-day Brook informed them as his memory self was now muttering to himself, "Let's see, it must be around here somewhere." He turned the corner and found the sign marked 'kitchen'. He gasped excitedly when he saw it, "Found it. The kitchen."

He opened the door and cautiously stuck his head inside to look around. They walked right through the door to see the kitchen for themselves, they saw the mess that it was in. Sanji looked furious at the sight of anyone leaving such a sacred area such as a kitchen left in this kind of disarray. Cooking materials were dirty and laid scattered over the counters and floors, ingredients were thrown all over, leaving bits of food stuck to the floor and walls, and the footprints of zombies were left everywhere, showing that a large mass of them had to have been here and were clearing out the kitchens.

"What happened?" Chopper asked as Nami frowned, realizing that Perona must have been here. She had tried to leave the island by stealing their ship and took all the food and treasure that she could carry. They must have just missed her at this point, so she must be at the ship by now. Meaning that her past self must be heading that way around now too.

"They sure left the kitchen in a state," Usopp said slowly, half-expecting another zombie to jump out.

"Hello? Is there anyone in here?" memory Brook called quietly, "I'm letting myself in, ok?" When no one answered, he began to look around and muttered, "My goodness, it looks like a hurricane came through here. Regardless, they should still have what I'm looking for."

"So where would the salt be?" Chopper asked as he looked in one of the open cabinet doors to see that it was empty.

"I don't know," Zoro said sarcastically, pointing to one particular door that was heavily locked. "But I would guess the door in the corner with all the chains on it?"

"That would be a safe bet," Franky nodded when they heard a slight clinking of glass on the stone floor. They turned back in time to see that memory Brook had kicked a small glass bottle, so focused on trying to find the salt that he didn't even realize it was there until he saw it roll away from him. That was when the label appeared and he saw just what it was.

Milk.

Memory Brook was thrilled at the thought that he had found a bottle of milk and ran over to it.

"I still don't get how milk can help you," Usopp asked with a scratch of his head.

"Milk is good for the bones," present-day Brook explained happily. "And I am nothing but bones! Yohohoho!"

"Once again, Devil Fruit Users are completely defying any laws of normality," Nami said with a shake of her head.

"I could never hope to stumble across a more fortuitous beverage!" memory Brook said happily as he picked it up. "Finger bones crossed it hasn't expired yet."

He looked at the label and turned even whiter.

"No…." he moaned.

"It was expired?" Chopper asked in worry.

"Oh why…" memory Brook then gasped before realizing something, "Wait! It's barely expired so it's ok! I'll chew down the churned chunks for everyone's sake! Time to build up these bones!"

"You sure about that?" Sanji asked, hating whenever food went bad. Still, he had to admit that he was impressed that Brook made sure that milk didn't go to waste. Memory then tore off the label and began to gulp it all down. He then began to cry out as if in pain before he was bathed in a blue glow.

"I feel it! The power! Pulsing through me!" memory Brook gasped, his body doubled over from pain, "The calcium is rejuvenating all of my internal organs! WHICH IS ODD SINCE I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE INTERNAL ORGANS!"

"What are you doing?" Usopp demanded. They were off fighting for their lives against a giant zombie and Brook was messing around here!

Memory Brook then stood tall as he declared, "I AM… REFRESHED!"

For one moment, he really did look like he was ready to take on the world… at least until he used up what little energy he had retrieved from the milk and stumbled over.

"That was anticlimactic," present-day Zoro said as sweat fell from his face. "You should've put that energy to good use rather than talking to yourself."

"I'm sorry about that," present-day Brook sighed. "I talked to myself a lot during those fifty years… so I had to do whatever it took to keep me from going crazy."

"Well, it's a habit you're gonna have to break," Usopp reminded him firmly. "You're with us, after all. So you're gonna have to talk to us."

Robin chuckled at that as she nodded and added, "I'm afraid that it looks like you're stuck with us."

"Yohohoho! Everyone! Nothing could make me happier!" present-day Brook declared joyfully. Truly, he couldn't imagine a better stroke of fate to be with the Straw Hats! The crew of the future Pirate King! What more could one hope for?!

"Oh, it's too much," memory Brook whimpered as he remained on the ground for a moment, "The rush is making my eyes spin. If I had eyes of course…" He shook himself awake before he got up again.

"That's enough Brook" he scolded himself, "Let's not become giddy with power when you still have an important job to do. Now, I need to find what I actually came here for."

That was when he spotted the door in the corner all chained up and went rushing straight over to it.

"It almost seems too obvious," he whispered as he looked over for some kind of a key, before deciding to just use his blade. With his sword, he was able to break the lock on the chain and it fell with a loud clatter before he opened the door to reveal several bags tied up and shoved inside. He opened up one of the bags to see the white powder inside and made sure to make sure that it was salt by tasting it.

"Good, it would have been a problem if you got back to us, only to realize that you grabbed a bag of sugar," Sanji said as the memory faded. Yet, he gasped in joy when he realized that he was with his dear Nami again when the lights returned. She was still in the wedding dress and was standing in the church with Lola, now picking up Absalom like he was a rag doll; his feet just dangling off the floor. They watched in pity when she gave him a big smooch as memory Nami looked on with a smile.

With a great sucking sound like a plunder being pulled, Lola pulled her lips off Absalom's face.

"There's no need to worry about me, Nami," she reassured her. "I'm alright. Trust me, there's plenty else you need to be worried about. Guess I better catch you up to speed to what's been happening on the island."

"Please do," memory Nami said.

"Yeah, I certainly missed a lot," present-day Nami nodded in agreement. She was glad that she was able to get a run-down version of it from Lola before she was able to leave.

"Things have gotten worse since your captain's shadow was taken," Lola explained, "Moria placed his shadow inside a giant super zombie. And now it's destroying everything in sight."

"You got to admit that he certainly helped us out before more than once," Franky added thoughtfully, "But now that Moria has him under control, he became a right pain in the ass for us later."

"We should be grateful that we were able to settle most of our problems during that time," Robin reminded them. "By the time that we took on Oars, only Moria remained. We already took out most of his army, and Oars took care of the zombie generals for us."

"Not to mention that with all the shaking he caused, postponed my wedding," present-day Nami agreed with a smile.

Her past self's eyes widen at this news of Oars and repeated, "A giant super zombie? The one I saw in the freezer!"

"Please, you have to hurry," Lola told her. "You just let me take care of Absalom."

"In more ways than one," Franky couldn't help but speak up when he looked with pity at the former perverted Invisible Man.

Lola went back to smooching him as Nami agreed, thanking her as she turned and ran for it. Lola then declared as she fell over with Absalom, "Alright Absalom! Let's finish the destruction that zombie started! We're gonna knock this building down with our love!"

"I really hope that she's not suggesting what I think that might mean," Usopp couldn't help but ask, feeling kinda green.

"Oh, I doubt that she would go that far," present-day Nami said as she began to run down the corridor behind her past self. "I think that she will just keep smooching him until the sun will rise."

"Huh? What did you think that she mean, Usopp?" Luffy asked innocently as they ran together after memory Nami.

"Well…" Usopp began before being silenced with one dark look from Robin. "Ah… just that… you know, never mind! Where are you going here, Nami?"

"To the most important room in this whole stupid manor," the present-day Nami said firmly. That was when her past self spotted a large doorway and she cried out, "Yes! There it is! The treasure chamber!"

Most of the men ended up falling over at those words.

"Seriously?! You just learned that a giant zombie is going around wrecking everything and all you care about is the stupid treasure?!" Usopp demanded their Nami.

"Hey! There was no way I was going back empty handed after all the crap I went through!" present-day Nami snapped. "Besides, with everything going on, I doubt that anyone would be missing it right now!"

However, when she arrived at the door and looked in the vault, she saw that it had already been cleared out, much like the kitchen. Aside from a stray beri or gold coin, it was completely empty and she stared in horror.

"It's… It's… EMPTY! WHAT THE HELL? WHERE'D THE TREASURE GO?! THERE'S NOTHING LEFT!" memory Nami screamed out. She marched in as she snarled, "I know this is the right room. Did someone take it?"

"I guess there was someone else who loves treasure as much as you, Nami," Luffy said.

"Yeah, and I know who," Zoro said, sensing that this had Perona's hands all over this. He remembered during the last two years and how much she loved treasure. It was almost as if he was dealing with Nami again from time to time. Though he knew that he would deny it if anyone were to ask, he did feel better about it because he felt a little bit closer to life on the Sunny.

It was hard for him during these last two years… though he wasn't talking about all the training.

Just then, the same two zombie squirrels that had tried to carry Nami, Usopp, and Chopper through Perona's garden in that coffin, had appeared.

"Whoa! Check it out! Isn't that the woman we captured earlier?" one of them asked.

"It's her alright, why's she here?" the other asked as Nami looked back to them.

"Them again?" she asked as they both turned, already bolting from the room, ready to report it.

"Not so fast you rats!" memory Nami declared as she picked them up and had an evil smile on her face. "Well your timing couldn't have been better," she said as they both looked up at her with terror. "I've got some questions and I bet you guys have some answers."

"Oh, those poor, poor squirrels," Usopp whispered to the men behind him and they all nodded, feeling nothing but sympathy for those little creatures. They were so screwed.

Memory Nami truly had a frightful expression as she began to ask them where the treasure was and anything else that was happening. At first, the squirrels refused to say anything, trying to attack her, but with one blow of lightning, they were laying crispy on the ground.

"Nami… that was harsh," Chopper croaked in terror, now hiding behind Robin's legs as though frightened that he would be next.

"I tried asking them nicely," present-day Nami scolded darkly. "But they wouldn't go for it."

"If that's nice, I hate to see threatening," Zoro couldn't help but whisper.

"Those poor squirrels," Usopp mumbled with tears in his eyes. Sure, he knew that they were zombies, and they did try to help take their shadows, but no one deserves to deal with Nami when she gets angry.

At last, the squirrels began to blab to her anything that Nami wanted to know. They explained that Mistress Perona had enough of this island and took all the food and treasure that she could and was now heading back to the docks. She was planning on taking the Sunny and leaving this place behind. Memory Nami's eyes flashed at this as she demanded to know the way to the entrance, which they told her before she went running.

"That cheeky little brat," memory Nami yelled in outrage, "How dare she try to take my treasure? And she wants to steal the Sunny, load it up, and use it as her getaway boat? Sorry sweetie you don't know who you're messing with!"

"Hell ya! Like I was gonna let her take the Sunny!" Franky yelled angrily, wishing he could have gone with her and beat up anyone who would dare lay a finger on his beloved ship.

"You sure that you were going to be alright on your own, Nami-swan?" Sanji asked their Nami in concern. "I mean, as cute as Perona is, she was still dangerous and had an army of zombies at her command. And you didn't know anything about the salt?"

"No, but there was no way I was going to stand back and let her leave on our ship with all that treasure and our things!" present-day Nami snapped back.

"Oh, you're so beautiful when you're determined, my dear Nami!" he swooned at the thought and he actually fell over in a happy faint, a big smile on his face, and hearts in his eyes. With a sigh, Chopper shifted out of his walk point and back into his Heavy Point to drag Sanji behind him by his leg.

"I still say we should leave him here," Zoro muttered to himself as they ran with memory Nami through the doors until they found themselves on the same bridge that memory Franky had built earlier.

"I gotta hurry and get back to the Sunny," memory Nami panted before getting a good look at the bridge around her. "Hold up what's with this weird bridge?"

"Hey! What do you mean by 'weird'?" Franky demanded. "It's a beauty, if I do say so myself!"

"It doesn't look like everything else around here," memory Nami said in confusion, "It's narrow but it's really well made."

"Why thank you," Franky said appeased, "In other words it doesn't look like it's gonna fall apart. Seriously, what was with all this crumbling, gothic look of this place? Why would anyone want to live in a place like this? No natural lighting or anything."

"I think that it was all esthetic," Robin pointed out, personally kinda drawn to the dark look of this manor. Yet, there was something about seeing it all smashed to pieces all around her that she would be lying to say that she didn't like it.

There was a loud boom and they looked up to see that Oars had just fallen over and they saw his legs up in the air.

"Stupid bastards!" Oars yelled. "That's it! Now I'm angry! I'm gonna make you pay!"

"Holy crap," memory Nami croaked at the sight of it.

"Hey! That must be when we just caused him to fall over!" Usopp pointed out brightly before realizing something, "Hey, why aren't you coming to help?"

"He wasn't my top priority," present-day Nami said as they began following her past self again, "I didn't see anything."

"Oh, come on!" Usopp retorted before she cut him off.

"Hey, I had to make sure that they didn't steal the Sunny," she reminded him fiercely. And they ran to the other side of the bridge, soon coming directly above the docks that led to the front entrance. Directly below them, they saw that Perona was there, directing and ordering zombies who were carrying large bags and crates with them.

"Damnit!" Usopp cursed at the sight of her there. "I thought for sure that she would be out cold for the rest of the night!"

"It is almost dawn," Robin pointed out. "Plus, you did your job to make sure that she didn't come after the rest of us. I guess dealing with you was too much for her and she wanted to leave because of that."

"Hey, yeah! You're right!" Usopp said with a proud grin and he began to laugh. "How do you like that, Ghost Girl?! You're so scared of me that you're running away?!"

"That's really cool, Usopp!" Chopper said with awe in his eyes.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" memory Nami yelled, her weapon in hand and glaring down at the zombies as they looked up in surprise.

"Who is that? What does she want?" one of the zombies asked as Perona glared up in annoyance.

"What do you all think you're doing with that treasure I was gonna steal?" memory Nami demanded. "And what are you doing aboard the Sunny?"

"I think it's pretty obvious," Zoro couldn't help but point out while Perona sighed in relief when she saw who it was and began laughing.

"I was worried there for a second, but it's only you," she said with that same cocky air that she used when she was toying with Usopp before, "How'd the wedding ceremony with Absalom go? Over already?"

At the mention of the 'wedding' memory Nami was looking tense. "Oh gimme a break!" she yelled, "Who'd ever wanna marry that invisible pervert beast man?!"

"And I take it you managed to escape the wedding?" Perona asked as she folded her arms.

"Well why else would she be here?" Sanji snarled, fury still coursing through his veins at the mention of how she was almost forced to marry that stitched-up Beast Man.

"Oh! Sanji!" Chopper said in surprise, realizing that he was away and he dropped him. "You ok?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," he answered calmly, sitting up and began to light up another cigarette. "Don't worry about me."

"Absalom can't do anything right," Perona groaned, though she didn't sound the least bit surprised. "So, what are you going to do? As you surmised, I do plan to steal your ship to escape from Thriller Bark and bringing all the treasure with me. If you try to stop me, I'll fight you. And you won't like that."

"Sad to say, she's got a point," Zoro couldn't help but point out. He had no idea how a fight between these two could possibly end, what with both of them being so surprisingly similar. But he was hoping to see a fight like that here… it would be interesting to say the least.

Perona held up her hand as she caused several tiny ghosts—the same ones that almost killed Usopp before—and said, "You're not very strong so the mini hallow ghost army is more than sufficient against you. The only one among you who put up a fight against me was that depressing long-nose guy."

Memory Nami readied herself for a fight, but then her expression changed from one of complete seriousness to surprise and caution.

"Who is that?" she asked suddenly, taking them all aback.

"Who is who?" Chopper asked in confusion. "Isn't that Perona?"

"That wasn't who I was looking at," present-day Nami said as she already turned around to face the newcomer. The others did so as well and they were all shocked to the core at who was there.

"What…? No way! I forgot about him!" Usopp gasped.

"Of all the people…" Sanji hissed, his eyes looking sideways to Zoro, who's entire face was now cloaked in shadows and he seemed to become as still as a statue. Sanji gripped the tiny Sleep Star in his hands again, knowing that he had to be ready.

Bartholomew Kuma had finally appeared.

"RUN MISTRESS PERONA! DON'T LOOK BACK!" the zombies cried out and Perona went pale as she spun around.

"We don't know him but he's definitely an enemy," a flat faced panda zombie shouted in fear, "Just now he made some of our brothers vanish without a trace right before our very eyes."

"He's no ordinary man! He's dangerous!"

"Whoever he is, he's bad news."

"No duh," Franky gulped down, his surprise at seeing Kuma again so suddenly already wearing off.

Robin and Brook both glanced at Zoro in concern. And Brook whispered, "You alright, Zoro-san?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Zoro asked back coldly, but though his voice was calm, the two of them, with Sanji listening in, could hear the slight tremor. He was petrified at what was coming next and they were all back to wondering about different ways to get them out of this mess.

"No… it… it can't be! I think I know who this man is!" Perona gasped before falling backwards, still staring up at him, filled with fright. "It's him. One of the seven Warlords of the Sea. The Tyrant… Bartholomew Kuma! The atrocities he committed when he was a pirate are beyond compare!"

The zombies began to freak out at the thought, staring in horror at the thought of someone was strong as their master was here. Perona trembled as Kuma suddenly asked, "Do you work for Moria?"

"I can guess why he's asking," Usopp couldn't help but state. Perona sure didn't look like she fitted in with this grim and dark island with all her pink and whites, did she?

"What? Master Moria?" Perona stuttered nervously, looking like the last thing she wanted to do was pick a fight. It was as if she was afraid of being struck down should she confirm it so she decided, "I was, but I'm not anymore! I've had enough of this! I'm just trying to… to escape from this island! I want no part of it!"

There was silence as the zombies glared at Kuma, even starting to make threats that he leave their mistress alone. Kuma did not say anything for a long time before he finally asked, "If you could take a vacation, where would you like to go?"

"Say what?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head and most of the others watched with sweat hanging down their heads.

"Took the words outta my mouth," Sanji said darkly before remembering just what kind of powers this nut job had. "He's gonna send her flying."

The zombies all gasped that he was making small talk as Perona quickly got angry.

"This is not the time or place for such nonsense!" Perona yelled, but then her eyes glazed over as she began to whisper softly, "But if I were to go on a vacation, somewhere… dark and damp somewhere with an old, creepy castle. And spend every day singing a song of curses."

"Song of curses?" Franky asked with a laugh. "I know some pretty good curse words myself!"

"I don't think she means those kind of curses," Usopp sighed as Zoro arched an eyebrow. Well, if that was where she wanted to go, she got her wish, didn't she? That was Mihawk's place to a T.

The zombies gasped that she even answered him, but then called that they loved her answer and it knocked her out of her daydream. She then got up, determined to fight him.

"Stop screwing around!" she barked.

"You were the one daydreaming!" Brook pointed out, but didn't sound sarcastic, for he knew how scary it was to be sent flying by Kuma's powers. He hoped that he never had to go through that ever again!

"I admit that I was taken aback when I realized who you were," Perona declared, suddenly regaining her confidence, "But I've got nothing to fear. With my Devil Fruit powers there's no one I can't take down, that includes you!"

Kuma did not answer as he turned the pages of his bible… not even bothering to look up at her.

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!" she screamed, "I'd imagine your shadow's pretty strong, isn't it, Kuma? Good. I'll take it as a parting gift for my former master Moria so prepare yourself!"

Robin shook her head, knowing that this fight had already been lost before beginning. She doubted that Kuma was here to pick a fight with her, and by attacking him, he had to send her flying. She thought that her defeat at Usopp's hands would have taught her some humility… show her that while her Devil Fruit powers were dangerous, but far from being invincible.

Perona sent her Negative Ghosts and Special Hallows at him, but he dodged them all and while he moved so fast that most of the crew missed it… he had already pulled off his glove and with a swipe of his hand… she vanished.

Everyone stared at him as he pulled his glove on as if nothing happened.

"Before you interrupted with all that yelling, I was simply going to ask you where Moria is," he said calmly as the zombies still stared.

"Damn… I know that we've seen all that before, but it still scares the crap outta me!" Usopp gulped.

Memory Nami was looking sick as she whispered, "Where did she go?"

The zombies all began to shriek at what he had done, looking like they were about to jump in and fight him for making their mistress vanish. But all it took was a single look at them for them to get scared and ran for it, leaving him there.

Kuma then raised his head and asked, "You're the cat burglar aren't you? One of the Straw Hat pirates."

"He better not think of coming after you, Nami!" Sanji warned.

"He didn't," present-day Nami reassured him, and she was grateful for that. She knew that she never would have stood a chance against him, and she might never have been able to get back to her crew if she had been sent flying from here.

"I heard that Monkey D. Luffy has an older brother," Kuma's voice said from next to her as he vanished from below her. "Is that true?"

Memory Nami gasped as she looked up to the side where he stood towering over her.

Everyone watched with tense expressions… all but one.

Luffy's eyes widen as he realized that this must be when Ace was still…? He screwed up his eyes tightly, gasping in pain as some of the darker memories threatened to play themselves over in his mind.

"Ace…" he whispered. The rest of the crew looked at him in concern. Despite anything that Luffy said, they knew that the trauma he suffered during the war was something that would never fully go away. To see his own big brother cut down in such a way…? It was doubtful that he would ever fully recover from something like that.

Luffy was shaking slightly before he gave his head a hard shake. At this point in time, Ace must have been recently imprisoned inside Impel Down. And the couple weeks that the crew spent sailing the seas… happy and free… Ace was being shown hell.

"Luffy," present-day Nami said softly as she reached out a comforting hand and touched his shoulder, taking it as a good sign that he didn't flinch away or throw her arm off. She then gave him a tight hug, soon joined by Usopp and Chopper as Luffy managed to keep hold of his emotions.

"Yeah, he does," memory Nami said, trying to sound brave, "You're talking about Ace, right. Why do you wanna know?"

"I see," Kuma said slowly, not answering her question, "So the rumors are true."

"Yeah, so?" she demanded, "What's this all about? What do you want? Are you really a Warlord?"

"You're really standing up to him here, sis," Franky said impressed.

Present-day Nami could only nod as she still held Luffy in a tight embrace. She wasn't going to make the same mistake as Perona did. She didn't try to fight him or argue… but she let him know that she wasn't going to stand by and be helpless if he tried to fight her.

Thankfully, Kuma didn't seem interested as he suddenly vanished again before she even finished her questions. Startled, memory Nami stared around for him, when he spoke from the bridge below her.

"What I am doing here, is none of your concern," he said as he walked away, heading off in the direction of the mansion… or what was left of it anyway.

"Damn, for such a large guy, he sure gets around," Sanji said, watching Kuma with nothing short of hatred inside him.

Memory Nami could only watch, and she was shaking slightly as they heard her whisper, "That guy is bad news. What does he want with Luffy? I've got to go warn him.

"So you do worry?" Luffy asked, grinning slightly and she pulled away from the hug to glare at him.

"Of course I do, you idiot!" she snapped back. "I'm not heartless!"

She was so focused on Luffy at this point that she missed a lot of shifty looks coming from other members of the crew. She never had the chance to notice this, however, for the memory had faded around them and they were back outside the ruined courtyard.

"We're back?" Chopper asked in surprise, jumping up to sit in Luffy's arms, as if making sure that Luffy would have something soft to hug in case he needed it. "Then that means…?"

"Finally, we're gonna see the rest of the fight with Oars," Zoro grinned as he images of the zombie giant appeared before them. "Good, looks like we're picking up where we left off."

"Oh now you've done it," Oars growled, still upside down and his head in the rubble. "When I get up, I'm gonna stomp you pirate pipsqueaks flat! THERE WON'T EVEN BE BONES LEFT TO BURY!"

Those last few words came out as a deadly threat and the ground started to shake again.

"OH CRAP! THIS GUY IS SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF!" memory Chopper screamed.

"THIS IS BAD! REALLY BAD!" memory Usopp hollered in panic.

"Here he comes!" memory Sanji warned as they prepared for the worst. They waited but to everyone's surprise, Oars didn't move from his place on the ground.

"Ah… what's he doing?" Nami couldn't help but asked cautiously. Why wasn't this guy getting up to fight?

Oars seemed confused by this as well at least until he realized that he couldn't move.

"WHAT THE HELL?! DAMNIT! I CAN'T MOVE! MY HORNS ARE STUCK IN THE GROUND! THIS SUCKS!"

Nami fell over at that before shouting out, "THAT'S THE PROBLEM?! HIS HORNS ARE STUCK?!"

"That is so stupid," Franky sighed before looking at their past selves and their ghoulish looks. The memory versions of Usopp and Chopper had shining dark eyes, both smiling evilly at this new information.

"Ahhh," memory Franky said as he moved his sunglasses up so they see the empty. "You're stuck huh?"

Memory Zoro licked his blade, as if thirsty for blood, while Sanji grinned like a demonic jack-o-lantern. Yet it was memory Robin who had was the scariest of all with cold, dead eyes that seemed devoid of all life.

"Oh, crap! We look so freaky!" present-day Franky cried out. "I don't know if I'm supposed to like it or not?"

"I think that we look cool as hell!" present-day Sanji laughed at the sight.

"You guys are really scaring me here," Nami gulped. Who would have thought that they could look so monstrous? Her crew looked even scarier than the zombies on this island.

"I almost feel bad for Oars now," Luffy said, blinking in amazement at how scary his crew was. Not that it stopped him from cheering when he saw them march over to Oars, who was actually shaking with fear himself a little, before they proceeded to give him a beat down.

"SWEET!" present-day Usopp laughed at the sight of it. Maybe they should use those 'demon faces' again sometime? They seemed to intimidate their enemies before kicking ass.

However, during the fighting and all of Oars's cries of pain, the rubble was disturbed enough for Oars to pull his horns out of the ground.

"HEY! CUT IT OUT!" Oars roared as he got up.

"Awwww," Luffy groaned out in disappointment. He wanted to see more of his crew wailing on this jerk who had his shadow. Oars was now bleeding and panting hard as the memory Straw Hats retreated to safer grounds.

"These guys are like little demons," Oars growled.

"Yep," present-day Zoro said proudly. What else would they be?

"Guess that wasn't enough to keep him down," memory Sanji said bitterly, though he didn't sound particularly surprised by this as well.

"It would seem," memory Robin agreed, "Unfortunately."

"Ok, what are we gonna do now?" memory Zoro asked, looking for suggestions.

"Keep fighting!" Luffy rooted, wishing that his past self would hurry up and come in to help. Jeez, how could he still be stuck running around the forest after Moria's shadow? He was missing all the action!

"If we're gonna take down a giant monster like this one," memory Franky said, "WE NEED TO REINITIATE TATIC 15!"

"YEAH! GO FOR IT!" Luffy said, already forgetting that he wasn't here. "LET'S DO IT NOW!"

"HELL YA!" present-day Usopp and Chopper both cried and they began to run to Franky at that moment, ready to dock right then and there… at least until Nami stuck out her weapon and caused the boys to trip before they got to Franky.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL, NAMI?!" Luffy demanded.

"WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO DOCK!" present-day Usopp screamed, angry that they were stopped.

"WHY'D YOU STOP US?!" present-day Chopper demanded furiously.

"You should be thanking me," Nami retorted darkly. "Now knock it off!"

"Alright Franky! I think we should give it another shot!" memory Chopper agreed, looking ready to jump up onto his head again.

"Yeah!" memory Usopp agreed before rounding on memory Robin and said, "But this time you need to dock into your position Robin! We're counting on you!"

Poor memory Robin seemed to turn red at the very suggestion and snapped back, "I told you! Never!"

"But, Robin?" Luffy whined as their Robin shook her head firmly, letting him know that it was not up for debate.

"If you boys want to do it, that is your business," she told him. "But I prefer to stay out of it."

"I'm with you there," Nami nodded firmly. "But if you all want to embarrass yourselves, then fine. Don't expect us to jump in and help."

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU MORONS?!" memory Sanji demanded, standing between memory Robin and the other boys, outraged that they were harassing her with this. "THERE IS NO WAY ROBIN'S GONNA TAKE PART IN SOMETHING SO HUMILIATING! GOT IT?!"

Just then, he blinked.

"Whoa… hold on… maybe…?" he began as he turned pink at the thought. "Now that I've stopped to think about my sweet Robin docking…?"

"Why are you turning red, Sanji?" present-day Chopper asked innocently.

Both Robin's were now looking pretty scary and both Sanji's were suddenly ghostly pale. Robin knew just where his line of thinking was heading and he better get those thoughts out of his head if he knew what was good for him. Sure they were crewmates… but she wasn't above giving him a beating as well.

"I'm kidding! It's a joke!" memory Sanji cried hurriedly to memory Robin, trying to calm her down, "Don't get angry about it my love!"

"I don't get it," Luffy asked, tilting his head. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing," present-day Robin said, but still glaring at present-day Sanji, who was now practically begging for forgiveness; that he really had been joking and would never really dream of having Robin degrade herself. Though he was secretly thinking of how he would have been able to see up her dress had she decided to dock onto Franky's arm.

"Either way don't even think about pulling that same…?" memory Zoro began but it was too late.

"Let's do it!" memory Franky yelled to the others. "Stand by men! Take your positions!"

This time, it was just the three of them. Memory Franky was holding up Usopp, who posed like a robot clawed arm in his hand, while Chopper settled on his head. Thankfully, both memory Zoro and Sanji seemed to have wised up, and refused to take part of it.

"Pirate docking 3!" memory Franky cried.

"THE NOT SO GIANT ROBOT WARRIOR!" memory Chopper added.

"The docking is complete!" memory Usopp declared.

"ALRIGHT! GO DOCKING 3!" Luffy cried out joyfully. "Not as cool as the first Docking, but still really, really cool!"

"We seeing the same thing?" present-day Zoro could help but wonder as he rubbed his eye, blinking when he saw that the image didn't change. What was so cool about it?

Oars seemed to be greatly interested in this as he looked on while the three of them began to bolt straight towards him. On their way there, they were running into memory Sanji and memory Franky cried out as he ran at him, "Hey, Eyebrows! Can I get a hand here?! No, wait! I mean can I get a leg?"

"I'd give you a leg," present-day Sanji muttered. "More like a boot right up your…"

But the memory versions of Usopp and Chopper were both telling memory Sanji to do it as well, and memory Sanji grinned, liking this plan and he did what he was asked, giving them all a leg up and sent them flying straight at Oars.

"Come on, you there can't do nothing!" Oars said as he watched them flying towards him.

"That's where you're wrong!" memory Usopp yelled as Luffy watched with wide, sparkling eyes. What was going to happen? What cool move were they going to use?

"We're coming for you, you big ugly bastard!" memory Franky declared before landing on top of his head. "Take this!"

"Pirate Warrior Special Attack!" the other two declared, and began to stomp on his head.

Luffy actually fell over that. "WWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT?! THAT'S IT?!" he cried out in disappointment. He wanted to see them shoot out a beam or something!

"Wait for it," present-day Usopp said confidently while the other memory Straw Hats watched from the ground.

"So after all that, this is their special attack?" memory Zoro asked, as if he wasn't sure what he should say here.

"I believe that's a yes," memory Robin agreed.

As for poor memory Sanji, he just stared up at them before going red.

"DAMNIT! DOCKING 3 TOTALLY SUCKS!" he yelled in humiliation, "I'm embarrassed I had anything to do with this crap!"

"WHAT?!" the three present-day versions of the three Straw Hats demanded in outrage. "HOW DARE YOU! NEVER UNDERSTIMATE THE POWER OF DOCKING!"

Their past selves merely continued stomping around on Oars's head—not really doing anything but making him irritated.

"It's not neat like last time," Oars said. "You're stupid!"

"And you know it's bad if even a brain-dead zombie with Luffy's shadow thinks it's stupid," Nami sighed as she shook her head. What she didn't see was that memory Usopp was now grinning.

"That's what we want you to believe," he said, "Now witness the true terror of the pirates docking 3!"

"Huh?" Oars asked stupidly.

"Moron! You think you've got what it takes to be king of the pirates?" memory Usopp taunted, "You're all size and brute strength! Nothing more! You're the world's tallest joke!"

"Moron! Moron!" both memory Franky and Chopper chanted.

"What'd you call me?" Oars demanded, already getting angry as memory Usopp kept grinning.

"Just a few pirates knocked you flat?" he asked, "And you think you're somehow gonna be king of all of them? Give up! You're nothing but an embarrassment!"

"You know, he's got a point there," present-day Zoro offered with a shrug. Seriously, if a handful of pirates could beat him up, there was no way that he was going to last long on the Grand Line. He was screwed from the beginning.

The more that the three laughed, the angrier that Oars got.

"You know I'm gonna embarrassment you!" Oars declared with the pathetic threat, raising his fist. "You pipsqueak pirates! I'll smash you flat!"

"JUMP!" the three yelled together as they jumped so that Oars ended up punching himself in the head.

Nami blinked in shock as Luffy gasped and cheered once more.

"YEAH! DOCKING 3 IS AWESOME AFTER ALL!" he declared as Nami shook her head, unable to believe that actually worked. The three memory Straw Hats dropped back safely onto the ground, undocking from each other as they also began to cheer and taunt Oars at the same time, who was moaning in pain as he fell.

At the sight of seeing Oars knocked over, memory Sanji began grinning again.

"Alright!" he yelled and he turned back to memory Robin, "Robin! Did ya see? Did ya see? It went just as is planned! Way a go pirates docking 3!"

"Nobody's buying that crap, stupid cook," memory Zoro snapped as sweat hung from his head.

"Besides, it's not like that it kept him down for long," present-day Zoro reminded him. Honestly, he was glad that their new docking system was at least cooler than this. He'll take those weapons over humiliating himself again. Damn, how was it that they drew him in so easily to their stupid, childish games?

"Whoa! I'm falling again!" Oars cried before he was suddenly able to find his footing.

"Why didn't he fall?" memory Chopper and Usopp gasped, as if Oars had suddenly broken the rules in a game they were playing.

"Damn, and we were so close too!" memory Franky cursed.

"Yes, you would think his own attack would have done enough to finish him," present-day Robin reasoned. "Yet, he is a zombie with Luffy's shadow. He's not going to give up that easily."

"He's as stubborn as he is tall," memory Sanji snarled as he crouched down, ready to jump. "I don't have time for this! I gotta save Nami!"

"I'm just glad to know that you were safe, my dear Nami-swan," present-day Sanji told their Nami with tears of remorse in his eyes. "Please forgive me for not being able to save you!"

"Relax," she said with a wave of her hand. "You blubbering was what caused me the most problems." Which was true, because he gave away her location to Oars when he spotted her. Seriously, at least wait until after the battle was over before trying to apologize.

It looked like another round of fighting was about to take place, but to their surprise, memory Usopp held up his hand to stop them, telling them to wait, for he just got an idea how to stop him.

"I've had enough of these half-assed plans," memory Zoro barked, as if ready to chop him up should he even suggest docking again.

"LISTEN TO ME DAMNIT!" memory Usopp yelled, getting everyone's attention. "From what I've seen. Even though he's big and red and all… he still has traces of Luffy's personality left."

"Huh? You think?" Luffy asked in surprise. "He doesn't seem that much like me, does he?"

No one answered as the others looked at him with sweatdrops, the exception being Robin, who was chuckling.

"What are you talking about? He already told us he didn't recognize any of us and that Moria was his master," memory Chopper reminded him.

"Yeah, but even so…" memory Usopp said slowly as he reminded them at how disappointed Oars was not to see the full docking—something that the real Luffy would have done. "At that moment his other half leaked out. The part of him that's Luffy is in there somewhere. See what I mean?"

The others eyes all widened at that as they realized that it was true.

Memory Robin said with a smile and agreed, "I think you're right."

"Yeah, so how does that help us?" memory Franky demanded, wanting him to get to the point.

Memory Usopp grinned as he said simply, "Well, it means that this guy's weaknesses are Luffy's weaknesses."

They all looked at each other before scattering, and they began to try and distract Oars. Memory Usopp and Chopper went around Oars and began to call out that they could see a huge chuck of meat, which—of course—got his attention. In fact, even Luffy was looking up, expecting to see meat, but frowned in disappointment when he saw that there wasn't anything there. Not that it matters since he couldn't eat anything here anyway.

With Oars looking the other way, the memory versions of Franky and Zoro charged in and each attacked his knees, dealing heavy blows to both and Oars staggered as he fell forward.

"ALRIGHT! HE'S DOWN AGAIN AFTER A BLOW TO THE KNEECAPS!" memory Usopp cheered as he and Chopper celebrated.

"That was embarrassing," Oars panted, on all fours now.

"Keep it up, you guys!" memory Franky called. "Just stall him until the captain beats the crap outta Moria! HURRY UP AND GET THOSE SHADOWS BACK, STRAW HAT!"

But it seemed that not all of them were willing to go along with that plan.

"There's no reason to keep screwing around like this," memory Zoro said sharply. "Let's take him down for good."

Franky shrieked at that before point up at Oars and yelling, "Hang on! I thought the idea was for us to keep this big monster busy so that he doesn't get in Straw hat's way. There's no way we can beat this thing, man!"

"You're right, that was the idea," present-day Zoro shrugged. "But the best thing about our plans is that they are always changing."

"Yep, that much is true," present-day Sanji nodded, remembering why they were all ready to fight until they took out Oars.

Memory Zoro turned back, ready to draw his blades as he reminded them all, "A fight isn't truly over until you've won!"

Memory Franky and Usopp were now trying to talk some reason into Zoro, reminding him that the only way they could hope to beat him was if they purified him. Their job was only to buy time for Luffy to kick Moria's ass. But memory Sanji unexpected spoke up in favor of Zoro's idea.

"If you don't wanna help, stand back!" memory Sanji shouted, the same look of resignation on his own face, "I don't feel like waiting around for Luffy to win either."

"You're crazy!" memory Usopp yelled as memory Robin laughed and reminded him that once those two make up their minds, there was nothing they could do to stop them.

Memory Zoro had made up his mind as he readied himself to use his new blade against Oars now—facing him with all three blades. Memory Usopp tried once more to reason with him that all they were trying to do was buy time for Luffy to beat Moria, they didn't actually have to beat this guy.

"I'm finishing the fight he started," memory Zoro responded. "And I've got this new sword. Couldn't imagine a better time to see what it's capable of."

He ignored anything else that memory Usopp said as he shouted up at Oars, getting his attention and picking a fight.

"Let's see what you've got," Oars said.

"He's gonna fight him on his own?!" memory Usopp gasped as Oars brought his fist down. Memory Zoro dodged it in time, sliding a few yards away, forced to slice the boulders that came flying at him—hacking through them as if they were made of butter. He continued to ignore the others as they tried to plead with him to give it up as he examined his new blade, which was much heavier compared to his last one. But with that weight came a great advantage in one way. When Oars came back at him once again, memory Zoro was able to deflect the fist, shocking the others. He sent another flying blade attack—his 108 pound phoenix—and it was larger than ever before as it struck at Oars, finally doing some real damage. Yet he was able to dodge it from a critical blow.

"YOU ARE SO AWESOME, ZORO!" present-day Chopper gasped in amazement.

"Yohohoho, truly!" Brook agreed. "If I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it either! Not that I have eyes of course, yohohoho! But my! Just watching makes my heart beat even faster! Oh, though I don't have a heart, either!"

Brook continued to laugh as memory Zoro admiring the power of his new blade. But Oars was angrier than ever as he began to stomp down. The other Straw Hats were able to get back in time to avoid getting flattened, but memory Zoro was now stuck right beneath him as he was forced to keep moving to avoid it. But he then went flying back at him to fight against Oar's foot, knocking him off balance and he began to crumble. But before he could deal another blow, Oars went tumbling right on top of him, forcing him to jump away, clinging to the side of the building like a fly.

"ZORO!" memory Chopper cried out in worry. They caught a glimpse of him through the dust, panting, but otherwise alive and well. He then went jumping up and hid himself in the smoke as Oars, who was resting his head in his hand like he was longing around, began to get up.

"Let's see if there's anything left," he said. But when he looked down to see his giant imprint, realizing that Zoro was gone, he yelled, "I didn't crush him? How'd he get away?"

He looked around for any trace of him, but there was so much dust that he couldn't see anything beneath him. At least until memory Zoro slashed out, striking his head and his head was snapped back before he skidded away from him.

"Dodged me again, huh?" memory Zoro demanded, "You're a pain."

Yeah, almost as much as his human counterpart. Oars was a handful, but Luffy? Words could not begin to describe just how much trouble he got them into.

"Come on, Zoro don't push it!" memory Usopp scolded when their swordsman jumped back to rejoin the crew. "You're just making it worst! Even if you do somehow miraculously take him down, what's the point? Luffy's shadow is the only one we'll get back from him! We don't even have the slightest idea where yours and Sanji's are! If we really wanna get our shadows back, we need to wait here until Luffy takes care of it! There's no point in trying to kill yourself trying to take down an undead giant! What we gotta do is believe in Luffy and try to keep this guy busy for awhile."

But the present-day Zoro clearly remembered why he was doing this. They couldn't keep leaving everything up to Luffy forever. He was not the time of person who wanted to sit back and be protected! Besides, if Luffy wasn't able to beat Moria before the sun rose, he wanted to, at least, make sure that Oars was down before turning to ash.

"I've got plenty of faith in Luffy," memory Zoro informed them all firmly, leaving no trace of doubt in his voice. "But I'm also aware of Luffy's one major weakness."

"Huh? What weakness?" Luffy asked him, wondering why they were all looking at him funny.

Memory Usopp blinked in confusion as memory Zoro explained, "Its trickery. They've got an Invisible Man… a girl who controls ghosts… and a Shadow Master. Trickery is the name of the game on this island and they're all professionals at it. It's safe to say none of them are planning on giving Luffy a fair fight."

As soon as he said that, they all looked at each other with the realization that he was correct. As strong as Luffy was, he was very weak when it came to things such as tricks and lies. And on this island, they had both in abundance.

"I'm afraid I must agree," memory Robin nodded, also starting to see why Zoro was so determined now to bring down Oars.

"If they manage to stall Luffy and the sun rises, then we're screwed," memory Zoro explained his way of thinking. "Both me and the cook will melt until there's nothing left but ash." He gripped his blade tightly as he finished, "Maybe we can't save ourselves but if we can get Luffy his shadow back, he can lay this damn island to waste."

"I sure as hell would have made sure that this whole island sank if that happened!" Luffy declared protectively. There was no way that he was going to stand there and let Zoro and Sanji disappear if he could stop it!

Present-day Zoro and Sanji looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. How that if they couldn't get their shadows back in time, then they wanted to ensure that Luffy would make it out of there in time. If they could take down Oars and free the shadow, then even if they couldn't survive the sunrise, at least he would. Not that they said any of this to Luffy; knowing how he would react to that.

Yet, they noticed that several members of the crew were able to pick up on Zoro's hidden meaning behind his reasoning.

Memory Franky looked up to the sky as he informed them, "Looks like maybe 30 minutes before sunrise. On the plus side, that's some thick fog. The sun's gonna have a hard time getting through that."

"So if we're that close to dawn," memory Sanji said as he looked up too, "We should count our blessings we've got this fog. Can't say it's much comfort though. The reality of melting is starting to sink in for me."

Present-day Sanji nodded, knowing that once he looked up to the sky and realized that they were almost out of time, did he really begin to see that there was a good chance that this could have been the last sunrise that he would ever see. It was strange that it took until that moment for him to see just how much danger that they were in.

However, their memory selves last of movement and fighting was starting to get to Oars.

"Huh? How long have they been standing there?" Oars asked, yet before he could come in to attack them himself, everything around them began to shake more violently than ever. Yet no one could figure out what was causing it since Oars wasn't moving either.

"What's going on?" present-day Chopper gasped.

"This entire island is a ship, remember?" Brook reminded him. "We must have gotten caught up in an ocean current."

"That's right, I think that they said something about how Oars was playing around with the rudder earlier?" present-day Usopp suggested, "I guess he managed to sail right out of the dark sea."

"Not sure if that was a good thing or not," Nami said with a frown. Sure, it helped them out big time earlier… but it looked like they were paying for it now.

The earthquake continued for a short time as they felt everything moving off in one direction, and knew that the current they were riding was really moving. In fact, the more that they moved, the more that the fog seemed to fade away as well… either it was being blown away by the wind and movement, or they were simply heading out of the Dark Sea, it was hard to tell.

All they know that was when the shaking finally stopped, the fog had fully disappeared and they were able to get a look at the clear, dark sky… a sky that was growing lighter and lighter with every passing minute.

"The fog," memory Franky groaned when he realized that their cover was now gone. "Could it get any worse?"

"That fog was our last hope," memory Usopp gasped, also looking like he had fully grasped that if they didn't win before that sun rose, then they were going to lose their crewmates. "There's nothing left to block the sun now!"

"Perfect, the fog cleared up at the worst time possible," memory Sanji growled. "I'm really not looking forward to the sun melting my face off."

"I don't know, it might be an improvement if you ask me," present-day Zoro offered to Sanji, who was now looking like he was dangerously close to breaking the swordsman's face at those words.

"Damnit, well this changes the situation at this point," memory Usopp said. "We've got no choice but to try and stop Oar…" but his voice trailed off when he heard a familiar laugh.

"I didn't know it was such a beautiful night out," Moria spoke up and the present-day Straw Hats all turned their attention back to Oars, knowing what was coming.

Memory Usopp fell back in horror at what was happening.

"It's Moria! It's Moria!" he gasped, freaking out and the others began staring about wildly for a trace of him.

"Moria? What?! Where?!" memory Chopper gasped with wide eyes.

"Seriously, how could we not notice where he was?" present-day Sanji asked in annoyance as he looked up at Oars's stomach.

"To be fair, who'd expect him to be hanging out in a zombie's gut?" present-day Franky offered.

"Dawn is just around the corner, is this really the best time for you all too just be standing around?" Moria asked, grinning as he looked down at them.

"Wait! How are you here?!" memory Usopp demanded, the only one who had spotted him. "What happened to Luffy?"

Luffy sighed in embarrassment at that, still furious with himself to have been distracted by Moria's shadow. But even Oars was looking around in confusion, muttering almost childishly, "I hear master Moria but I can't see him."

"Explain this, Usopp," memory Sanji barked, "Where the hell are you seeing him?"

"Look up you idiots! He's right there," memory Usopp yelled and pointed at Oars. "The belly! Inside Oars's belly!"

They all looked and saw that he was right and Moria roared with laughter.

"That twisted Hogback," memory Chopper growled, his eyes widen when he saw the control room inside Oars. "He must be behind this!"

"I don't know to say about that," Nami confessed honestly. "What do you say when you see a man sitting in a giant zombie's stomach?"

"He might regret that when Oars next gets hungry," present-day Franky said sarcastically.

"Where's Luffy?" memory Sanji demanded. "Ah, don't tell me they managed to trick him after all."

"He's done for," memory Franky sighed.

"Don't you ever say Luffy is done for!" memory Chopper yelled at him.

"That's right!" Luffy said angrily to their Franky. "I kicked Moria's ass in the end!"

"Just barely! You cut it a little too close for my liking, bro," present-day Franky reminded him. "Kicking his ass right as the sun was rising? You can't get any closer than that!"

"I don't know what's going on," Oars said, "How come I can hear Master's voice but I can't see him?" He finally looked down and he realized where Moria was. "IS that some kind of cockpit or something? Where is he? Has there always been a cockpit in there?"

Moria was taken aback when he saw the giant fingers poking about in interest, leaving him to kick at the wandering digits.

"Hey! Back off moron! Don't jam your fingers in here, you'll break something!" he yelled smugly.

"Sorry, yes master," Oars said obediently. "But really, this is so awesome! I'm like a robot now!" He stood up tall and said, "Activate giant robot power!" Making robot noises he raised his arms, one of them knocking out another hole in the manor next to him. "Behold! The zombie robot! I am called the Oars… Bomber! Yeah! That's it!"

"That sounds familiar," present-day Chopper said, not even realizing that his past self had a cape wrapped around his shoulders. Though when he next blinked, he saw that the cape was gone. Huh? What was that all about?

"You're no robot! You're a zombie!" memory Franky yelled, putting down his giant nunchucks. "Robots sound like this!" And he began to flex, making more robotic noises thanks to his metal body. Yet Oars just laughed.

"My robot sounds are better than yours!" Oars bragged.

"I can't tell which is worse," present-day Sanji sighed. "Being a robot or a zombie?"

"Hey! You got a problem with me?!" Franky demanded.

"No, you're just a pervert!" present-day Sanji shout back as present-day Franky blushed.

"Well, if you insist?" he laughed before Sanji roared out, "THAT'S NOT A COMPLIMENT!"

"Settle down Oars," Moria scolded. "If you keep messing around you're gonna fall over!"

Nami rolled her eyes, muttering as Oars apologized. "And that would be such a terrible tragedy, wouldn't it?" she asked.

"Alright you pathetic Straw Hats, here I am!" Moria called, looking at them again with new interest. "You wanted a chance to fight me, you've got one! And if you prove yourselves skilled enough to defeat me, I'll release all of the shadows."

"You think that he was keeping his promise?" present-day Usopp frowned at the thought.

"Well, I don't think it matters since everyone got their shadows back," present-day Zoro reminded him. "But that was because Moria was forced to spit them all out at the same time, somehow breaking any command that he had over them. Doubtful… but it did happen, so that's what matters."

Robin frowned as she remembered that last threat that Moria had given them… to go to the New World and experience real hell. She had a feeling that he freely let go of those shadows, just so that they could go to the New World. Well, he did get part of his wish in that they all suffered terribly… by being separated at Sabaody. They were simply no match for that next part of the Grand Line. At least, at the time.

"Go ahead and come at me all at once," Moria called, "But you'll have to take down Oars too! It's the only chance you have to pull me out of this cockpit."

"Now that's cheap!" memory Usopp said, "You're not fighting fair!"

"Unfortunately, this is a pirate's world," present-day Zoro reminded him. "And anything goes. Besides, like I said before, these guys are tricksters. It's their specialty to lie."

"The only way to defeat Oars is to defeat Moria first," memory Chopper said, "But how the hell can we do that with him inside his stomach?"

"We just hit him in his gut and hope that it beats Moria," present-day Sanji offered. "Simple and easy to remember. Even for Moss Head."

"Shut it!" Zoro shot back.

"It narrows our target down to one," memory Sanji said. "Quit complaining."

"Can't get cold feet now," memory Zoro said, though he looked nervous at their odds. Fighting Oars was bad enough, but now they were left with a Warlord who could control shadows… furthermore, he was now inside a walking, fighting fortress of a zombie. Getting to him wasn't going to be easy, and he knew it. It was for that reason that he turned to memory Usopp, asking, "Hey Usopp, that little pinch didn't work earlier. You're gonna have to find a mountain of salt. Our only chance is to purify that monster. We'll try to weaken him as much as we can until you get back."

"I liked that plan," present-day Usopp nodded, knowing that he was a fast runner, and would surely have found the kitchen with the salt in no time. Still, it was a good thing that Brook was on his way and saved him a trip.

"Hell ya! That's a plan I can get behind!" memory Franky cried as he held up his nunchucks again, swinging them around easily.

The others were all getting behind it as well, reassuring Usopp that they would hold out until he found them salt, and lots of it.

"Kay! Yeah I got it!" memory Usopp said as he began to run. "I'll be right back! If I remember correctly there's a kitchen at the front of the manor! They should have lots of salt there!"

"I should have figured as much," Moria said from his comfy chair, his eyes following memory Usopp's every move, "The first thing they're trying to do is get their hands on some salt!" He then yelled up at Oars, "Oars, you hear that? Better make sure that long-nose fellow doesn't make it to the kitchen. You might as well take out the entrance to the mansion."

"Right, I'll get him," Oars said as he turned his attention to memory Usopp—who didn't realize that he was in danger just yet. The memory Straw Hats cried out in warning, but it came too late. For Oars had already threw a punch, seemingly knocking memory Usopp into the side of the manor as the crew cried out in worry as half the mansion fell on top.

"WERE YOU ALRIGHT, USOPP?!" Luffy screamed, terror gripping his heart and fury at Moria rose. Chopper went galloping over to the hole in panic and Moria laughed.

"Not to fear! As if a great Warrior of the Sea could be taken out in one punch!" present-day Usopp beamed proudly.

"Funny, that's not how I remember it," present-day Brook offered thoughtfully.

"Don't ruin it!" present-day Usopp barked back, causing Brook to shriek at his sudden loud voice.

"This is bad!" memory Sanji cried out with wide eyes. "Now with Moria inside Oars, that idiot actually has a brain now!"

Memory Chopper reached the hole that Oars had just made and shifted into his Heavy point as he was still calling out for Usopp.

"USOPP?! WHERE ARE YOU?! ANSWER ME!"

"HE'S PERFECTLY FINE!" called a familiar voice and they all looked up at once to see a skinny shadow falling towards them. They watched as memory Brook fell back down with a sack of salt in one hand and memory Usopp over his shoulder—traumatized, but otherwise unharmed. Even memory Brook looked like he was fighting fit again thanks to some expired milk.

"I thought we might need a hefty quality of salt so I rounded some up!" memory Brook called helpfully as he held up the large sack.

"BROOK?!" they all cried—half in surprise and half in relief.

"That was a close one!" memory Usopp gasped, as if he couldn't believe that he was still in one piece.

"Where you… expecting someone else to rescue you?" memory Brook asked, as if worried that he may have stepped in where he wasn't needed.

"Not at all, more like you couldn't have chosen a better time to step in," present-day Zoro grinned.

 **(Hello everyone. I am so sorry for not updating until now. But moving took a bigger toll on me than I thought. It took me forever to get packed and moved to a new state. And it took several days for my internet to go up and for my things to arrive. Once here, I began looking for a job, and now I'm working full time so I haven't had time to write at all. But I did finally finish this chapter. I know that I said that it was going to have Zoro's big scene in it, but it got so long that I had to split it into two chapters. Good news is that I'm almost finished with the next one, and it should be up next week. I hope that you can forgive me for taking so long and that it was worth the wait. I won't be able to write for more than a couple hours every night from here on out though. The job I'm at doesn't pay much, so I have to start looking for a better paying one just to pay the bills and everything. I hope you can all understand.)**


	23. Floor 22: Zoro's Choice

**Floor 22: Zoro's Choice**

This was now really getting interesting as memory Brook gently lowered memory Usopp safely onto the ground and laughed as he held up the sack of salt.

"You couldn't have cut that closer if you tried," present-day Usopp informed him. "I owe you for that one, Brook. I thought for sure that I was dead there."

"Yohohoho! Anytime!" present-day Brook said happily. "But in all honesty, I was just repaying the favor that I owe to you all for giving me a fighting chance against Moria and reclaiming my shadow! This was the least I could do!"

"It's like you were already a member of the crew!" present-day Chopper told him.

Luffy laughed and said, "Of course he was! I decided it so he was going to be just fine!"

"Strange how that happens," Nami said with a shake of her head but a fond smile nonetheless. When the captain says for you to 'join his crew' it wasn't a request. That was your first order as a Straw Hat. He usually does get what he wants in the end.

"Hey! You're back! I thought you were too hurt to fight!" memory Franky said as he got back up.

"Did something happen?" memory Chopper asked worriedly as he looked over him, "You look a lot better now."

"That is why you should always drink your milk, children!" present-day Brook said proudly. "I am grateful that I drank so much of it while I was growing up as well!"

"Wow! I knew that drinking milk was good for you, but who would have thought it was this good?" present-day Chopper said in wonder. He would have to start drinking more of it from here on out.

"It's true," memory Brook said seriously, "I was seriously injured when I dragged myself to the kitchen to acquire the salt but the something most fortuitous happened!" he stood up and declared, "I discovered some delicious milk which I promptly consumed, thus recovering my health!

"It's true, you look so much shinier," present-day Robin commented.

"I'm never gonna understand how the body of a Devil Fruit user works," present-day Sanji muttered to himself. Though to be fair to himself, there were probably some things that they weren't meant to know.

"Calcium doesn't work that fast!" memory Usopp barked, suddenly annoyed again, "Come on!"

"So there you have it everyone! Milk can heal your broken bones!" both Brooks declared.

"Wow!" Luffy said in wonder.

"LIAR!" both Usopp's yelled together at the Brooks as they laughed.

"Anyway, we have the salt we need now," memory Sanji said as he continued smoking his cigarette. "This should be enough to purify this giant, but it might be a close call. And speaking of close calls, it seems that the kitchen's been blocked off. In other words, we only get one chance to do this."

"Right, so we couldn't afford to make any mistakes," the present-day Sanji agreed with his past self. "Too bad that it didn't help us out in the end. And I thought that we had a fighting chance with all that salt."

"Don't feel bad! We still beat him in the end!" present-day Chopper reminded him brightly.

"We don't have much time, let's move it," memory Zoro commanded, "If we don't wanna melt when the sun rises we have two objectives! We gotta feed the salt to that monster and we gotta beat Moria!"

"We all knew that, Moss Head!" present-day Sanji retorted with annoyance.

The Straw Hats turned to face Moria again, who just looked down at them and laughed some more.

"Just so that you all know, I wasn't scared," present-day Usopp muttered.

"I was very scared," present-day Brook added with a nod.

"But hey, you stood your ground with the rest of us," present-day Sanji reminded them. "Not too bad."

"You guys got any idea how to get to that thing's mouth though?" memory Franky asked, "It's like climbing a tower of fists and teeth."

"Can't you do the docking thing again and have Sanji kick you up there?" Luffy asked, wanting to see another docking technique.

"Not in this lifetime," present-day Sanji hissed back, determined not to embarrass himself like that a second time.

Moria laughed as he taunted, "You wanted a chance to get your shadows back from me? Well here I am! Go ahead and try! I'll warn you though I'm more than just a passenger in Oars stomach. When I'm done with you, you'll wish you melted along in the sun! I'll show you what nightmares are made of!"

"What is the deal with our enemies talking so much?" present-day Zoro asked with a twitch in his forehead. "I mean, Hody was the worst one that I can think of. But just about every guy we beat up does love talking and saying the same things over and over. We get it! we heard you the first time! We just don't care!"

"I think that they're so happy to have someone else to talk to that they can't help themselves," present-day Robin offered, "That, or they just love hearing their voices?"

"My bet is with the second one," present-day Nami shrugged.

Memory Brook laughed as he pointed his sword up at them and said, "Thank you for this chance, Straw Hats! I swear I shall fight beside you with all of my might!" He then spun about happily, apprising them, "Although this small gesture scarcely repays you for recovering my shadow, I shall offer whatever assistance I can! Now let's go!"

But even this simple act of spinning was hard on him and he found himself crumbling, whimpering in pain.

"Really? That's just lame, dude," present-day Franky pointed out.

"Yohohoho, guess my bones were more injured than I thought," present-day Brook said.

"Told you that milk doesn't heal bones like magic!" present-day Usopp retorted.

"Really? So strange?" present-day Brook said as he thought that over.

"We don't need you to break anymore bones!" memory Zoro snapped as he began to charge straight at Oars, "Just hang onto the salt and take it easy!"

The others were soon behind him, ready to rage another round with the giant zombie. Memory Franky was preparing to fire some large shells at him before memory Usopp loaded another projectile into his slingshot.

"Alright pal!" he warned, "If my last shot was too small, try this! Franky! Are you ready? I'm gonna light this zombie up with my special oil star!"

He fired, and memory Franky knew at once what he wanted. He tilted his head up and breathed a fireball straight up as the projectile went through it and an enormous firebird erupted.

"Take this! Supersize… FIREBIRD STAR!" memory Usopp declared. This time, his attack hit Oars, he immediately caught fire all over his body, causing him to howl in pain and try to pat the fire out.

"You'll be fine," Moria called up to him. "Don't let a little fire get to you. Feelings of pain are nothing but lingering memories back when you were alive. They are all in your head! Zombies don't need to worry about any of that nonsense! Just calm down and put out the fire, you'll see!"

"Yeah, but it will still leave damage!" present-day Chopper spoke up with his eyes narrowed. How could Moria ever think that just because you can't feel pain, it makes you invincible? Just because he can't feel it, doesn't mean that he's not injured!

"You're right! It's not so hot!" Oars said carefully once he took the time to calm down. "Boy, do I look silly!"

"This is our chance, Zoro! Come on!" memory Chopper cried out, and memory Zoro ran straight at him, looking like he was about to strike him down before Chopper cupped his hands to use as a step. He was able to send memory Zoro flying upwards. He went up so high that he passed the mansion's destroyed tower where he and Ryuma fought eariler. Memory Sanji walked up right below, waiting. Zoro then began to chop up what was left of the tower, leaving it in pieces. That was when sang began to kick out at the bottom pieces, sending them flying at oars. Again and again he kicked at the pieces which nailed Oars painfully.

"Yeah! You got him!" Luffy cheered.

"Wanna bet?" present-day Franky asked sourly, remembering what happened next.

At last, Oars got angry and threw out a punch to send several pieces flying back, where the memory versions of Robin, Franky, and Brook—who was right in the path. Memory Robin used her powers to pull him to safety as Franky was forced to dodge and fire back to destroy the ones that remained.

"Yeah, real bright idea," present-day Nami muttered at the sight of her crewmates almost getting crushed.

"He's using our own attacks against us!" memory Chopper cried out, worry etched across his face.

"I'm sorry about that!" memory Sanji shouted out, "You guys okay?"

Thankfully, all three gave them the thumbs-up, even memory Brook while he still on the ground, letting them know that they were just fine.

While that was happening, memory Usopp was working on pulling back what looked like amassive slingshot between two boulders.

"Behold my new weapon!" he declared proudly, "The Stag Beetle!"

"Wow! A new weapon!?" Luffy asked in awe at the sight of it. "That looks fun to ride!"

"I figured you'd say that," present-day Usopp said, fingering his much smaller slingshot at his side. If there was one thing that he learned, it was that just because it was bigger didn't mean that it was a better weapon. Besides, what was he thinking coming up with something like that?

At the sight of this newest toy, memory Franky went jumping over, declaring how _super_ he was feeling at that moment while he posed. It was like he couldn't even tell how much trouble Usopp was in.

"Glad you're feeling super!" memory Usopp shot back sarcastically, "But I don't think I can hold this on my own for much longer! Can you hurry it up?!"

"Yeah, in case you couldn't tell, pulling that thing back was freakin' hard!" present-day Usopp yelled at their Franky, who laughed.

"Hell ya! Ready whenever you are!" memory Franky cheered, ready to fly. Memory Usopp then warned him that he hadn't had a chance to properly test this thing, so there was no telling what was going to happen if he went flying.

"Hell, if I was afraid of the unknown, then I never would have left Water 7!" present-day Franky laughed at the thought.

"Think I can't handle this bro?" memory Franky laughed at the challenge as Oars continued smashing up everything behind him. "I'm extra super this week! I got it under control!"

"Alright! Then get in!" memory Usopp panted, struggling to hold the slingshot back. Memory Franky made himself comfortable as memory Usopp began to take aim. "Special attack: Ironman Comet!"

"Yeah! I do think that there is some hope in there for a future attack!" present-day Franky declared as he remembered how fast he went when he was fired. "I gotta find a way to work that speed into something, somehow?"

His past self went flying upwards as he held up his arm, ready to fire.

"Get ready! This mortar cannon of mine was especially made to take down sea kings and jerks like you!" memory Franky yelled, Moria in his sights, "I'm gonna wipe that smug grin right off your face, Moria!"

Yet they forgot one thing… that Moria was still in control of Oars, who was able to bend his body out of the way of the attack, taking them all by surprise.

"I keep forgetting he's so fast!" memory Chopper gasped at the sight.

"Yeah, the only time I wished that you were slow here, Luffy," present-day Usopp told their Luffy. "It sure wasn't fun fighting against your shadow. Please, don't get it stolen again?"

"He may not look like him, but he's got Luffy's moves for sure!" memory Zoro confirmed and they all grew pale at the sight of Oars raising his leg and retaliated with a hard kick at memory Franky, who was smashed right through the manor's walls again.

Memory Usopp screamed at the sight as Franky fell, landing hard on the ground with broken pieces of rubble falling on top of him, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and blood dripping down his face.

"Damn, guess I wasn't as super as I felt that week," present-day Franky said as he rubbed his head. He didn't remember getting hit like that, though seeing it from here, he supposed that was natural.

"You did your best, don't feel bad," present-day Brook assured him. "He was no easy foe for anyone."

"Don't stop now, Oars!" Moria shouted, "That was a nice shot but he's still alive. Why don't you stomp on him?"

Oars followed his orders ad he began to lift his foot up again, causing the memory versions of Zoro and Chopper to run ahead to help. But it was an unlikely source that ended up helping Franky.

"Thunderbolt…" began a voice they all knew and a blackened storm cloud appeared right above Oars's head. "TEMPO!"

Lightning burst from the cloud and struck at Oars, and this time, it seemed to have done some serious damage. Even Moria was howling in pain as he was struck with lightning and it reached every part of Oars's body.

"I don't know what's going on, but I want it to stop!" Moria screamed, "Oars? Can you pound whosever doing this?!"

Present-day Nami couldn't stop the surge of pride she felt at the sight of seeing Moria in pain. And she wondered that if it hadn't been for Sanji, she may not have been noticed right away. She watched how Oars fell onto all fours, still sparking and sizzling from that last attack—leaving the memory Straw Hats to look around.

"Nice shot!" memory Zoro said, "But where'd it come from?!"

"Lightning!" memory Chopper chirped up in understanding, "It has to be her!"

"It's the Clima-Tact!" memory Sanji declared as he began looking around, "I don't know where she is but Nami's fine!"

"Which I count my blessings every single day, my dear!" the present-day Sanji told their Nami, who rolled her eyes.

"I would have been fine if you didn't give me away!" she shot back as memory Sanji spotted memory Nami standing up on the broken bridge, having changed out of her wedding dress at last.

"There she is! Its Nami!" he said and pointed. He then began screaming out her name as she cowered back, drawing all the attention onto her.

"COULD YOU STOP YELLING ALREADY?! NOW THEY'RE GONNA KNOW WHERE I AM?!" memory Nami shrieked back. At the sound of her telling him off, memory Sanji began crying.

"She yelled at me! She yelled at me!" he cried, "Just like old times! I'm so glad that you're safe! Yell at me more name! I'm so sorry I couldn't save you! You can tell me how stupid I am all night long!"

"I tell you how stupid you are all the time," present-day Zoro reminded him.

"Back off, Moss Head!" present-day Sanji snapped back.

"Oh, shut up!" memory Zoro snapped at memory Sanji, trying to get everyone to focus back on Oars, who was now getting back to his feet. When his one eye found memory Nami, her eyes widened and she went pale when he spoke.

"It's that girl," Oars grunted, causing her to shriek.

Memory Nami shrieked in terror before yelling at memory Sanji, "See? I told you!"

"We've got Straw Hats popping outta the woodwork!" Moria said, "Alright Oars, you know what to do! Smash her like you smashed the last guy!"

"Yeah, I hope that you got out of that in better shape than I did, sis," present-day Franky said as he looked to his past self, who was still lying out cold on the ground.

Oars did what he was told and held up his fist. But it was so far away that not even with his massive reach could he hope to hit her from that distance.

"Huh? He's not gonna stretch is he? I mean, can he?!" memory Nami screamed, not sure if she should run or not.

"He shouldn't be able to reach her?" memory Chopper asked in confusion. "Right?"

"Yeah, he couldn't stretch before?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"That was before Moria joined the fight," present-day Robin reminded him as memory Zoro snapped at Usopp to get to Franky, which he did so.

But Oars finished his attack.

"Gum GUM… PISTOL!"

To their past selves's shock, he stretched his arm out and it struck at the bridge. The memory Straw Hats were shocked to the core at what just happened. Even the calm ones such as Zoro and Robin were horrified at what they were now dealing with.

"He… he stretched! Impossible!" memory Chopper shrieked as Oars pulled his arm back to look at it in mild surprise.

"Hey! That worked!" he said as he stared at his arm. "That was new, but it didn't feel new?"

"Stupid Moria!" Luffy hissed furiously. He couldn't stand seeing his attacks being used against his crew like this! Oh, when was he going to jump in and beat this guy down, already?

The bridge couldn't stand the attack and was now crumbling, memory Sanji ran up to try and find her. Her screams quickly alerted to them where she was, and they saw that memory Robin had created a rope of her arms to catch her, and she was now swinging about, still screaming before she was safely lowered to the ground.

"Wow, that looked almost as bad watching it than going through it," present-day Nami told them. "Thanks for that, Robin."

"Anytime," present-day Robin reassured her.

"That was certainly a surprise," memory Robin said, her gaze still focused forward as memory Nami was trying to catch her breath. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, just shaken up," memory Nami told her as she panted hard, thanking her for saving her again.

Memory Zoro moved so that he stood in front of the others protectively as he hissed out in bewilderment, "I don't get it, but it can't be good."

"Two people can't have the same Devil Fruit power!" memory Sanji barked firmly as memory Usopp moved back with Franky drooped over his shoulders. "Even if he does have Luffy's shadow in him, he shouldn't be able to do that!"

At the sight of their stunned faces, they could hear Moria continuing to laugh, and at the sound of it, memory Zoro's eyes narrowed.

"That laugh is really starting to get annoying," present-day Robin couldn't help but point out.

"Sis, it got annoying before I ever met the guy!" present-day Franky growled.

"It's Moria," memory Zoro declared, "It must be one of his tricks."

"How is he doing it?" Luffy asked in confusion. "It's not like he has my powers or anything?"

"You'll see soon enough," present-day Robin said as memory Sanji hissed that he was going to kill Moria once he got his hands on him. Though it was hard for him to do so when Moria ordered Oars to attack, and this time he used the Gum Gum Whip.

"Well this is just great! Now he really is just like a giant monster Luffy!" memory Sanji yelled as he was forced to jump up to avoid it.

"Stop it, Luffy! You're destroying your own crew!" memory Usopp tried to plead with him.

"I'm not doing it!" Luffy yelled, getting angrier by the second.

But Oars was far from over as he jumped up, readying another attack.

"Here he comes!" memory Zoro warned as Oars's head twisted grotesque as it slammed itself into the ground, forcing the others to hold on for dear life.

"That is freaky!" present-day Usopp said, remembering how Luffy could stretch his head out like a snake now. He was used to Luffy stretching himself, but seeing his neck like that? It was a little creepy.

"This whole stretching thing makes fighting fun," Oars said before he moved his feet into a pointed shape.

"Yeah! It is really fun," Luffy couldn't help but inform them all. That was why he didn't understand why people would say his powers were too silly in a fight. They were fun to use!

Oars seemed to feel the same way, for he used the giant version of the Gum Gum Spear to ram his feet into the ground, knocking the Straw Hats around and even causing memory Brook to almost lose the salt.

"What the hell's going on here?! He just got even more powerful!" memory Sanji yelled as he jumped back to avoid the attack.

"It's not like he ate a devil fruit, so how's he able to stretch like that?" memory Zoro added angrily, "It's gotta be Moria! What did he do?"

They looked up as Oars landed on the ground again, with Moria still laughing inside his belly.

"And there you have it! Now you know the nightmarish power of the Shadow Shadow Fruit!" Moria roared with laughter, "Shadow Revolution!"

And seeing how he was just dying to tell someone, Moria began to brag about his powers.

"A shadow is a helpless prisoner to the body who casts it," he informed them all, "Mimicking it like a reflection. The shadow and body are basically fused to the same shapes and movements, it's a basic law of nature! But I've freed the shadow from the dominance of Oar's body and taken control of it with my own shadow!"

"What?" Luffy asked, little question marks hanging over his head.

"What he means is that he's the one making Oars stretch because he can control the shadow inside him," present-day Robin informed him. "In other words, he can control your shadow's shape, and Oars has no choice but to make the same shape."

"So it's still like having your shadow, only backwards," present-day Usopp decided.

They looked down at Oars's feet to see that it was true, Moria's shadow was rising up out of Oars's shadow, and was cackling silently at the sight of them there.

"I can now change the shape of Oars's shadow as I wish, thereby forcing Oar's body to match and follow it's every contortion," Moria went on explaining, "As I said, its law and nature that the body and shadow always hold the same shape. But now the shadow is no longer the subordinate, but the master! The body is forced to take any shape that the shadow takes! This is the power of shadow revolution!"

"I'm starting to see what you were talking about before. Why do the bad guys feel the need to explain how their powers work?" present-day Nami sighed. "Wouldn't they not want us to figure out how they work so that we can't figure out a way to counter it?"

"I think they're just so cocky that they think they can't hope to be defeated," present-day Sanji shrugged. "Good news for us. Sooner or later, our enemy's gonna be talking so much that they'll end up telling us exactly how to beat them."

"Moria's even stronger than we thought!" memory Chopper croaked, "Even if Oars doesn't have a Devil Fruit power, he can still stretch! If Moria controls his shadow then he can rewrite the rules!"

"Well, if there's one thing that pirates know how to do, its break the rules," present-day Franky offered as he thought that over. "So, all we gotta do is break the rules even more!"

"No problem for us," present-day Nami grumbled. "You boys are always breaking the rules I put on the Sunny without even thinking about it. So stomping all over the rules on this island—however twisted they are, should be easy for you."

It was a bit of cold comfort to know that Oars wasn't actually a rubber man, but if he had basically the same powers as Luffy, it didn't do them much good. He was tough enough already. Moria was laughing once more as he informed them, "You know, he has even more tricks than Straw Hat! For example, if I shape his body into a ball…?"

That was when Oars's massive shadow began to shift. It grew rounder and rounder until it was just a perfect sphere. As that changed though, Oars's body began to twist as well as his body grew wider and limbs shorter until…?

"Now, that's nuts," present-day Sanji said as he watched Oars now a perfect ball. "Seriously, who sits around all day and comes up with crap like this?"

"I'm guessing that Moria is someone who had a lot of free time on his hands?" present-day Zoro shrugged.

"Oars Ball!" Moria laughed. "Dodge this! Roll!"

And at once, Oars began to roll over towards them, preparing to flatten them all. The memory Straw Hats were left with no choice but to run. But after rolling over just once, Oars stopped, now snapping at Moria. This was his fight and he wanted to be the one in charge.

"Glad to see that even a tiny bit of you is still in there," present-day Sanji said to their Luffy. Seriously, if Oars had allowed someone with brains to think for him, they might not have had a chance.

Moria laughed at that before apologizing to Oars, promising that he would focus on just assisting from this point on. But he gave him permission to crush them in any way that he wanted.

"Hey, this just accused to me, but where's Luffy?" memory Nami demanded as Oars's body was shifting back to its normal shape.

"He went off after Moria and got tricked somehow," memory Usopp answered, "I'm sure he's gonna be back soon though!"

"Hey, I was hurrying back!" Luffy answered sharply. "How was I supposed to know that he could switch places with his shadow like that? The idiot wouldn't stop running!"

"I don't want to hear excuses," present-day Nami scolded.

"Seriously? Does he have to do something stupid every time?" memory Nami yelled in frustration. "Ok, I know I'm a little late to the part, but let me get this straight here… you're saving we've got to defeat Luffy's zombie and Moria if we want to get everyone's shadows back? Is that the gist of that?"

"Yeah, that's about it," memory Usopp answered as she screeched at the thought.

"YOU'RE KIDDING! THE SUN IS ALMOST UP!" past Nami yelled.

"The enemy is forcing our hand!" past Usopp shouted back, "It's not like we have much of a choice!"

"But we gotta find some way to turn this around," present-day Franky said as he looked to the sky again to see that it was still growing lighter. "Without the fog, we were sitting ducks. Or I guess, you guys were."

"Excuse me?"

Memory Brook got their attention, taking memory Nami by surprise to see him there.

"Man, we really needed to fill you in on everything that happened," present-day Usopp said.

"Not fun being left in the dark here," the present-day Nami answered back. "I mean, it's not like I had a lot of time to study up on everything happening here since—you know, I was busy being kidnapped. But that's not important. What is important is kicking that guy's ass!"

"Hell ya!" Luffy yelled, wishing to punch something right now.

"I beg of you, please allow me to help. I have an idea that just might work," memory Brook said, and he quickly told them his plan. Once Oars was back to normal—normal for him anyway—memory Zoro was already off, planning to make himself a distraction while he gave them time to get to work.

They quickly set up the slingshot once more and helped memory Brook over to it.

"My friends, I thank you for your trust in me!" he said as he held his sword ready.

"Right, it was here that I knew that you were going to fit right in with this messed up crew," present-day Sanji told their Brook. "You're coming up with crazy ideas that could get you killed, but are prepared to go all the way for it. You're practically a Straw Hat here."

"Yohohoho! How wonderful it is to hear you say that, Sanji-san!" present-day Brook said cheerfully. In truth, he hadn't felt so alive as he did here in this fight. To battle alongside friends and comrades again…? Even if he feared that it would only be for one night? Oh, how joyous it is to be alive!

"Are you sure about this Brook?" memory Usopp asked, "I'm not trying to talk you out of this or anything, but you saw what happened to Franky, didn't you?"

"Yeah, not a pleasant ride," present-day Franky said as he rubbed the side of his head.

"Hey, it wasn't the slingshot's fault! You were the one who got hit," the present-day Usopp shot back and Franky glared at him.

"Don't blame me if anything goes wrong, but if this is what you want I'm glad to help!" memory Nami said as she created a small thunder cloud as the memory versions of Usopp and Robin pulled the giant slingshot back, ready to fire. Memory Brook told them to fire at will and Usopp couldn't believe that he couldn't believe they were doing this.

"There is one thing I fear more than death!" memory Brook declared to them all, "Being unable to repay my debt! I'll fight to my last bone! You can count on me!"

"Hey, we never would have made it off this crappy island if it wasn't for you, bro," present-day Franky reminded their Brook. "Don't feel like you gotta prove something. I mean, unless you want to work extra hard?"

"Yohohoho! That is me! I swear I will work myself to the bone! Though in my case, that would be easy!" present-day Brook declared loudly.

"Right! Try not to die!" memory Usopp warned as he fired. Memory Brook took off and memory Robin pulled the rope of arms from around him, causing him to spin as he was launched. He struck at the thundercloud, going straight through it as lighting began spark through his body.

"I'm getting such a shock that I can see all my bones! Though I was all bones anyway!" present-day Brook said at the sight, "Yohohoho!"

He threw through the sky, like a bullet, and struck at Oars in his shoulder, going right through him and slamming straight into the building behind him, his head and upper body embedded there comically.

"Owww…" present-day Franky winced. "That's gonna leave a mark."

Memory Zoro took this chance to charge ahead and dealt a powerful blow, slashing Oars across his body. But by now, Oars was still up and getting angrier by the second. He then turned to memory Brook, determined to finish him off first for hurting him like that. He raised his foot, which stretched out and went slamming into the building and memory Brook fell as they cried out in worry, which touched the present-day Brook deeply.

"Thank you all for caring about me!" he sobbed. It was so nice to be cared about, wasn't it?

As for memory Brook, he probably would have been coughing up blood at this point as he fell, crashing into the ground and knew no more. At the sight of another friend falling, memory Usopp fired an attack at Oars now, who merely had to punch it back down with his giant fist to avoid it. The fire didn't even seem to affect him as he taunted, "Didn't work!"

"Oh, crap!" memory Usopp croaked out fearfully as memory Nami turned and ran.

"Keep fighting, Usopp!" she called.

"Hey! What about you?!" he yelled after her.

"Yeah, what about you?!" the present-day Usopp suddenly yelled at their Nami.

"What about me?!" present-day Nami shot back in irritation.

"You just made yourself next long-nose," Oars said loudly, getting their attention, "Your friend with the swords can wait!"

"What?! He doesn't think I'm worth his time anymore?!" present-day Zoro demanded in outrage. Come on, what did he have to do to get a zombie to want to kill him? He wished that he could have chopped off his head or something. Maybe that would have gotten his attention.

Oars readied himself to pull off a bazooka, forcing memory Usopp to turn and run, tears flooding down his face. Yet, when Oars used his Gum Gum Bazooka, nothing happened, they remained normal—at least normal for him. It only took memory Usopp a few seconds to realize that he wasn't about to die and he looked back in bewilderment. He wasn't the only one confused though, for Oars was looking at his arms and asking himself, "Huh? Hey, why can't I stretch?"

"I owe you big time for stepping in like that, Robin," present-day Usopp sighed gratefully as she smiled back at him.

"What are you…?" Luffy began before he saw what was happening. Memory Robin had caused a dozen or so arms to sprout around Moria and were now holding him to his chair, choking him all the while.

"Where did all these hands come from?" he wheezed, "That's cheating!"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT FROM YOU!" present-day Sanji roared out. Really? This guy talks about cheating when he's the one who's going around and changing the rules whenever he wants?"

"Give it up! Or I'll snap your neck! Shadow Revolution is over!" memory Robin commanded.

"Whoa! Harsh, sis!" present-day Franky said admiringly. Though, he knew better than anyone how brutal she could be when she wanted to be. To this day he had nightmares of her twisting off his balls.

"Yeah! Nice work, Robin!" memory Usopp cheered at the sight as Moria smirked.

"You honestly think your little hand tricks are enough to put me in the ground? Well if you wanna play dirty, I don't mind slinging a little mud!" he warned back as he caused his shadow to emerge and break into those bats again, like how he did during his fight with Luffy. However, this time he had them flying at Robin, who tried to shield herself by creating some kind of shield made of arms and hands. However, there were so many bats that she couldn't hope to fight them all off at once and before she knew it, they were biting over every part they could reach, causing her to fall over.

In fury, memory Sanji ran up and kicked them back, sending them splattering on the ground around them. Yet, they just started to come together once again, and they saw how Moria's shadow was now reforming directly behind memory Robin as she got back to her feet.

"Moria's shadow?" she gasped at the sight of it.

"Well, considering you packed such an effective choke hold on me," Moria called to her, "I guess I'll have to pull out my long ranged weapons as well!"

"Like he hasn't been using them until now?" present-day Zoro asked in irritation. This jerk shouldn't be talking like he was fighting them fair and square.

"Why aren't you running, Robin?" present-day Nami asked as she stared at memory Robin, who didn't even look back at the shadow as she kept her eyes on Oars.

"I didn't want his shadow to distract me," she answered back. "I knew that if I could take out his body then his shadow would fall as well. Little did I know that he could switch places with his own shadow like that?"

Memory Robin turned back to Moria and tighten her hold on him. Even as he yelled and pleaded for her to release him, she kept pulling until they heard the crack and him screaming.

The Straw Hats thought they won for sure that time. But memory Robin seemed to realize that something was wrong. When she turned to look back at the shadow, she realized that it wasn't the shadow, but Moria himself who was standing behind her. And he was laughing harder than ever.

"Almost got me," Moria purred as he sneered down at her, "But not quite in time. You see I can switch places with my Doppelman here whenever I see fit!"

"Switch places?" memory Sanji gasped, "No way!"

"But that means!" memory Usopp reasoned before looking back to Oars, to see that the shadow was sitting there in Moria's place. "The one inside Oars's stomach…?"

"Yes, the one in the cockpit is my shadow," Moria confirmed smugly, "And your cute little arm parlor tricks don't have any effect on him."

"Too bad," present-day Robin said. "I tried though."

"You came closer than the rest of us," Franky offered to her with a grim shrug.

There wasn't anything else that they could do but watch how Moria reached down for memory Robin's shadow, peeling it up like a stray piece of tape and knocking her over. They watched with anger as Moria laughed harder than ever, the giant scissors in his hands as he held the blades right over the Robin's shadow… and sliced it in half like cutting a piece of paper. They heard her gasp before she fell back, passing out then in there as her shadow struggled to free itself in Moria's hands.

"I believe this puts three of you under my belt!" Moria offered as he looked at it evilly, causing cries of fear and outrage from the rest of the crew.

But Moria laughed and said to the shadow, "Too bad I don't have a corpse on hand. I shall just have to hold onto you for safe keeping!"

"Damn it! I swear, if I ever see that bastard again, I'm gonna break him apart!" present-day Sanji roared out. How dare that jerk harm a lady in such a way?!

His past self felt the same way. In fact, he was after blood now. They looked up in time to see the fire licking at his leg as he charged right at him. "You're gonna pay of that you monster! Give Robin's shadow back now!" he roared.

But as he dealt the kick, Moria could only laugh as he dissolved into the shadowy bats once again, infuriating Sanji even more when they realized that he was back inside Oars's belly again.

"Well, would you look at that?" Moria taunted them all, "We're right back to square one!"

"Stupid master! I told you once already!" Oars yelled, now sounding angry, "This is my fight! Quit butting in!"

Oars ignored Moria's smug apology as he looked down to where memory Sanji was still standing protectively in front of memory Robin, who was still out cold.

"I'm taking over now and I'm gonna start by squishing that lady!" Oars declared.

"WHAT?!" Luffy yelled out in fury before looking down at his own shadow and yelled, "Hey! What's the big idea?! What's with you doing something like that?!"

But Oars had already jumped up, pulling back his arms to launch a bazooka.

"He can stretch again? There's no way to escape from him now!" memory Usopp yelled in panic.

"Stop it!" Luffy yelled. "No way I'd go after someone who wasn't even conscious like that!"

"It's alright, I don't blame you, captain," present-day Robin reassured him with a smile.

"Oh, my dear sweet Robin!" present-day Sanji swooned. "You truly are a beautiful soul! Not that I expected anything less!"

"Is he serious?! He's going after her whiles she's unconscious?!" memory Nami shrieked as she watched Oars hold up his fists again. Usopp screamed for them to run, but memory Sanji stood his ground as the attack flew in. He was able to find a way to block Oars's attack, but it certainly did its damage to him as he fell to his knees, unable to support himself. Still, he was strong enough to yell for one of the others to take Robin to safety.

"Thank you for that, Sanji," present-day Robin said as she watched Usopp run in and heaved her over his shoulder before running. "And you too, Usopp. You know, it does look like you're the one who always runs in to pulls us to safety?"

"Of course!" present-day Usopp said proudly, "You can always count on this brave Warrior of the Sea to bail you out!"

"Awesome, Usopp!" present-day Chopper chirped us as Usopp thought more about it. In truth, he really doesn't think about it. He just runs and pulls the others out of harm's way. He may not be as strong as the others when it comes to fighting, but that doesn't mean that he was going to leave them to fend for themselves when they weren't even conscious!

That was when they heard another familiar voice calling out from above them and they looked up to see that memory Chopper was now standing on Oars's shoulder, getting their attention. They began yelling up at him, demanding to know what he thought he was doing up there.

"Some forensic work!" he called back urgently, "Searching for Oars's original cause of death!"

"Right! I wanted to know if we were really doing any damage to Oars after all," present-day Chopper said as he remembered this. "I figured that if I could just get a look at his body, perhaps I could find some kind of weak spot!"

"And boy, did you ever!" present-day Usopp grinned. They have the best doctor in the whole world on their crew! If there was anything that he could find about Oars that could have helped them, he could!

"Original cause of death?" memory Zoro called back in confusion as memory Chopper nodded.

"Aim for his right arm!" he informed them, "This one's new! It's not his original arm! Hogback did a good job restoring it but its joints still show signs of frost bite! This is only an informed guess, but I think that he died 500 years ago from exposure to the cold! He might be a massive brute, but he's still no match for Mother Nature! He got caught in the cold and froze to death! And if I had to speculate any further… he didn't just get caught in the cold, he was also naked!"

"Seriously? Who does that?" Luffy asked.

"You're the one who walks around with nothing but shorts and sandals in the snow!" present-day Sanji yelled at their captain for that. "You shouldn't talk!"

"I WON'T LOSE TO SOMEONE THAT DUMB!" both memory versions of Zoro and Sanji declared at this revelation.

"How embarrassing would that be?" present-day Zoro asked himself.

"Zombies may not feel pain but they still take damage!" memory Chopper went on yelling, "And all of our attacks have weakened his original wounds! This is our chance to cut his attack power in half! All we gotta do is get rid of this arm! So focus all of your attacks here!"

"Right, so sooner or later, that arm of his wasn't going to be able to take a hit," Franky said as he thought that over.

"Stop squeaking in my ear!" Oars barked suddenly. And though it was clear that he didn't understand a word that Chopper had said, he didn't like the fact that he was just standing on him. "And who the hell said you could stand on me?"

Oars held up his fist and pounded his arm, taking them all by shock. But when he moved his hand, to their surprise, they saw that memory Chopper had vanished.

"That was slick, Chopper! But you really know how to freak someone out," present-day Usopp told him. "Next time, warn me before you're about to save yourself!"

"I'll try to remember that," present-day Chopper promised.

"What? Where'd he go?" Oars asked stupidly and began to look around.

"Nice punch there," memory Chopper's voice spoke up. Surprised, Oars looked down to his closed fist to where memory Chopper had shrunk down and was crawling out of his fingers. "Too bad all you did was hurt your own shoulder. You might not be able to feel it, but trust me."

"Nice thinking there, Chopper," present-day Zoro grinned at the sight. "You had us worried there."

"Yes, you have certainly come a long way in the way that you battle. At this pace, you'll be an expert in healing and fighting it," Brook complimented their Chopper.

"Yeah, he can heal your ass after he kicks it," Franky laughed as present-day Chopper blushed and danced happily.

Memory Chopper swallowed a Rumble Ball and jumped up with his Jumping Point, immediately shifting into his Arm Point—ready to aim straight for Oars's arm. Memory Sanji then raced up, determined to help him out. He ran up Oars's arm without the zombie even realizing he was there before he used his leg to kick memory Chopper off. The strength and speed combined was enough to deal a crippling blow to the arm, leaving a deep hoof-like mark there.

Not that Oars realized what they were doing either.

"You're getting on my nerves!" he complained loudly, "You keep hitting the same spot, but it's not even hurting me! If it doesn't work once, it's never gonna work!"

"Wanna bet?" present-day Chopper said firmly as he remembered when he first started training to become a doctor. He mentioned to Doctorine that he thought how amazing it would be not to feel any pain, which she then gave him a harsh scolding—and forcing him to dodge a few flying scalpels—at such a though. The ability to feel pain isn't a weakness, rather a strength. Pain tells you where your weaknesses are and not to expose them in battle. Just because Oars couldn't feel the pain, it didn't mean that it wasn't affecting him.

"Oh, it's gonna work!" his past self called back determinedly. "Pain is a warning sign to protect the body! Not feeling any pain doesn't make you stronger."

But Oars wasn't even paying attention to him as he jumped up, and this time when he used his Gatling Gun, he was able to stretch out and he clobbered both memory Sanji and Chopper. The few remaining members of the crew who were still standing, were crying out in fear but there was nothing more they could do. Both of them were knocked out and hit the ground hard, unable to move any longer.

Moria was sure confident now that most of their crew was out, leaving only the three of them left standing.

"Now! Commence with the stomping and finish them all off!" Moria commanded and Oars began to walk over to them, causing memory Usopp to start freaking out.

"What now? We've already thrown everything we've got at him and he's still standing!" memory Nami gasped in horror, looking for some kind of an answer.

"Man, it's actually kinda sad how weak we were back then compared to now," present-day Sanji said as he looked to his past self, who was still out cold. "Pathetic," he added to his past self, shaking his head. This didn't look remotely cool at all.

"There's gotta be something! Come on, think, you guys!" memory Usopp cried.

"Hey Usopp!" memory Zoro yelled suddenly, "I'll make an opening for you!"

Memory Usopp was taken aback by that as Zoro charged in once more, getting Oars's attention.

"I don't get it, opening for what?" Luffy asked as he looked at them.

"We still had the salt," present-day Usopp said as his past self understood what he was saying and went running off to prepare everything. "And so I was the best choice to try and get that salt down his throat! I just needed a distraction!"

"Really? That's an awesome idea, Usopp!" Luffy grinned.

"Yeah…" present-day Usopp sighed. "Too bad that it didn't turn out like I wanted."

The battle went on as memory Zoro leapt up into the air as he dodged a punch and was aiming straight for Oars's face. But whether it was because he was too tired or injured, his attack was far too slow and Oars just ended up head butting him. Memory Zoro was then slammed into the wall, dazed and hurt, before Oars's fist came flying in to finish him off. Through sheer willpower, he managed to get out of the way in time and landed on the ground, coughing and battered but alive.

After that, he was forced to jump around like a flea as Oars went stomping around trying to step on him.

"You get hit by one of those and you're dead!" present-day Chopper snapped at their Zoro, watching with terror as Zoro was barely able to keep up.

"Oh, geez, thanks. I had no idea it was bad for my health to get stomped on by a giant zombie," present-day Zoro retorted sarcastically.

While this was happening, memory Usopp had already finished setting up his massive slingshot and had just loaded the bag of salt. All he had to do was make the calculations to fire it. Memory Zoro saw this and decided to draw Oars's attention back onto him as he shouted, "Hey! Pay attention!"

Oars turned his massive head to look down at him stupidity as Zoro added, "It were up to me, I'd keep fighting you until I couldn't lift my swords! But we're almost outta time! What do you say we end this right now?"

"Oh, we'll finish this, but be honest you don't honestly thinking you have a chance of winning this after that beating you took do you?" Moria asked, not noticing Usopp at all. Instead, he was now looking seriously ticked off at Zoro for talking back to him.

"My, we have a real optimist here don't we?" Moria asked darkly.

"Which is strange because you always like to assume the worst," present-day Nami reminded their Zoro, who shrugged.

"I prefer to think of myself as idealistic," he answered. "And I prepare for the worst."

"Yet you seem pretty confident here," present-day Robin pointed out.

"Like I said, I'm idealistic," he answered back smugly.

Zoro pointed his blade at Moria as he warned, "I'm pretty stubborn when I set my sights on something! Let's see what you've got! Finish me if you can!"

"Oh, you are so cool here, Zoro!" present-day Chopper whispered with twinkling eyes.

"Truly impressive!" present-day Brook agreed whole-heartedly. My, if only he could be that strong and cool?

"Go for it! Zoro!" present-day Chopper cheered even louder, his admiration growing higher and higher with every moment.

"Bah! This moron's trying to mess with your head Oars!" Moria warned, "Less talking more pounding!"

At the command, Oars jumped up, already sounding irritated as he grumbled, "I know that already! I can beat him on my own, master! Just watch me!"

Oars jumped up high enough to reach near the top of the mast before he came falling back down, preparing his attack. Memory Nami cried out in fear as memory Zoro pumped out his muscles and readied them for another fight. The blow clashed and he was slammed into the ground as he tried to fend off the attack.

"You fought him off!" Luffy rooted when he saw how memory Zoro was able to deflect the arm so that it ended up getting stuck in the ground. As Oars tried to free himself, memory Zoro went up his arm again, leaving a trail of claw-like slashes in his wake and it caused him terrible pain.

"USOPP! NOW!" memory Zoro shouted.

"My right arm again? That ain't gonna work!" Oars declared as he moved and held up his fist, "Told you so!"

He threw a punch with his other arm, forcing Zoro to jump clean out of the way. But at this point, Oars got angry and vanished before appearing behind memory Zoro, taking them all by surprised as he ended up kicking him right into the building. And this time, that attack was just too much for Zoro as he crashed into the stone, falling as limply as a doll, blood dripping down his face as he finally lost consciousness.

"Noble of you to risk so much to give Usopp a chance to fire the salt," Robin told their Zoro, who turned red at the praise.

"I didn't do it for thanks," he stated coldly, but Robin was smiling a little when she heard the hidden meaning in those words.

"HEY OARS! OVER HERE STUPID!"

Oars turned at the sound of memory Usopp's voice—his mouth still wide open—when memory Usopp sent the bag of salt flying up at him. It hit his mouth perfectly and Oars instinctively swallowed it.

It seemed that this act took its toll on memory Usopp as he huffed for air, but he was still grinning when he saw how Moria had turned even paler and was sweating up a storm.

"What the heck was that?" Oars asked in confusion, "Felt like… something in my mouth?"

"Right, and since he's got Luffy's shadow, he was bound to swallow whatever went into his mouth!" present-day Usopp said eagerly. "He couldn't help but swallow it!"

"You didn't…? You little bastard!" Moria shrieked, realizing what happened.

"Hold on… what just happened here?" memory Nami asked with bafflement as Usopp stood up. That was when he realized that she didn't know anything about the salt trick and told her that if you feed a zombie salt, it kicks out their shadow. It certainly looked like it was over when Oars's body doubled over as its black shadow began to appear from its mouth.

"That's Luffy's shadow!" memory Usopp cheered, "Oh yeah you big dumb monster! It's all over! Good riddance! You lose!"

"I guess that'll teach me for jumping to conclusions," present-day Usopp sighed as they all patted him on the shoulder, knowing that he did his best and that it would have worked if Moria hadn't been planning for something like this to happen.

As they already knew, this victory was short lived, for it turned out that the shadow that was in his mouth was Moria's and it had caught the salt.

"You thought you had me, huh?" the real Moria laughed mockingly.

"That was Moria's shadow?!" memory Usopp croaked in horror as he fell to his knees, with Moria laughing over him.

"Give me a break! You think I don't know my own weakness?" Moria demanded, "It was so hard not to laugh, but oh, it was worth it." He began to pick his nose as he added, "I was guarding it with my own shadow the whole time! Watching you numbskulls jump all over yourselves for nothing. Too bad!"

"It was a valiant try, Usopp-san," present-day Brook told him.

"Not good enough," the present-day Usopp whispered as he watched his past self break down at those words. It was as if he had given up when Moria's shadow threw the bag of salt back at him. This ended up causing the bag to break and spill all over… leaving memory Usopp to cry out with remorse at the sight of it. He ran back to it, trying to scoop it up in his hands and vowed that he would gather it all up and try again. Memory Brook risked his life to bring this salt to them and he wasn't going to give up here.

"You need not worry about my feelings for this, Usopp-san," present-day Brook reassured him with his boney hands on his friend's shoulders. "I knew that it was going to be a long shot anyway."

"I just… I just feel like I let your hard work go to waste," he whispered back guiltily.

"Just knowing that you were on my side, that was enough," present-day Brook promised. "You almost had him too! How could we have known that he could do that? Though thinking back, we should have guessed that he was protecting Oars from the salt. I should have grabbed another bag or two now that I think of it. Besides, we beat him in the end! That's all that matters! Yohohoho!"

Present-day Usopp smiled back at him, feeling better as Moria ordered Oars to step on him. They watched as Oars moved his foot to be right above memory head and stomped down. Of course, only those with the sharper senses saw what happened next. Something big and blue came dashing out from nowhere and grabbed memory Usopp before the foot came down. Memory Nami, the only other one left conscious at this point, screamed out Usopp's name in horror, thinking it was all over. She screamed for Oars to stop it, which caused Moria to order Oars to go after her next.

Oars took a flying leap at her this time, but once again, those with the sharper senses could see that familiar flash of blue and memory Nami was lifted safely away before Oars brought his foot down.

Oars didn't realize anything, naturally, as he just kept stepping around and around until…?

"Hey! Big Guy!" called a familiar voice, though at the same time it was now very different than what they were used to. Oars looked up with the rest of them as they saw memory Luffy there, with the memory versions of Usopp and Nami being held safely in his giant hands.

"Just what the hell are you stomping on? You're not stepping on anyone!" he barked.

"Looking really scary there, Captain," present-day Usopp pointed out. "I swear, I had no idea what was going on with you."

"Yes, please don't do anything like that again," present-day Nami sighed as she looked on. "That just doesn't suit you. I don't like it."

"Awww… but Nami! I look so cool here!" present-day Luffy groaned out.

"How is turning into a big, blue muscle-head a good thing?" present-day Nami barked back as she pointed at him. "I don't care how powerful you were, you were freaking me out here!"

It was true, for the two of their memory selves were staring up at him in shock, not even recognizing him as their captain anymore as memory Luffy proclaimed firmly, "My name is… Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Damn," Franky laughed when he saw the stupefied looks on their faces. "Just what were you two thinking when he said that?"

"Honestly? I thought that whole adventure on Thriller Bark was just a bad nightmare I couldn't wake up from," present-day Nami sighed. "And here was the final proof. If only…?"

"Yeah, I thought that I had seen it all and I was wondering just what Luffy did himself," present-day Usopp agreed. "I was thinking he might have done something freaky with his gears again and this was the result of it."

"It's not like I planned on it happening!" present-day Luffy pouted.

"We know," Robin said comfortingly. "It's just a surprise, that's all."

"That's really you, Luffy?" memory Usopp gasped before he screamed out, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!" He stopped to gasp for air before he went on, "Y-you do look a lot like him, but… is that really you, Luffy?!"

"Unless you have an even more messed up family tree than we first thought, Luffy," present-day Franky pointed out. But at that, Robin frowned a little as she looked at memory Luffy's sullen and shadowed face. You know? He almost looks more like Dragon this way. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Memory Luffy hardly glanced down at them as he answered gruffly, "It's really me."

Memory Usopp didn't look convinced as he continued to ask questions and memory Nami gapped at him—heck, even Moria looked uneasy as he looked on. But memory Luffy didn't pay him any attention at first as he set his two crewmates down surprisingly gentle as he asked if the others had been beaten.

Memory Usopp, though still clearly shook up at seeing Luffy's appearance, informed him that they had been taken out. He was sure that they were all still alive, but were still hurt. Memory Luffy understood before turning back to Oars. He only spared a moment of warning the other two to stay back.

"Stay back?" past Usopp repeated, "Don't you get it, Luffy?! That zombie has your shadow in him! And he's a lot bigger than you! Just how do you plan to…?"

"Thanks for saving us though," present-day Nami said gratefully, knowing that she and Usopp would've been killed if they took the next attack from Oars head on. They watched on, with present-day Luffy cheering at how awesome everything looked. Moria, though disturbed by Luffy's new appearance, wasn't going to be stopped. He ordered Oars to attack. When the giant did what he was told, his arm actually stretching slightly and twisting around itself before shooting forward.

Memory Luffy didn't even bat an eye as he held up his hand and stopped it so suddenly that he didn't even budge where he stood.

"OW! THAT NEVER GETS OLD!" present-day Franky cheered out as he posed. "LIKE HE JUST HIT A BRICK WALL OR SOMETHING!"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if I should be more scared of Oars or of you at that moment, Luffy," present-day Usopp stated as his memory self and Nami were both cowering behind Nightmare Luffy.

"I'm…" Nightmare Luffy said darkly as he held up his own fist, "The only Luffy!"

"HELL YA!" the present-day versions of Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Franky all cheered on as the beat-down happened. Nightmare Luffy flew through the window and punched Oars so hard in the face that he went flying backwards and was sent right out of the courtyard and onto a crowd of what looked like the final wave of zombies on the island. Nightmare Luffy then soared through the air like he had suddenly sprouted wings before going back to Oars and he proceeded to kicking his ass.

"Wow, I could watch this all day," Sanji grinned in satisfaction. Right… Moria was still in that guy's gut… he bet he was feeling something right about now.

"It's almost insulting that you're taking care of him so easily while the rest of us were getting beaten," present-day Brook laughed. "But in this case, I forgive you! He's scary!"

"I've seen worse," Zoro shrugged in an unconcerned way as Nightmare Luffy grabbed hold of Oars's hair and was flipping him over his head.

"I'm more excited on seeing the ending!" Brook cried out happily. "When we all worked together to beat him?! That is a sight that I could never forget!"

"It will be coming up soon," Nami said, unable to keep the smile off her face either as she began cheering along with the boys.

Chopper was grinning like a madman, but he couldn't' help but look at their Luffy with concern. He didn't know the full extent that having those shadows in his body could have on him. He had to keep on his toes if the was going to make sure that he kept his captain healthy. Maybe he could get a better insight to what happened to him this time around.

Yet time was quickly running out for Nightmare Luffy. Every second that passed was important and he had to finish this off as soon as he could. He managed to fling Oars back into the courtyard again, destroying whatever was left of the manor and it began to crumble like how a child would throw a giant teddy bear into a city of blocks.

Oars was struggling to get back up, severely injured from the beating though he couldn't feel the pain from them.

Oars went charging at Nightmare Luffy again, but this time he was waiting for it, reaching for the sword on his back and made a vicious slash across Oars's chest and blood burst out.

"Damn, you know Luffy, it might be fun to fight you if you knew how to use one of those things without a shadow to swing it around for you," Zoro couldn't help but state, wishing that Luffy had the patience to learn a little swordplay.

"I don't need it to kick your ass," present-day Luffy informed him a grin and Zoro smirked back at the teasing.

"Watch it," he warned, "You might regret that."

"Awww," Robin said as she watched. "Isn't it nice to see you boys getting along? Why don't you and him get along, Sanji?"

"Hey, I have standards," Sanji retorted. "I tolerate him at the best of times. That's about as much as can be hoped for."

"I suppose that we'll just have to take it," Nami sighed. But still, this fight with Oars was taking its toll on Luffy. It didn't matter how many times that they beat this zombie, he was a freaking zombie! He was never going to feel the pain. Not only that, but he had Luffy's shadow! So he's not going to give up anytime soon.

Nightmare Luffy reappeared in front of Oars's stomach, where Moria was looking dazed and confused to the beating that he took as well. He then threw another punch, aiming straight for the Warlord this time. Moria's roll back and blood falling from his face as the force of the attack actually seemed to deflate Oars's stomach. Oars, in rage, raised up his foot and tried to stomp on him, but Nightmare Luffy twisted his body around as he took a deep breath in and they knew what was coming.

He easily deflected Oars's foot before he went back to going straight at Moria. He was punched over and over again ruthlessly until a part of them all actually felt bad for Moria. The attack went on until he was slammed right back into the manor until there was hardly anything left standing.

But no sooner did Nightmare Luffy deliver that last attack did he fall to the ground. The Rolling Pirates were there with the memory versions of Nami and Usopp, who were now calling out to Luffy as the shadows were breaking through. One by one they left and with each one, his body started to shrink back down to normal and his skin returned to its normal color, though a good deal paler than before.

"Were you ok?" present-day Chopper asked their Luffy in concern.

"Does he look like he's ok?!" present-day Usopp barked at him as he pointed at the memory Luffy, who was on the ground. Not that it mattered for Oars was already on his feet again. At the sight of the giant, the Rolling Pirates were beginning to freak out—already halfway of running back into the forest again, especially with the sun about to rise at any moment. And they were right, when the Straw Hats looked to the sky, they saw that it was definitely getting lighter, and they knew that their time was almost up.

Good thing that someone forgot to tell their past selves that.

Memory Zoro was the first one back up, bleeding heavily and a sword in each hand as he stepped forward on shaky feet.

"I don't know about Luffy," he said in a hoarse voice, "But Oars sure took a heavy beating."

"Don't worry about me!" present-day Luffy said to their Zoro as the Rolling Pirates shrieked at the sight of him. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down!"

One of the Risky Brothers was trying to tell him not to move but Lola's voice spoke up above them all, "How can he still stand after taking all those gigantic hits?" she gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at him, "I'm not sure who the zombie is anymore!"

The current Straw Hats looked to their Zoro, who blinked and then yelled, "I'M NOT A ZOMBIE!"

"You sure? It makes one wonder," present-day Usopp couldn't help but whisper.

Present-day Zoro glared at him as he warned, "You want to know the biggest difference between you and zombie?"

"That… I'm not dead?" present-day Usopp suggested after thinking it over—almost like he thought it was a joke.

"Well, keep this up much longer then it will become questionable," he warned darkly and present-day Usopp gulped and hid behind Nami as he whimpered.

"Come on, this was a good fight! How could I not get back up?" present-day Zoro asked, grinning at the thought. Oh, he was looking forward to seeing them win here again.

"Just because you live to kill doesn't mean the rest of us are," present-day Nami stated, though there was a mischievous grin on her face at the thought of crushing Moria and Oars here.

Memory Zoro glared up at Oars while the Rolling Pirates were trying to stop them. At least until memory Luffy had woken up, rolling to his stomach and punched the rock under him as he tried to get back up.

"Damn it," he hissed as he tried to get back up, "I just need to get in one more hit! But my body can hardly move! All those shadows took a lot outta me. "

"Yeah, but look at the bright side," present-day Franky laughed, "Those shadows took a lot out of him too!"

He forced his tired body up until he was on his knees, trying to struggle his way to his feet. As he tried to catch his breath, he called out, "Robin!"

"Yes, I'm right here," memory Robin said, looking a little pale after having her own shadow stolen as well.

"You sure you were ok, here Robin?" present-day Chopper asked their Robin in concern.

"Yes, I think I needed that sleep," present-day Robin smiled back kindly. "Waking up to that is almost as bad as Brook playing Black Handkerchief every morning."

"What? You mean you don't like my song?! But it's so much fun to wake up to!" present-day Brook gasped out.

"Not everyone here is an early riser like you!" present-day Usopp snapped at him. "Speaking of which, can you give us a break once in a while and just let us sleep in? Like after this! Once we find the Sunny and get off this freaky island, I think we all need a few days to recover from it!"

"Sh-she didn't run, after all!" one of the Rolling Pirates cried out in shock at seeing her back to her feet.

"Where's the fun in that?" present-day Robin chuckled at the thought. "I'd never hear the end of it if I did that."

Memory Luffy started to give orders. Anyone not part of their crew would have been baffled by what he meant when he told her that he needed to get up higher, but she smiled, saying that she would give him some footholds.

"Literally! You used your actual feet, Yohohoho!" present-day Brook laughed, his heart skipping a few beats at how excited he was—not that he had a heart in him anymore anyway. That was when his past self was able to get back up and he cheered in pure happiness at the sight of it.

"I can be helpful too!" he cheered as his past self leaned heavily on his sword cane to stand up and asked, "Is there any way. That… I may be of assistance?"

"AH! EVEN THE SKELETON'S STANDING UP!" one of the Rolling Pirate screamed in fear.

"Not even death will keep this crew down, it seems," present-day Zoro stated lightly.

"I think that you three do a better job of showing that than Brook," present-day Nami couldn't help but point out, remembering how even when the Monster Trio were down and bleeding to death, they insisted on getting back up and fighting. No wonder people seem to think that they were some kind of monsters in this crew… none of them were normal.

Memory Luffy looked back at Brook, and called, "Alright, Brook! I need you to help me!"

"Of course! Any time at all when you need me, Luffy-san! I'll be right there! Yohohoho!" present-day Brook cried out.

"Ah man," present-day Franky sniffled at the sight. "That is heart-warming. I love being part of this crew, dammit! No! Not now! I'm not crying!"

"Then why is your face wet, Franky?" present-day Chopper asked innocently.

"SHUT IT!" present-day Franky sobbed out.

"I knew it!" memory Nami's voice called and she was up a safe distance with her weapon out and looking ready. "Everyone's already back in the game!"

"Were you hurt, Nami-san?" present-day Sanji demanded at once, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, don't worry," she reassured him. "Once Luffy knocked Oars out of the courtyard, me and Usopp came up with a plan with the others."

Present-day Robin smiled again as she looked at them all. "Funny how we all seem to be thinking on the same wavelength here," she said. "It's almost like we don't need words."

"Nah, we just know everyone so well that we can just make it up as we go along and know that the others will fill in the blanks," present-day Usopp laughed.

The Rolling Pirates, however, were all just watching with their eyes wide.

"These guys are incredible," one of the Risky Brother said in awe, "Running away doesn't even cross their minds! The moment Oars got back up… they've been preparing to battle again!"

"Yeah, we were gonna take down Oars out of pride if nothing else!" present-day Luffy shouted as he punched the air. "This is gonna be good!"

"Like we were gonna run away and give that smug bastard the satisfaction," present-day Sanji stated coolly as he breathed hard on his cigarette.

"Knowing you boys, you'd stand in the sun without your shadows just to make a point," Nami couldn't help but point out.

"Of course, why let that idiot think he won?" Sanji answered back with a shrug. "If I can't use my shadow, then I sure as hell wasn't going to let him use it past the night. Good thing that it ended well though. Dying that way would have been a sucky way to go."

Memory Luffy pushed his exhausted body up until he was on his feet again. He was still deathly pale and looked ready to fall over again, but that confident smile never faded as he said, "Just you wait."

"I-I-I-I can't believe it!" the second Risky Brother cried out in a mixture of awe and shock, "These guys never thought about escaping?!"

"We've got our pride to worry about," present-day Zoro smirked as his past self put the sword in his mouth and barked at the Rolling Pirates that if they weren't going to fight then to run, otherwise they were just in the way. Lola led her crew out of the smashed courtyard before they took cover by some nearby rubble so that they could still watch but not worry about doing anything that could cost the Straw Hats the fight.

Memory Robin held up her arms and caused several legs to sprout out of the wall of the mostly destroyed mansion so that she was able to create a ladder for them. Memory Brook grabbed hold of Luffy, who didn't even need to give the order for him to do what he was asking him, and began to carry him over to the mast. Memory Luffy was limp, and it was clear that he was having a hard time moving, but Brook easily took care of that by carrying him up the ladder that Robin made for them.

"Right! The first real victory that all nine of us Straw Hats did together!" present-day Chopper cheered out as he and Usopp gave the other a high-five.

"Yohohoho! Truly one of my most marvelous memories!" present-day Brook cried as he waved up at his past self until he was out of his sight. Oh, how proud he was to have been of service to them and help defeat Oars!

Oars was now roaring for them to come back down, which only distracted him from memory Nami by creating cloud balls around his lower body. She then used a cool ball and soon he was soaked with rain water, which only confused Oars. She had done her part and moved out of the way as memory Franky's voice called, "Coup de VENT!"

They looked to the mansion where another hole was blow out with an explosion next to Oars.

"Did you really feel the need to blast another hole into the building?" present-day Nami couldn't help but ask.

"Ah, what's one more hole?" present-day Franky laughed as his past self was there with memory Usopp and they had a giant hose attached to the same freezer that once held Oars. "This was a lot faster! And more fun too!"

He then burst out laughing as his memory self took careful aim.

"Give it all ya got!" memory Franky yelled.

"I'm cranking it!" memory Usopp yelled back as he began to turn the crank as hard and as fast as he could. At the sight of it, the past versions of Robin, Zoro, and Nami all bolted out of the way as memory Franky yelled out proudly, "The Extra Large Ultra SubZoro Freezing Wind Cannon!"

"That's a mouthful," present-day Robin couldn't help but point out. "Maybe you could shorten it?"

"Yeah!" present-day Chopper agreed. "How about the Wind Cannon for short?"

"But then how would you tell it apart from other wind cannons?" present-day Franky demanded. "It's got character!"

"You put it together in ten minutes, if even that much!" present-day Nami reminded him. "Besides, how would you remember all of that if you were trying to tell someone to get it ready? Let's just go for the Wind Cannon. Not that I think that we'll be seeing it again in the near future…?"

"Yeah," present-day Franky agreed. "If I ever had to make another one, it'll have to be called The Extra Large Ultra SubZoro Freezing Wind Cannon Mark 2!"

"That's even worse!" she snapped at him. But things were getting really exciting now. With Oars's legs completely wet thanks to her memory self's rain, memory Franky was able to fire a blast of air so cold that his legs were immediately frozen.

While that was happening below, up above them, the memory versions of Sanji and Chopper were standing up at the pulley system that controlled the giant chain, which controlled the island's direction. Memory Chopper was the one who was giving direction and memory Sanji was the one who jumped down to one of the massive links in the chain and hooked his foot into it. He then gave it such a kick that it went swinging around and wrapped around Oars's upper body.

Things were really heating up when they heard shouting from above and they looked up in time to see the tiny dot of memory Brook throwing down Luffy, who was now blowing air into both of his arms this time. Oars heard this as well and looked up, not even noticing what else was going on around him.

Memory Chopper took this chance to yell at Zoro to tighten in Oars's stomach, who held up his swords, each one held against a different angle before he went flying in at Oars. He dealt a series of slashes over Oars's stomach, and actually started to cough up blood.

"I still don't see how a zombie could have blood to spill," present-day Franky said. "I mean, it's not like they need it or anything?"

"No, but that was once a living body with blood," present-day Chopper reminded him, watching on with a mixture of anger and pity. This truly was a mockery of life… how could anyone look at these things and swear that they were living beings?

Memory Sanji was back at the chain again, this time at the switch and ready to pull it. He waited for memory Chopper's signal before he flicked the massive lever, which began to pull at the chain, tightening it, and eventually forcing Oars's head and up body backwards and completely straight.

"GOOD WORK, SANJI!" memory Chopper cried out, "OARS'S BACK IS PERFECTLY STRAIGHT NOW!"

Members of the Rolling Pirates were crying out in confusion at that, not seeing how this was a good thing. At least until memory Chopper called out to them all that the spine was normally in an S-shape so that it could absorb shocks and protect the body. However, because it was now perfectly straight, it was never going to be able to deal with a massive blow like what was coming this way.

Cheers were erupting from the Straw Hats, both in the past and outside it as memory Luffy continued falling, his giant arms now being thrown forward. Oars who had been trying to get the chain off him, saw Luffy flying at him and tried to move his arm to throw back his own bazooka. However his arm was no longer moving. Unfortunately for him, the damage that he took earlier had now rendered his body useless.

Though he couldn't feel pain, there was only so much damage that he could take. A normal, living being could fight and take damage, but could also heal and grow stronger over time. But a zombie cannot do that. It was limited by the body that it was given.

"Pain hurts, but without it, how are you going to be able to get back up and fight?" present-day Zoro asked. "It just proves that you're alive, after all."

"It hurts like hell, but you're right about that much," Sanji sighed. "The big guy didn't even see that his body had given up on him."

"This is your shadow," memory Zoro called to Luffy, "Finish him off, Luffy!"

"It's appropriate that you end this whole thing by taking yourself out," the present-day Zoro added to their Luffy, whose eyes were now alight with wonder. "Damn though, why did you and Brook get the cool zombies while I was stuck with an old geezer? Well, I guess it could be worse, right Blondie?"

"I SHOULD ROAST YOU WHEN I GET THE CHANCE!" present-day Sanji yelled at him.

But his words were drowned out when memory Luffy let out a scream.

"GUM GUM GIANT BAZOOKA!"

He slammed both of his giant hands right in Oars's face, causing his horns and teeth to break, and that was when they heard the sounds of the shattering spine, just breaking and crumbling inside his body. With his energy spent, Luffy fell, but it was Oars's body that hit the ground, landing on his back with a crash and this time he didn't get back up.

There was silence all around them for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever.

"Once was good… seeing it all a second time was even better," present-day Franky said as he watched on. "But a third…? IT JUST PROVES THAT IT NEVER GETS OLD!"

"THAT IS AWESOME!" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy all screamed out together, soon their arms were linked and with Chopper in the middle as he was held off the ground as they danced.

"We're the best!" present-day Usopp rooted on.

"And we're only gonna keep being the best!" present-day Luffy yelled out.

"YEAH!" the three of them, along with most of the crew all hollered together.

"You might want to hold off on the celebrating," present-day Zoro warned as his eye found the rubble, knowing that Moria would pull himself out at any moment. Besides, it wasn't like that Luffy was in any shape to fight. Lola was sounding close to tears as she and the others were calling the Straw Hats their saviors, at least until she saw Luffy in his shrunken-down form.

"Wow! I forgot I used to do that," present-day Luffy said as he looked down at his past self. "Third Gear is really powerful and cool, but the side-effects were lame."

"Rayleigh taught you how to fix this little problem?" Robin asked him curiously.

"Oh yeah," he answered and he might've gone on to tell them how it worked, but he was easily distracted when Oars was trying to move, but his body would no longer listen to him. He couldn't feel the pain, but wasn't able to move any longer and didn't understand why.

Chopper's happiness faded at that, feeling a surge of pity for Oars. He knew that it wasn't his fault that he couldn't understand why he was stuck like this. Sure, he might have been a monster who had been trying to kill them, but it was hard to remind himself of that as he looked at how he couldn't even move.

But what was done, is done, nothing they could do about it now at any rate.

As for the rest of them, they felt the warmth of pride going through their bodies at their handiwork. They had taken on a monster of a giant zombie and won! It was hard not to feel pride.

"Hey!" memory Usopp called and brought them back to the matter at hand. "Luffy! Hurry up and get the shadows back!" He then turned to the pirates and added angrily, "This is no time to celebrate yet! You're all gonna vanish!"

"Crap! I forgot about that!" present-day Usopp gasped before realizing the irony here. "Wow, it took myself to remind me what was going on here."

"Yeah, well, I'm more surprised that none of the people who had their shadows stolen remembered it," present-day Nami couldn't help but add as she looked to the others.

"I guess we got so caught up in the moment that we forgot all about it," present-day Robin chuckled at the thought.

"Yeah, no worries, we got them back in the end, didn't we?" present-day Sanji asked with a grin.

"Just barely!" present-day Nami yelled at him. "If it took even a minute longer, you'd never would have survived! Speaking of which…?" she looked up to the sky to see the light just at the horizon. They were almost out of time.

"We better hurry this up," present-day Zoro agreed, looking at what had caught her attention. "I'd say… five minutes before the sun rises? Maybe a little more than that? Either way, this fight is just about over."

The Rolling Pirates also realized that the sun would soon rise and they were reminding each other that they had to go and beat Moria awake to get their shadows back. But as if he heard their words, Moria spoke.

"There's no need to wake me," he called with an angry hiss, and the Rolling Pirates seemed to have lost any confidence they had when they saw him pulling himself out of Oars's stomach, battered and bloodied, but not beaten just yet. Lola and the others tried to threaten him that he better return their shadows at once if he didn't want another beating from the Straw Hats.

"These people relay on others too easily!" present-day Franky yelled out.

"I suppose if you're desperate, you're prepared to do whatever it takes," present-day Nami said, knowing that there's only so far that one person can go. She smiled softly to herself as she remembered when help came to her back on her home island. They came and helped her without her even asking them at first… and when she finally sucked up her pride and asked… they helped without ever once thinking of themselves. She supposed that she could understand why they would be so desperate for help at their darkest moment.

Moria, though, was far from impressed as he laughed, demanding, "What do you think this is? A playground scuffle? No true pirate is afraid of death!"

"He's got a point," present-day Brook sighed sadly. "Here, in battle, anything can happen. Death could strike at any moment out here on the seas."

"You'd know that better than anyone, wouldn't you, Brook?" present-day Robin asked him knowingly.

"Of course," present-day Brook nodded. "No real pirate should be afraid to chase their dreams though, right?"

"Well said!" present-day Luffy grinned.

"How laughable! I can't bring myself to believe that they aligned themselves with you losers of the forest," Moria laughed as he taunted them. "I get it. So that's how Straw Hat got that power up! How dare you use my own shadow abilities against me like that?"

"Well, it's not like he was using those shadows," present-day Chopper offered.

"Fair point," present-day Franky nodded sagely. "If he didn't want anyone to touch them, he would have been more careful with them. Not our fault."

"Oh, he's just trying to buy time," present-day Zoro said as he looked back to the sky. "The more time that he wastes talking is a blow against us."

Lola was still shaking with fear, but hearing his voice was enough to make her angry as she screamed at Moria to shut up and to return their shadows to them. But he just ignored them as he glared down at memory Luffy—who was still shrunken and tiny—and said furiously, "Straw Hat! I'm going to make you pay! Look what you did to my Thriller Bark! Thanks to you, it's been torn apart!"

"Well, you shouldn't have invited us to come here then," present-day Franky stated with a roll of his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Robin laughed at that before saying, "You know, that is a very good point. No wonder we don't get invited to places these days… because word has gotten out that we're not going to leave the island in the same shape that as when we first found it."

"I suppose we're doomed to remain uninvited guests," present-day Zoro smirked at the idea.

"Hey! Only because you guys started it and got in the way of our journey first!" memory Luffy yelled angrily up at him, able to get back to his feet even though his body was exhausted. "Just cough up all the shadows you took now before the sun comes up!"

"Might have saved him a lot of pain," present-day Sanji agreed. "But, some pirates just won't learn unless you beat it into their skulls. Though to be fair, it could go at either way at this point. Both sides are injured and we're resorting to desperate measures soon. The only difference is that we outnumber Moria now."

Moria only roared with mad laughter as he barked back, "You really are pathetic! Don't you see that even if I did nothing, your fates are already sealed?! You aren't anywhere near ready to take on the New World in your state!"

The Straw Hats in the present didn't say a word. But they were all thinking of the same thing… of how they were so easily defeated at Sabaody and how if it wasn't for Kuma's mercy, they never would have made it out of that mess alive. They weren't ready for the New World, that was the sad truth… at the time they were all far too weak to have survived it.

"Even if you did have strong minions to fight for you…" Moria paused for a moment before his eyes widened, bloodshot and with a mad look glinting there that they had never seen before, "You will lose it all!"

"Ok, just what did this guy go through that pushed him to this point?" present-day Nami couldn't help but ask as she gulped down.

Robin frowned as she remembered how Crocodile held a grudge against Whitebeard. She had to wonder… did Moria lose his crew when he fought against an Emperor? It would go a long way to explaining why he was obsessed with having minions rather than a crew. Because he may not be able to take it if he lost his crewmates a second time. He had been to the New World already, so he already knew it better than they did.

"And you want to know something else!?" Moria hollered out, black snake-like shadows began to appear at his feet and spread across Oars's body and spread across the ground. "Everything I tell you is from experience! My subordinates. They were known, far and wide… so why? WHY DID I LOSE THEM ALL?"

It was hard to hear for them all. For when they saw the flash of pain, heard the anger in his voice, they all understood completely why he felt so much anguish. They knew how he felt perfectly at that moment, for they had all felt the same way more than once.

"You know, I don't know what this guy went through for him to end up like this, but whatever it was, it had to have been traumatic for him to end up like this," present-day Usopp couldn't help but state as he watched Moria howl with agony.

"I'm guessing that he met a strong opponent in the New World," present-day Sanji answered softly. "And this guy, whoever they were, killed his entire crew, somehow leaving him the only survivor. That's gotta mess with your head."

"It certainly seems that's the case," present-day Robin agreed. "In his grief, he didn't want to ever risk going through that ever again. And so, he chose zombies for they are nothing but puppets."

Present-day Usopp shook his head as he said, "What a sick way to see the world."

As for the present-day Luffy, he didn't make a sound as he watched on. He knew all too well the desire to be stronger to protect his crewmates. He knew that he was lucky in that he still had his crew here… but he also knew the pain of losing someone you cared about. His big brother's grinning face appeared in his mind's eye and Luffy knew that he lost his brother that day because he wasn't strong enough. But he did get stronger… and he would only continue to get stronger until he could protect everyone.

Moria rounded on him as sadness echoed in his voice, "I lost all my crew simply because they were alive! If they had only been zombies from the beginning then I wouldn't have had nothing lost! Zombies cannot die! They can always be replaced if they fall! So that is why with an army of the dead, I will become the king! You brats should be grateful to be helping me create slaves!"

"Oh, well forgive us for not wanting to be your slaves!" present-day Nami yelled out. She had enough of that life and had no plans on ever going back to it.

Moria looked like he was on the brink of losing whatever was left of his sanity. He screamed out that he would become the King of the Pirates with his army of the undead. Whether he was declaring all of this to them for he no longer cared who heard him, or he was doing it to distract them, no one knew. All that they did know was that the shadows at his feet were now continuing to spread, forming a kind of black puppet strings finally being called back to the puppeteer's hands. They knew that at that moment, all the shadows from Thriller Bark were being called to him.

"Now…" they heard Moria whisper as he raised his head and looked at them all with malice, that evil grin back on his face as the sky was blackened with all the shadows that were flying towards him. "All the shadows of Thriller Bark… lend me your power…! Shadow ASGARD!"

"Shadows? No wait! Don't tell me!" memory Nami yelled in panic, but it was too late. Moria had been pushed to his breaking point and was now desperately using his powers to give himself time rather than a real answer to defeat them. All that they could do was watch as Moria knelt on top of Oar's body as his own eyes glowed a demon's red.

Memory Nami then began to scream out that he was gathering all the shadows on the island. And so he began to take them all in… he began counting… 100… 200… 300… and onwards he kept on counting as his body grew larger and larger, his voice getting deeper as his muscle began to bulge outwards until he was towering over them all. His neck bloated out, his horns grew, his legs became clawed and elongated…

This battle had become all or nothing. He knew that he couldn't win now, but if nothing else, he was going to hold onto the shadows for as long as it took. Eventually the sun would finish the job for him… right now it was simply a matter of seeing which side had the stronger will to live.

Finally Moria laughed as he yelled out so loudly that there was no one on the island who could hope to miss it. "ONE-THOUSAND SHADOWS!"

"Wow, I didn't think it possible, seeing how ugly he was to begin with. But who would have thought that the guy could get even uglier?" present-day Zoro asked with mild interest. "Though I guess if Luffy looked freaky after having 100 shadows in him, I guess it would do a number on someone with a thousand."

As for the Rolling Pirates and all the other victims, when they saw what they were up against, they had given up. You could see the hope fading from their faces. Not only were they up against someone who had the power of at least a thousand people, the sun was still rising.

"And their first thought was to run," present-day Usopp sighed in disappointment as a handful of people high-tailed it back to the forest.

"You look like you want to go after them though," Chopper reminded him as memory Usopp's face was so petrified with fear that he may have already died from fright.

"Hey! I may have wanted to but I stayed put didn't I?" present-day Usopp barked back. "That's the important thing! Besides, I knew that Luffy would win at the last moment, like he usually does."

"Yeah, thinking back now, I think that a lot of people would be questioning our sanity that we would put so much trust in one person like that," present-day Nami couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

"Yohohoho, it's hard not to trust Luffy-san," present-day Brook said happily. "After all, I knew him for less than a day and I was already prepared to put my life on the line with him!"

"Yes," present-day Robin agreed whole-heartedly, "He seems to have that effect on everyone."

"Yeah, he pretty much owns us now," present-day Usopp added as they looked to their Luffy, who hadn't even being paying attention to what they were saying at the moment.

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked as he looked back at them. "What are you guys all mumbling about there?"

"Oh, nothing," they all recited at once as memory Luffy finally grew back to his regular size and was now preparing to face off against Moria. Moria cackled with laughter before he raised his fist and slammed it into the ground, causing whatever was left of the mansion to start to fall apart but also to nail the island with such force that a deep chasm was created to make it look like the whole place was splitting across.

"Yeah, go ahead and smash the building even more!" present-day Franky yelled out, "It's your house after all!"

The sun was now dangerously close to poking out from the horizon—they had only minutes left. Several beams of sunlight were already crossing across the land and there were cries of pain from several of the pirates when the light touched them. The Rolling Pirates and all the other victims were already running from the courtyard… all but one.

"Cap'n Lola!" one of the Risky Brothers yelled out when he saw that she hadn't moved from her spot, "What are you doing?"

"We gotta get outta here!" the other brother yelled, "Come on!"

"No," Lola answered firmly, not even looking back at them as she stood her ground.

"About time one of them grew a spine," present-day Zoro spoke up as Lola's crew were now trying to talk their captain into coming with them. Lola called back, letting them know that she was well aware of what would happen to her if she stayed, but she wasn't going to run anymore. She had made her choice and pointed to the memory Straw Hats, who had also stayed put. Not a single crew member was running away—though memory Usopp looked like he was more like fainted where he stood—but they all rather go down together. They weren't leaving each other's side even though they knew that they were risking their lives.

One would think that they were all mad for risking their lives in such a way, but they didn't even think twice about it. After all, Luffy was their one biggest trump card and if they couldn't trust him to win, what hope did they have? This goes to prove how strongly they believed in their captain, for half of their crew were still missing their shadows. Yet, they did not run. They stayed where they were and waited should Luffy need them.

"I'm glad to see that your gamble of risking your lives by staying won," present-day Nami sighed at the sight of it, remembering how scared she had been when she saw her crew starting to vanish before her eyes. "Just don't do something like that again, alright?"

"Yeah, I thought that Perona pretending to squeeze my heart and kill me was bad for my health," present-day Usopp nodded. He could have sworn that his heart stopped for sure that time.

"Well, hopefully we won't have to worry about running into someone who can steal our shadows again," present-day Franky pointed out cheerfully. "Though if we do run into Moria again, I think we can take him!"

"Hell ya!" present-day Luffy cheered out.

Their past selves all stood there calmly—all but for memory Usopp who looked like he seemed to have turned to stone from fear. Still, whether it was because he was too scared to move, or ignoring any trace of fear at that moment, he stood his ground with the others as the stare-down between Moria and memory Luffy continued.

Behind them, Lola had loudly declared her decision as well, stating that until this fight was over once and for all, she wasn't going to run scared. She told her crew that this was the least that they could do for those who they dragged into this mess, but that if they wanted to run, she would not think less of them. But as their captain, she had to take responsibility for her actions.

"You know, she's not bad," Chopper decided. Sure, he wasn't happy that she and the others had hurt Luffy when they forced him to take in all those shadows, but at the same time, he could at least understand why they did what they did.

"She was right as well," present-day Brook nodded as he watched how a small sunbeam hit her head and already it left a nasty burn. "It is the captain's choice, so she couldn't have run without forfeiting her honor. Though she was risking her life, she was making the right choice."

"And what if that killed her?" present-day Nami demanded.

"Then she would have to live with the fact that she ran," present-day Zoro responded calmly. "Not that it matters. She didn't run and we won. I call it a good day."

"I'm not running!" Lola declared loudly to her crew as they pleaded for her to come with them. "This, boys… this is what it truly means when you put your hopes into somebody!"

Present-day Nami could only smile, and wondered how Lola was doing now. She hoped that she was having fun out there on the seas and that they meet again soon.

"So we've finally reached the boss," memory Zoro said darkly, "And he's a big one too."

"Indeed," memory Robin agreed. "In reality, he's actually giving up, but his foolish pride and anger won't let him admit it."

"Typical men," present-day Nami said with a roll of her eyes. What was with males and their pride not letting them accept defeat? Though, she supposed that it was a good thing in this case.

Memory Luffy stepped up, the others all standing behind him and ready to rush to his aid should he asked. That was when he asked them simply, not even looking at them, "Hey, you guys? We're out of time. So I'm gonna get a bit reckless."

"A bit?!" present-day Chopper demanded furiously. "You're lucky that you weren't killed after pulling all that! You big dope!"

"I'm alive, aren't I?" present-day Luffy asked him, as if wondering what the problem was. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"No! Wait, I mean yes! But I mean…?! JUST DON'T RISK YOUR LIFE LIKE THAT AGAIN OR I'LL GIVE YOU A REAL INJURY!" present-day Chopper barked at him furiously as he jumped up to his shoulder and gave him a hard hit to Luffy's head.

"I still can't get how you aren't bed-ridden after all that," Franky couldn't help but point out, not noticing how some of the crew seemed to have frozen at those words.

Present-day Sanji just lit up another cigarette as he did his best to control the slight shake in his hands. Now what were they supposed to do? He really didn't want to resort to knocking out the crew, but as time was quickly running out, he was starting to think that there may not be another way. He shared a look with present-day Robin, who had already taken action. She nodded silently back at him as they watched her blossom another arm from out of present-day Usopp's back, and reach into his back. He was so busy watching the scene that he and most of the others didn't notice it, but Robin was able to steal a small pellet from his bag.

This was one of Usopp's Sleep Stars… a projectile that would realize a powerful sleeping gas. This would knock the others out for a time. They would have to think of some kind of excuse when that time came, but it was at least something.

"So, please take care of me after this is all over," memory Luffy asked the rest of them.

"Got it!" memory Franky yelled. "You can count on us!"

"Leave it to us, captain," present-day Usopp said firmly as they all nodded with him.

"Take him out!" memory Usopp cheered as the Rolling Pirates tried to remind them that Moria now had the power of their shadows as well. Memory Zoro quickly grew irritated as he barked, "Shut it! Unless you're helping out, watch quietly!" He looked back to Moria and added, "We've already won this fight against Moria, anyway. All that's left is a fight against time itself. Moria's just trying to buy some with that power of his."

"Looks like he may have filled up a little too much on shadows," present-day Franky snorted. "Like when Luffy eats so much he can't move."

"And even then he still wants to keep eating," present-day Sanji reminded them as he moved his hands behind his back and felt how Robin—who successfully stole the Sleep Star and passed it into his hands. He would have to wait for the right moment.

He watched how memory Luffy already rammed his fists on the ground, moving into his horse stance and began to pump the blood in his legs. Already the memory around shook violently as the strain of using Second Gear began to harm Luffy's body.

Everyone but present-day Luffy looked around them anxiously, knowing that Luffy could have easily killed himself if he kept pushing himself so hard. And this only seemed to grow worse as a strange ringing noise began to sound off.

"Luffy, I know I can't stop you from using your gears, but please, don't keep using them at once!" present-day Chopper cried up worriedly at him. "You wouldn't want me to have to tell you that you destroyed your body because you refused to listen, would you?"

"Huh? No, but it's ok, I can use my gears a lot better now," present-day Luffy reminded him.

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT WON'T HARM YOUR BODY IN A LONG RUN!" present-day Chopper yelled up at him. "THE LEAST YOU CAN PROMISE ME IS THAT YOU WON'T KILL YOURSELVES FROM ONE OF YOUR OWN ATTACKS!"

"Will we be eliminated…?" memory Zoro asked calmly, getting their attention and they looked as he asked, "Or will Moria be taken down first?"

They all knew how it would end, of course, but it still left them all watching in silence as memory Luffy stood there, his crew behind him, mastering any kind of pain he felt at that moment, and focused purely on using what little strength left to take out Moria.

Moria struck first, his massive fist came flying right at memory Luffy—but even with all his strength, he was incredibly slow and memory Luffy had already dodged long before the attack hit him. To give Moria credit, he was able to track Luffy, but keeping up with him was almost impossible, and he kept missing even as Moria was able to knock down another wall that memory Luffy landed.

"Gum Gum… JET ROCKET!"

He flew right up into Moria's massive neck, forcing him to gag and cough, which gave the shadows a chance to start seeping out. Like a giant sponge filled with too much water, they began to leak out and into the air. Moria was doing his best to try and keep the shadows inside him, but memory Luffy already realized where he needed to hit.

"Gum Gum… JET BAZOOKA!" memory Luffy shouted and nailed him right in the stomach so that more started to burst out. Over and over he hit Moria with his Jet Bazooka, forcing more shadows to be coughed up as the others cheered. In desperation, Moria tried to command his own shadow to appear and block Luffy, thus giving him more time—so it appeared, breaking off into a million shadow bats and swarmed at memory Luffy once more. They moved together to form a shadow box, trapping memory Luffy inside it. Moria seemed to think that he won this time as he crushed it in his giant hands, flattening it.

"Did he forget that you have a rubber body and can't be crushed?" present-day Sanji asked no one in particular.

"Guess so," present-day Zoro shrugged at that.

"That power of yours may be weird pal, but hey, they can be useful from time to time," present-day Franky stated.

"Hey, what do you mean from time to time?!" present-day Luffy demanded. "My Gum Gum powers are awesome!"

The black shadow box fell with a loud clunking noise on the ground, where Moria continued to flatten it even further by stomping on it with his foot. Moria now panting for breath, the force of all those shadows clearly taking a toll on his body—but that didn't seem to matter to him for he began to roar out laughing.

"THIS IS BAPTIZING!" he roared out, "This is what separates a true pirate from the rest! You foolish greenhorns… this is what you get for trying to play 'pirate' in such a vast ocean like this!" He stomped on the box again as he demanded, "What did you expect when you dare to challenge one of the Seven Warlords?!"

"Hey, we took on Warlords before and walked away with our lives," present-day Sanji stated as he let out a breath of smoke. "Doesn't matter to us."

"Yeah, I mean we've taken on someone who literally thought that he was a god and we survived," present-day Usopp said thoughtfully. "Sure he almost killed us in the process but… what were we talking about again?"

"People like you should know their place in this world!" Moria yelled as he grinded his foot down onto the box, as one would do when they were stepping on a bug. "If not then they deserve to die in vain!"

He gave one last stomp on the box as he was now struggling to breathe—as the little box lay in a flattened and crumpled heap on the ground. There were cries of fear and shock going from their past selves, but memory Luffy was far from done. The box jumped and then memory Luffy smashed his way out of it, taking Moria aback. Sure he wasn't dead, but memory Luffy was now coughing up blood and there was a horrible rasp in his throat as if he couldn't breathe right. The static in the memory was worse than ever, like trying to see through a dirty window and now the ringing was so loud that it was difficult to make out what was being said.

Still, memory Luffy stood his ground.

"You can say whatever the hell you want about me," he gasped out and Moria looked startled to see his determined expression as he finished, "I may be a rookie… I may end up dying in vain, one day… but… NO ONE… WILL… TAKE ME DOWN!"

"YOU TELL 'IM!" present-day Franky roared out approvingly as cheers came from most of the crew, and there were smiles at that declaration. It was amazing to watch even though they all had seen it before twice already. But seeing memories like this was well worth all the pain and heartache that they had seen. Hearing those words with such conviction in his voice, you could not help but believe everything that rubber-brained Luffy said.

The Rolling Pirates and memory Brook all seemed to be stunned at what they were hearing, and staring at Luffy like he was something from another world—just completely in awe as all the Straw Hats from the present. Moria quickly regained his composure as he demanded, "No one will take you down? What makes you think that you can claim such a thing! It only shows how inexperienced you are in the world!"

"Cuz I'm rubber," memory Luffy said as if that explained it all.

"I can't tell which phrase you use more," present-day Franky couldn't help but point out. "That one, or the one where you're gonna become the King of the Pirates."

"Both are true," present-day Luffy reminded her in confusion.

"Yeah, but which one is your catchphrase?" Franky asked. "It's important to figure that out."

"How is that important?" present-day Nami asked in irritation. Why did men worry about the stupidest things?

Memory Luffy put his fist to the ground again and more steam began to billow out more than ever, the memory cut in and out dangerously, and they knew that Luffy was no pushing his body so far that he was fighting to stay awake. At the sight of it, present-day Nami's lips trembled and she ran straight at their Luffy, hugging him hard and taking him by surprise.

"Nami?" he began in confusion.

"Shut up and let me have this, you idiot," she growled, fighting tears at how much Luffy was pushing himself for their sakes.

"Just you watch," memory Luffy said, "Now I'm gonna make you spit out every single shadow you took!"

There were screams coming from behind them as the sun continued to rise higher and began to creep over the walls. A few of the Rolling Pirates were touched by it and yelled in pain as the burns appeared on their bodies—there was almost no time left and Luffy knew it.

Which is why he knew that there was no choice but to resort to desperate measures. They could only watch as he bit his thumb. He blew his arm up and moved the air into his chest so that he was completely round like a beach ball. They could hear the disturbing sounds of his muscles being pulled and a strange gargling coming from inside his mouth and knew that he was bleeding internally again. The ringing was so loud now that they could barely hear anything as the memories became so blurred that they could hardly see anything in in front of them.

"And you're half killing yourself by using both those techniques at the same time!" present-day Chopper snapped at their Luffy, jumping up and hugging Luffy's head in fear while he also began to hit him with his tiny hoof. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

The memory Straw Hats were all upset as well, yelling for him to stop and memory Chopper was screaming that he would tear his body apart. But memory Luffy didn't care. He ignored them all, believing that they would take care of him when this was over and he jumped, aiming straight for Moria. He Moria spinning around like a bullet, and with this extra speed and power from both Gears at once, he launched his air filled body and rams into an opponent like a large cannonball. He hit Moria right below his neck and in the stomach, shadows being spewed out as if he was wanting to cough up spit, but he refused to give in to that. Instead, he covered his mouth with his giant hands to prevent anymore from escaping. Even with his mouth clamped shut, he asked if they could honestly think that he would let go the source of his power. That was when they realized he was talking to the shadows trapped inside him.

It was difficult to understand anything though for the memory was no cutting in and out, as though threatening to go dark completely in just a few short moments.

Present-day Sanji gripped the Sleep Star extra tight in his hands, knowing that the moment was coming up soon. He would only have one chance at this… he would have to use this little baby to knock the others out at the right moment… and he was planning on the second that Moria was defeated and they were all safe. That way they could avoid any memories with Kuma at all and Luffy would, hopefully, never suspect a thing.

He was prepared to throw it at any moment…?

Meanwhile, memory Luffy and Moria had pushed themselves to their breaking points and one would soon crumble… the only question was who would be the weaker one?

"Shadows, don't forget that I'm your master!" Moria screamed, as he held back the wave of shadows that were desperate to escape. Lola was soon on her feet, trying to call for her shadow to come back to her. She pleaded for it to remember her and to return so that they could be free once again. The sun was now rising over the horizon and was burning away half her face—yet she did not run. She continued calling, pleading for her shadow to come back. Her cries were enough to cause all the others to start calling as well. for they realized that their own shadows were right in front of them and were so close to regaining them after having lost them. They all began to cry out as well, begging for their shadows to come back home.

It was impossible to tell if their cries had any effect on their shadows, but it certainly did help clear Luffy's mind as he got back up—those words motivating him for one last attack. Moria was already defeated at this point, but he was determined to do whatever it took to keep the shadows in him until the sun fully rose and destroyed his enemies.

"I've got something to say to my shadow too," Luffy panted, still standing tall, and grinning despite how he was now bleeding worse than ever. "If you really want to become King of the Pirates… Then… YOU GOTTA STAY WITH ME!"

Memory Luffy went flying right at him, ramming right into Moria's massive neck and finally, the combination of the attack, the damage he took all night, and the thousand shadows fighting to break free, was too much for him. He was knocked backwards and right into what was left standing of the mansion. Memory Luffy couldn't hold the air anymore and he let it out, flying around like a balloon as he shrank and hit the ground. But they saw how the giant tower fell and crashed on Moria's stomach—the chain that controlled the island fell, crashing and spinning while the mast also crumbled and collapsed like a broken twig in a storm.

The shadows broke free from Moria, like a geyser, they saw the black ink-like shadows flying free into the air. Most went flying off in all different directions, already heading back to their owners somewhere in the world, others began to fall back to the ground like rain, seeking out their correct keeper.

"Straw Hat… you… you bastard!" Moria yelled over Luffy's fading hearing. "If you still don't believe me… in the New World… you'll see! Discover what a true nightmare is… by going to the New World!"

No sooner did he declare this, the broken tower crumbled even more, sunlight now bathing the entire courtyard and everyone in it. As soon as it touched them, everyone who had their shadows stolen were dissolving at once such as the memory versions of Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Luffy…

It was as if they were being erased right before their eyes and there were screams of panic from the memory Straw Hats who all had their shadows.

Present-day Sanji's eyes narrowed, knowing that now was the time, he gripped the Sleep Star that Robin took from Usopp's bag earlier, preparing to throw it down any second. He would wait until everyone was occupied with seeing their past selves safe and sound after getting their shadows back. If he did it then, hopefully they could avoid watching the rest of the memory that surely came after that. They would have to think of an excuse later.

Present-day Zoro noticed how tense that Sanji was acting and he looked to see the tiny Sleep Star projectile in his hands. Understanding went through him, as well as the faint hope that perhaps they could get through this ordeal with as little trouble for everyone as possible.

But no sooner did he think that did something new happen.

He was so focused on the memories in front of him, he didn't realize how the ghostly form of claws had appeared behind his head once again. And this time, the claws wrapped themselves around his throat.

With a startled gasp, Zoro's windpipe was being compressed together and he let out a yell as he tried to fight off the unknown attacker.

His struggles caught the attention of the others, who spun around to look and there were screams of terror when they saw the ghostly claws holding onto Zoro's throat.

"ZORO!" Chopper and Luffy yelled in shock as more cries were heard. They rushed forward, trying to help throw off the ghostly hands, but it was like grabbing hold of smoke.

Usopp had already tried firing directly over Zoro's shoulder, thinking that there was some sort of invisible attacker there, yet it just kept on going and he shrieked.

"IT'S A GHOST! IT HAS TO BE A GHOST THIS TIME!"

"IDIOT! IT CAN'T BE!"

"WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT?!"

Zoro was struggling just to draw a breath, and no matter how strong he was, he couldn't find the fingers that held his neck and pull them loose even as the others were doing their best to help. As he thrashed, he heard a voice being whispered in the back of his head… a voice that seemed as dark as this whole tower.

' _Do you wish to forget…?'_

' _What?'_ he thought back to the voice.

' _Do you wish to forget what happened that day? Or not?'_

' _What are you talking…? Who are you?'_ he thought as he reached up to his neck and tried to pull whatever force it was that was constricting his windpipe.

' _Do you wish to forget these memories for the sake of keeping them hidden?'_

' _I don't know what you're talking about, but let go of me, dammit!'_ Zoro thought back savagely as he thrashed about even more. _'Come out and face me if you want to fight!'_

Just then, he felt the fingers around his neck fade and he could breathe. He took several deep breaths, trying to feed his starved lungs as the rest of the crew gathered around him in concern. But just then, Zoro let out a gasp as the tiled stones beneath their feet fell away and he was falling with them. He wasn't the only one though, for Luffy had stretched out his hand to grab hold of Zoro, but as soon as he did, the stones beneath him also shattered and he was pulled down as well—leaving the rest of the crew reaching out to try and help from the collapsing floor.

"What's going on?!" Luffy cried as they fell. The others were screaming out their names and holding out their hands for Luffy to grab. Luffy stretched out his arm above them to try and grab hold of something—anything—yet his hand met only with empty air as darkness clouded over their crew's faces and they continued falling through the dark.

"I don't know!" Zoro yelled as he twisted in midair so that he was upright, still holding onto his throat as continued to suck in air desperately.

On and on they fell through him dark, and he was sure that there was something wrong here. Surely they would have hit one of the lower floors by now? What was happening?

' _Is the past too difficult for you to carry?'_

Zoro's head jerked up at the sound of the voice.

"Huh? Who said that? Who are you?!" Luffy yelled out.

"Luffy?! You heard it too?!" Zoro asked as they suddenly began to feel themselves slowing down. Well, at least he wasn't imagining hearing that voice.

"Y-Yeah! Why? Do you know it, Zoro?" Luffy asked as he gazed back at him.

"No," he answered back as he kept turning his gaze around sharply, ready to fight whoever or whatever this thing was. "I heard that voice in my head a minute ago. I can't say how I know, but I think that we finally found the one in charge of this freaky tower? Who knows? We might just have imagined hearing it."

"I heard it before," Luffy told him and Zoro looked up in surprise as Luffy added, "When I went through that one door and saw the memories from Marineford. I heard that voice asking me if I wanted to forget. I said no, and then…?"

"And then it showed you the memories all at once?" Zoro finished, growing pale as he looked back down as they had slowed down from a free fall to a sort of gentle float. Eventually, he felt his feet touch down, but they were still in a completely dark area, even darker than the tower had been for them before. Here, they couldn't even see the stone floor or walls around them. Zoro couldn't help but feel that they was stuck in the belly of some kind of monster and they were just waiting for them to be digested.

He really hoped that wasn't the case.

He took a single step forward and as soon as he did, light blazed around them once more and he had to cover his face to try and block out the sudden pain. Soon though, his eye was able to adjust to it and he saw something that made him feel as though he stepped into an ocean of ice water.

They were standing in the ruined courtyard with their memory selves after the battle with Moria and Oars. Memory Luffy was lying there on his back, out like a light, while the others were sitting around him, watching with concern as memory Chopper was trying to tend to his wounds.

Damnit… if he ever found the one who was responsible for all this, he was going to take the greatest of pleasure in separating their heads from their shoulders.

"What's happening?" Luffy asked as he walked forward, not understanding what was going on. "I don't… I don't remember any of this…?"

"You wouldn't," present-day Zoro informed him quietly from behind him. "That's because these memories belong to me."

"Yours? Zoro?" Luffy asked as he looked back at him, only to see the deadly serious expression on Zoro's face. "Zoro? You ok?"

Zoro's eye was closed as he slowly came to terms with what he was about to witness here. There was no way out of it… but he had to try and prepare Luffy for it.

"Luffy," he said softly, "Whatever you are about to see, know that I have a mind of my own and that I decide what to do with my life."

Luffy blinked in confusion, now really growing concerned for what Zoro was saying. Zoro was doing a very good job hiding his emotions, but Luffy knew him well enough to sense that he was deeply upset about something. Why was he so anxious? What happened here while he was out cold? Kuma came and attacked them, he knew that much, but what was Zoro so upset about?

That was when memory Nami suddenly covered her mouth and gasped in horror, as if she just remembered something.

"Oh no! I forgot something really important!" she gasped.

"Huh? What is it, Nami?" present-day Luffy asked instinctively, forgetting that their Nami wasn't with them right now.

"Oh yeah? What?" Usopp asked as she continued to grow paler and paler by the second. She then muttered something under her breath, but it was so quiet that they couldn't even hear her. When Robin asked what was wrong, Nami turned to them and said with a sense of urgency, "Everyone this is serious!"

" _I see…"_

The voice was one that no one recognized and were looking around for the source of it. that was when they looked up to the fallen tower and saw that Kuma was sitting there, a Transponder Snail in his hands as he spoke to the government official on the other end.

"Kuma!" Luffy said in surprise as he looked over to the present-day Zoro, who shut his eye in grim acceptance.

"Remember what we told you? That Kuma showed up after we defeated Moria?" he told him. "I said that you aren't going to like this."

" _My greatest fears have become a reality?_ " the voice asked again, getting their attention.

"So it would seem," Kuma answered back.

"He's here," Nami croaked before yelling at the rest of them, "Everyone! Stay calm and listen! Please! During the fight with Moria and the others… I forgot to tell you… but… there's another one of them on the island… one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

"Yeah, but why is he here now?" Luffy asked, still unsure as to what was happening. "He and Moria were on the same side, right? Why didn't he jump in and help? I'm confused?"

"Luffy," Zoro said firmly, having to tighten his fists to stop them from shaking. "Please… whatever you see here. I want you to know that we all made these choices of our own free will. Don't you dare feel responsible."

"Responsible for what?" Luffy asked, now really growing irritated that he didn't understand what was happening here. "And what about the others? Shouldn't we look for them while…?"

But Zoro had a bad feeling that whoever was doing this, made sure that he was going to watch these memories. That voice echoed inside his head and he wondered if he had said no, then he wouldn't be here right now.

Meanwhile, the memory Straw Hats were gapping in horror at the thought of another Warlord showing up now of all times.

" _Of course all of this happens just when we've chosen a successor for Crocodile_ ," the voice over the Transponder Snail answered. " _Losing another warlord in such a short time is a bad example. Can you tell if he's still breathing? Even in the slightest?_ "

"Oh, he's still alive," present-day Zoro muttered, remembering the Marineford memories and the trouble that overgrown bastard caused Luffy.

"No," Kuma answered back as if he couldn't care less.

" _If he is still in fact alive we will wait until he recovers and hope he can maintain his position as one of the Warlords of the Sea_ ," the voice decided, " _We'll follow up after such time comes. The dignity of the Warlords would be tarnished if we were to keep losing them so easily_."

"What dignity?" present-day Zoro muttered darkly to himself. Most of the Warlords he had seen have been arrogant assholes.

" _It is critical that this news not reach anyone else_ ," the voice went on seriously, " _These damn Straw Hats are such a nuisance_."

"What are they talking about?!" Luffy cried out.

"They didn't like that we defeated Moria like that," Zoro answered, "So they ordered Kuma to kill us all."

Lola gasped as well, informing them all, who this man was and spoke his name just as the government official finished, " _I feel I have made my orders quite clear on the matter! We cannot afford to let anyone know of Moria's defeat. This is a direct order from the World Government. Obliterate the straw hat crew and everyone else on thriller bark. Leave no one alive_."

"Simple enough," Kuma answered as he hunt up and slowly stood back on his feet. He turned his blank, unseeing eyes back down at them all as there were cries of panic already starting to echo around them.

"Oh, come on! How many of these Warlords do we have to fight?!" Usopp cried as Chopper sobbed.

"It took everything we had to defeat Moria! We're worn out and done for!" he said as memory Zoro stepped up, pulling out his blade as he went.

"You were going to fight him on your own, Zoro?" Luffy asked him, recognizing the resigned look on his swordsman's face.

"Well, since you weren't able to, I figured that I'd do it," present-day Zoro answered, still hoping against hope that they could find a way out of this fight. He still had several minutes and immediately his mind went into overdrive to come up with some kind of plan. The only thing that he could think of though was to knock Luffy out with his swords… but blunt attacks won't work on him, and his Haki would make it hard enough to even land a blow against him. Damn, think of something!

Thankfully, Luffy didn't notice how pensive he had become as he watched on.

"Everyone stand back! I'll handle this!" memory Zoro said as he faced Kuma, but even just taking a few steps was almost too much for him at this point and his breathing was already labored.

"Be careful! He has some strange abilities!" Nami warned fearfully, "I saw him make someone disappear with just a touch of his hand!"

"Wait! Do you mean as in _'poof'_ and they're suddenly gone?!" Usopp yelled.

"Yeah! That's right!" Luffy said as he remembered what that was like. "He sent us all flying! Boy, I'm glad that he never touched any of us here! I don't know how we all would've met up if he did that to us!"

Nami also warned him that he could move from one location to another in a split second as they braced themselves for the worse. But when Kuma began removing his glove, she warned them again not to let him touch them. No sooner did she say that did he disappear and reappear right behind the Straw Hats and among the crowd of the Rolling Pirates. They shrieked at his sudden appearance but held up their weapons with shaking hands as they readied themselves to fight.

"I forgot how fast he used to be," Luffy said, the memories of what happened at Sabaody that day was still painful for him to recall. Still, he was stronger and faster than he had ever been. He wasn't going to let himself get caught off guard like that again. He trained for these last two years to protect his crew and that was what he was going to do!

The Rolling Pirates were all outmatched, even as Lola yelled at them not to do anything, they attacked him. But Kuma didn't even have to touch them as he swiped with his hand, taking out an entire section of the small army with a blast of air pressure.

Luffy gritted his teeth at the sight of it, wanting to jump in and help. Kuma vanished again, but Luffy was able to follow him as he appeared behind memory Zoro again. Memory Zoro did an admirable job of hiding any signs of fear, still standing tall as he turned to face him—yet his eyes showed the worry of what was going to happen in this fight.

"Pirate hunter Zoro, shall I begin the annihilation with you?" Kuma asked him calmly.

The Rolling Pirates were all gapping at what just happened, trying to figure out what kind of powers that he had. Lola lamented just what a sick twist of fate for them. After years of being forced to hide in the dark forest under Moria's tyranny, they were now up against another Warlord.

The Risky Brothers tried another tactic, saying that Kuma had no sense of honor attacking them when they were already worn out from fighting Moria. The second brother agreed with that, ready to fight anyway. But it was memory Zoro who told them off for that.

"Drop the big talk and stay back! I'm the one he called out!" memory Zoro yelled at them, taking them all by surprise, "You heard it as well as I did! I'll give him the fight he wants. You wanna talk about honor? Then don't butt in!"

"Why didn't you wake me up to help fight?" Luffy demanded, frowning at his past self, who was still sleeping.

"I don't think that anything was going to wake you up here, captain," present-day Zoro reminded him, thinking back to how not even a bomb was enough to wake him up. He fingered his blade for a moment, wondering if he could somehow knock Luffy out with it if he just hit him hard enough. Was it worth a try?

Everyone stared at him as memory Zoro went back to facing against Kuma, who didn't move, as if he was curious to see what he was going to do.

"Your crew's developed quite the popular reputation. Among scum that is," Kuma informed him causally, "It seems some of the tales of your crew are true though. It's clear that Straw Hat Luffy has staffed his ship with rather skilled underlings."

"Yeah! I'm not taking anything but the best on my crew!" Luffy said proudly as most of the memory Straw Hats began to blush and laughed at the compliment.

Present-day Zoro smirked at that, feeling a surge of pride going through him at that thought.

But Kuma went on, informing them, "You leave a trail of trouble in your wake everywhere you go. The infamy isn't reserved for your captain. You each bear your own share of responsibility."

"Of course, why else would we be given bounties?" present-day Zoro asked at the thought, smiling even wider at the thought of how his bounty was still higher than the cooks. Oh, he was gonna rub it in his face if they ever get out of this stupid place.

Memory Zoro put his sword away before reaching for two this time, preparing to draw and charge ahead.

"Don't do it Zoro!" Usopp pleaded, "It's madness in the state that you're in! Your bones have got to be nothing but dust at this point!"

"I don't know what he thought Kuma was going to do if I didn't fight," present-day Zoro said to Luffy. "I doubt that he was going to go any easier on us if we didn't fight back. I was just the only one who was willing to try."

Memory Zoro grinned at the note of concern as he told them, "When disaster stares you down you either got to step up or just get the hell outta the way! I prefer the former. Making excuses won't delay catastrophe! If I die here and now, that's as far as I was meant to go!"

"And I mean that," present-day Zoro nodded. "You can try and make excuses all you want, but that won't mean a thing if death's staring you in the face. I'm just not going to leave this world without a fight."

Not unless it was for another anyway.

He glanced at Luffy again out of the corner of his eye, feeling worry echoing in his very soul at the thought of what was going to happen.

His past self attacked him with two blades, but Kuma sidestepped it until he was right above Zoro, his paw held up. Memory Zoro was able to dodge it in time, spinning away to a safe distance as the attack left a paw print on the stone where he was standing only seconds before.

"Yeah! Go for it, Zoro!" Luffy cheered. He knew that they were fighting a losing battle, but from what he understood, after Kuma let out a large attack, he left, thinking that they were all dead. He knew that they were going to be ok. Even if their pride was wounded here, they made it out in one piece. That was all he could ask for.

"Holy crap this guy's fast!" memory Zoro panted as Kuma turned his head sharply at him and sent another attack straight at him, forcing him to dodge again—but this time it grazed him in passing. He hit the ground and rolled before rolling back onto his feet, but was still holding onto the side of his wounded head.

"What's wrong, Zoro?!" Luffy asked urgently.

"He got me," present-day Zoro answered as he shut his eye and reached up to touch the side of his head. "I was too slow to avoid him completely. Don't worry. It didn't hurt for long."

No, it was what came next that hurt like hell.

"See that?!" Usopp hollered in terror, "Kuma didn't even touch him and his breathing's all ragged!"

"What's his power?" Nami demanded, and it looked like her mind was already racing for an answer, "I can't even figure out what he's doing! And what are those weird marks on the rubble?"

That was when they got a good look at Kuma's hands, where they saw the paw pads on his palms. The Rolling Pirates noticed this as well, and called attention to them, at least until Kuma turned back to memory Zoro, who sent his flying blade attack right back at him. But all Kuma had to do was hold up one of his hand and when it hit his palm, it was sent off in another direction, almost hitting a group of the Rolling Pirates.

"HE DEFLECTED ZORO'S ATTACK WITH HIS BARE HAND! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!" Chopper screamed as present-day Zoro shook his head at how pathetic he was back then. Still, he had to admire his past self's determination for he was getting back to his feet.

"I think I just figured out what your ability is," he said.

"I possess the ability to deflect anything I wish," Kuma confirmed and held up his hands to reveal his paw pads. "You see… I ate the Paw Paw fruit and became a Paw-Palm Human."

"Strange name," Luffy said.

"So says the Rubberman," present-day Zoro reminded him with a roll of his eye.

"A… paw palm human?" Sanji repeated as if he was sure he heard wrong.

"How can he say that with a straight face?" Usopp asked, "That's the most ridiculous devil fruit I've ever heard of!"

"It doesn't matter how stupid it sounds, the fact is that it's dangerous," present-day Zoro scolded. You think that they would have learned that by now?

Apparently not, for Franky was asking thoughtfully, "I'm not claiming I know much about these seven warlords, but if this guy's power is kitten hands, what are we worried about?"

At those words, either he was annoyed by his statement or wanted to teach him a thing or two, Kuma sent an attack at him and it hit him square in the chest, leaving a scar and sending him backwards into the rubble and spitting up blood.

"I suppose we really should have seen that coming," present-day Zoro sighed as Chopper shrieked and ran up to him as the others stared in shock at what just happened.

"I'm disappointed, Cyborg Franky," Kuma informed him, "If that's the extent of your power you should keep your mouth shut."

At that, present-day Zoro tilted his head questioningly. It almost sounds like Kuma was teaching them some hard lessons. He could have done all of this without the pain and suffering, but he couldn't help but wonder if Kuma's objective was to teach them as well. That was when he thought more to what Kuma had done for them. He ended up saving them at Sabaody two years ago as well as guarded the Sunny for them. Yet, here he was trying to kill Luffy and the rest of them? What had caused this change? Kuma apparently had some kind of connections to the Revolutionaries. Was it possible that Kuma didn't know that Luffy was Dragon's son? It seems possible?

As for their past selves, they were stunned at what happened. That was when Robin came up with the theory that Kuma was deflecting the air itself, since a normal physical attack wouldn't have hurt Franky like that.

"I call it the Pad Cannon," Kuma answered, "Simply deflect air pressure at light speed and it can create a shock wave that can pierce through anything."

"Right, just one more thing to look out for," Luffy frowned, now wishing that he could go and slap himself awake so that he could join in the fight. He couldn't just stand by and leave it all to Zoro!

But Zoro and Kuma were facing off once more before Kuma moved slammed his feet onto the ground like a sumo wrestler.

"I don't believe in mercy," he said and memory Zoro charged in. He went to his third blade, putting it his mouth—yet the problem was that he was shaking so badly that he could hardly stand up. He was fighting Kuma by sheer willpower, but then Kuma used his Thrust Pad Cannon and sent out dozens of paw-shaped pockets of air pressure. Zoro was able to dance about them, able to avoid them as he fought to get to him. Yet even when he reached him and struck at him with his swords, Kuma was able to stop the attack when they collided with his paw pads.

Luffy was now gritting his teeth as he watched how Zoro was sent flying back once more and was smashed against the rock. Kuma then appeared in front of him, looking down at him as Zoro struggled to pull himself out of the rubble, now bleeding from his head.

"Zoro!" Luffy cried out in worry when Zoro's body was shaking so badly that he could hardly move.

"I'm fine," present-day Zoro answered for him. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm not the type of guy who is going to be killed that easily."

"But what about with all those other injuries?!" Luffy demanded and he was growing angry with Zoro just looked away from him.

"Zoro! Look behind you! Run!" Usopp's voice yelled and Luffy looked back at once to see that Kuma held his palm up above memory Zoro, ready to strike at him again. But Sanji finally had enough as he ran in, kicking Kuma hard in the face. There were excited cheers that they were finally able to deal a blow against Kuma—who didn't even have time to deflect the attack.

"Idiot!" memory Zoro roared out in fury, "I said not to butt in!"

But his anger was short lived, for Sanji fell. His eyes widened as Sanji hit the ground, now holding onto his leg in terrible pain. He thrashed about as he was trying to hold back his cries of pain.

"What? He hurt his leg?!" Luffy demanded before remembering that Kuma was a cyborg too and Sanji wasn't as strong then as he was now.

Kuma barely scratched his chin at that as he asked, "I take it your black leg sang. I expected more from you."

"While I agree with that, I have to say that I didn't see it coming," present-day Zoro nodded. "Who would have thought that the cook was such a pansy?"

Of course, insulting the cook wasn't as fun as it normally was when he wasn't even here to get angry at him. He would have to bring it up later.

"He kicked him in the face and he didn't even flinch!" memory Usopp gasped in shock. "This just keeps getting worse and worse!"

"What the hell? Is his face made of steel?" Sanji panted, still on the ground as he held his leg. "That kick should've busted in his skull."

Now desperation was sinking in. Usopp tried this time as he sent another firebird at him, which Kuma barely even turned his head to look at him.

"The King of Snipers now steps to the plate," he said, now sounding bored, "A title you clearly gave yourself."

"Damn, he's just crushing us!" Luffy hissed. "This is almost as bad as Sabaody!"

"Yeah, and it's only through his mercy that we all walked away from that fight with our lives," present-day Zoro said, looking back down at his sword and knew that it really was his only option here. He would try to knock Luffy out and hope that things somehow worked out.

He slowly stepped up behind Luffy, waiting for the precise moment to try—though he knew that the odds actually working were slim at best. Kuma held up his hand and deflected the firebird, sending it back to where it came from. Nami and Chopper, who were standing next to Usopp, both yelled as they ran while he was hit with his own attack.

Things were just going from bad to worse.

"I knew from the start that killing a crew of injured weaklings like you would bring me no joy," Kuma said and Luffy's eyes narrowed at the insult to his crew. "Not to mention that it's not a fair fight. But orders are orders even if I may not fully agree with them."

"So why follow them?" Luffy demanded. "You don't have to listen to those bastard! Nothing they do is worth what you gave to them!"

He remembered more of what he learned of Kuma and how he let the government make him into a machine with no memories or feelings of his own. Why would he do something like that?!

Kuma suddenly held up his hands and created a giant paw bubble before compressing the air, causing it to grow smaller and smaller. The crew was baffled at this, not understanding what was going on. The process was taking a long time, and had they been in any shape to fight, the Straw Hats never would have allowed him to finish. Yet even if they were able to fight, it was doubtful that they could have done anything to stop him anyway.

"I think I know what he's doing! He's using his power to deflect a giant air mass and compressing it into a tiny ball?" Nami asked, though she sounded like she didn't understand this any better than Luffy did, who was completely lost.

"The real attack will come the moment he releases all that compressed pressure," Robin spoke up, explaining what she was seeing, "That much air… It will send out a massive shockwave like an enormous bomb."

"A bomb!?" Luffy repeated in shock.

"Did I hear you right?!" Chopper cried out with his eyes wide.

"Like a bomb? You mean he's gonna release that and blow us all up?!" Usopp cried out in terror.

"That is a quick and easy way to deal with us all in one blow," present-day Zoro said, still directly behind Luffy, knowing that Luffy was surely well distracted at this point and this was going to be his one chance.

As Kuma finished forming the tiny weapon in his hands, ready to unleash it all, they could only watch and try to plan some kind of escape. Zoro pulled out his sword, still in his sheathe, and already had if half raised.

"I've thought it over and I've made a decision. I will spare your lives," Kuma said as looks of relief and hope began to shine on the Rolling Pirates faces.

"Why? Why go to all the trouble to make a bomb if you're not going to use it!?" Luffy demanded before turning back to Zoro and about to ask what was going on before he saw the sword coming down at him and he instinctively caught it with his hand.

"What the hell, Zoro?!" Luffy demanded as he moved the sword away from them as he glared at Zoro. "What was that about?!"

Zoro didn't answer for a moment as he looked at him, but then Kuma finished speaking.

"But on one condition," Kuma said carefully so that they couldn't miss the condition. "In exchange for this act of amenity you bring to me the head of Straw Hat Luffy."

Luffy's indignant face was still glaring at him, but then his eyes widen in shock at what he just heard. Zoro didn't move as he looked at his captain, who seemed too stunned to speak. Slowly, he turned his head to look back at Kuma, still with the bomb in his hands and he finished, "If I return with him that should be enough to satisfy the world government."

"What?" Luffy asked, shock ringing throughout his soul as both the Straw Hats and the Rolling Pirates stared at Kuma. "You mean…? He was willing to let everyone go if you handed me over to him?"

Zoro sighed, knowing that he had acted too late and couldn't believe his nerve had failed him a second too late.

"Damn, if that was all it took… then what happened?" Luffy asked. When Zoro didn't answer him, Luffy spun around again and grabbed him by his shoulder as he demanded, "If you just handed me over and everyone else lives! But when I woke up, everyone was there! I was still there! So how could I if…?"

He paused as his eyes widen as it dawned on him what must have happened.

"This wasn't a choice for you to make, Luffy," present-day Zoro reminded him. "This was one that we all had to make. And we were all of one mind."

"Which is what?" Luffy asked, feeling numb.

"We won't betray our own captain!" Usopp's voice said as Luffy's eyes found him. Usopp was looking furious as he stood there with any trace of fear he had fading from his face. In fact, it was like he could care less what happened anymore as he glared up at Kuma. He wasn't the only one either. As Luffy began looking at the others, he could see that everyone had similar expressions of anger at the offer.

Nami's eyes were narrowed as the hands gripping her weapon were shaking. But the shakes were with fury as she stood her ground, refusing to run—which was what she had been known for doing back in the days where she had been a thief. Even in battles after joining his crew, she would run out of the way and leave a crewmate to fight, yet here she was also refusing to accept Kuma's deal even if it meant saving their lives. Chopper's eyes were deadly as he was now practically growling up at Kuma—sounding and even looking something primal.

Robin's expression held no emotion, but her eyes narrowed angrily as she stood there with her hand on her hip, as if daring him to try anything. She even moved slightly so that she was directly between the sleeping memory Luffy and Kuma as if she hoped to shield him from Kuma's gaze. Even Brook was looking outraged at such a suggestion, and his skull face was looking even more death-like.

Franky was the only one among them who was smiling, but it wasn't at the idea of getting out of here with their lives… it was one where he was going to enjoy beating the crud outta someone. In fact, he looked ready to charge at any moment.

As for memory Zoro and Sanji? Neither of them had any emotion as their eyes were shadowed over. Their anger could be felt though, and they were both prepared to lay down their lives here and now for the sake of the others directly behind them.

"Now then, hand him over before I change my mind," Kuma warned one last time. Even the Rolling Pirates were looking furious at Kuma, their answer joining with the Straw Hats in one solid answer.

"NEVER!"

Luffy fell to his knees in shock as he could only watch at what he just saw. Everyone, not a single person among them even gave the idea of selling him out a thought. They were all prepared to die just to protect him.

Why? Why would they do that?

Kuma didn't look surprised by this choice as he opened his hands and the tiny bubble glowed brightly as he warned, "This was your choice."

Luffy's ears were no longer working as a sort of numbness entered his body. He got up and ran, trying to stop the attack himself, even as the present-day Zoro grabbed him by his shoulder and held him back. There was nothing that he could have done to stop this, this he knew, but he couldn't' just stand here and watch as they all risked their lives for him like this! He screamed out words that his ears could no longer hear as the explosion took place. They were covered with a blinding light and devastation was delivered onto them all.

Everyone was blow right off their feet, being throwing into the air or blasted into rocks. Anything that was standing around them was either obliterated or crumbled right on top of the people.

"EVERYONE!" Luffy screamed, tears forming in his eyes as he could only watch as the memory shook and broke around him. The memory began to black out as the light died and all that met their eyes was the broken courtyard. How did everyone survive that? That attack should have killed them all… unless… Kuma went easy on them anyway.

Still, even if that was the case, Luffy was shaking with anger at himself. How could he just sleep through all this? How could he have let it happen?! Why? Why did they all stand there and try to protect him like that? He never asked for them to do this! So why?!

The memory was cutting in and out, the heartbeat they could hear in the background was so loud that it was almost drowning out everything else. But the image of Kuma looming over them was still there and Luffy felt even sicker at the thought that they all could have died for him even worst.

Whosever memory was this… they must have been badly hurt. Yet still, Kuma stood there, walking through the ruins, passing by everyone who laid scattered on the ground.

"What? I-I thought that Kuma left!" Luffy cried out as his past self remained out cold on the ground. "I… I don't… I don't get it?"

"Don't overreact," Zoro said firmly. "You won't like what you're about to see. But you're going to see it anyway… just… trust me."

"Zoro?" Luffy asked, now growing upset. It was bad enough that everyone risked so much for him, now he was finding out that they all got hurt because they were stupid enough to try and protect him?

The memory seemed to be becoming clearer but then fading in and out at the same time. It was as if the one watching this was trying to force themselves to stay conscious. There was ringing in their ears and rushing heartbeats… beats going so hard that it was a wonder that the owner of that heart didn't burst.

Kuma slowly stepped up until memory Luffy was lying directly beneath him. Kuma stared at him with those blank eyes for a few seconds before he slowly reached down and began to pick him up by the front of his vest. However, before memory Luffy's body even left the stone slab beneath him, something came dashing out of nowhere and slashed at Kuma's shoulder, forcing the Warlord to drop Luffy again.

"Zoro?!" present-day Luffy gasped when he recognized the figure who protected him. The attack was strong enough to cut into Kuma's shoulder, revealing a cybernetic arm underneath his clothes—and while it wasn't enough to finish him off, it did take him off guard and Kuma stumbled.

Memory Zoro had collapsed to his knees, unable to move any longer

Luffy gasped at the sight of how memory Zoro, miraculously still standing, had come running in with his blade. He was finally able to deal a blow against Kuma, wounding his arm and splattering blood, however, at second glance, their eyes widened at the sight of seeing the metal and wires attacked to Kuma's shoulder—revealing the reason why Sanji almost broke his leg trying to kick him earlier.

"Of course," memory Zoro panted at the sight of the arm. "I should have known."

"Zoro! Are you ok?!" Luffy gasped at the sight. "Why'd you do that?!"

Zoro didn't answer as he continued to watch the scene with gritted teeth. His past self coughing up blood as he declared that he was a cyborg just like Franky. But then he changed his mind, saying that Kuma was made of something tougher than he was. That was when one of Kuma's eyes began to glow an eerie red color and opened his mouth to reveal a blinding light. The beam that Franky had worked so hard to build into his own body was shown and the beeping it caused sped up as memory Zoro was forced to run. But he was flung about from the force of that beam of light, slamming into the rock and collapsing hard, unable to even get up. Not that he was stopping. He was pushing himself up as Kuma moved his sleeve to cover his wounded arm.

Luffy gasped, trying to run up to protect him, but present-day Zoro barked, "Don't bother! There's nothing that you can do to help!"

"HOW CAN YOU JUST SIT THERE AND WATCH YOURSELF GETTING BEATEN LIKE THIS?!" Luffy demanded back.

"I UNDERSTAND A LOT BETTER THAN YOU THINK I DO!" present-day Zoro roared back. This might have broken into a full argument but the scene was getting their attention again. Memory Zoro couldn't even get up anymore as he spun about on his knees to glare up at Kuma.

"A cyborg?" Kuma repeated calmly, "I suppose you could say that. But my metal parts are all I have in coming with your friend Franky. I am a creation known as a Pacifista. An undeveloped human weapon project of the world government."

"A Pacifista?" memory Zoro repeated slowly, for the word meant nothing to him here.

"I was created by the World Government most renowned scientist Dr. Vegapunk," Kuma explained simply, "One of the greatest geniuses this world has ever known. To put that into perspective, his discovered are so sophisticated it is believed that it would take the world 500 years to catch up to him."

"I don't care about that!" Luffy yelled out. "Zoro! What do you think you're doing?! I was going to be fine! You shouldn't be moving!"

"It's my body, I'll do what I want with it," present-day Zoro retorted coldly. "Nothing you can do about it now. Just deal with it."

Memory Zoro raised his head, spitting up blood as he struggled just to draw in a rattling gasp

"Technology that advanced and you have Devil Fruit powers?" he wheezed out, "I'm starting to thin you have an advantage over me."

That was when he sat back on the stone and muttered, more to himself than to Kuma, "Well, this is embarrassing… my body's shutting down… it won't listen to me anymore. And the only way you'll back down… is if we give you Luffy's head?"

"Zoro! You can't do this! Just… just hand me over!" Luffy said as he turned back to the Zoro next to him. "This isn't worth it! Why did you keep fighting?!"

"I thought the answer was obvious," present-day Zoro answered back sharply. "And if it were the other way around, I know that you would have done the same thing for me! Don't feel guilty for my actions!"

"What are you talking…?" Luffy began before Kuma went on speaking.

"That is the only compromise I'm willing to offer," Kuma informed him firmly. Memory Zoro continued panting for air as he looked about, trying to think of something—anything—that he could do to stop him. But at last, after taking a deep breath and closing his eyes in acceptance. He seemed to come to some kind of understanding and any inner battle that he was facing at that moment faded.

He then opened his eyes and told him, "You want a head, I'll give you a head."

That was when he did something so shocking that it caused Luffy to feel that everything he thought he knew shatter and break around him. Memory Zoro bowed his head low before Kuma and begged, "However, I can't give you my captain's! You'll have to take mine instead! Please! Settle for that!"

The present-day Zoro shut his eyes at that moment, looking away and unable to bear looking at his captain now. Not that he was ashamed of what he had done… he held no regrets at this moment in his life.

At last, emotion sprang to Kuma's face at the plea.

"I may not have the same bounty on my head as Luffy at the moment, but I swear to you that I am destined to become the greatest swordsman that this world has ever known!" memory Zoro exclaimed. "Surely that must be worth something!"

Present-day Luffy's eyes were shadowed over as he could only stare at what he was seeing—yet all the color in his face had left him and his expression was stony. Despite the fact that he wasn't moving, present-day Zoro was finally able to look back at him, fearful of what was going through his mind. Though he had a good idea to what it was when he saw Luffy's hands curling into fists and began to shake.

"You possess that much ambition, and yet you are prepared to give it all up and exchange your life for his?" Kuma asked calmly.

"The way things are looking? I don't see any other way to save the rest of my crew," memory Zoro panted as he looked over at Luffy, who was still out cold. "What's the point of having ambition if I can't even save my captain?"

He then glared up at Kuma as he declared as loudly as he could, as if hoping to declare it to the rest of the Grand Line, "LUFFY IS THE MAN WHO _WILL_ BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

The words seemed to echo around them for an agonizing moment. Present-day Zoro didn't dare look at Luffy, who kept his head down. But at last he spoke…

"Z-Zoro…?" Luffy whispered as present-day Zoro shut his eye and looked away, unable to find anything to say.

He knew that Luffy wasn't going to like it. Maybe even never understand why he did it. But the fact was that he didn't regret it. He would have done it all over again in a heartbeat should it ever happen again. Luffy was just going to have to live with that.

 **(Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. But at I kept going back and forth between letting Luffy know the truth or keeping it secret. In the end, I think I found the best way to go about it. We finally start to see more of the enemy that is lurking in the tower. Any guesses as to what it is?)**


	24. Floor 23: The Monster From Below

**Hello everyone out there. I am so sorry about taking so long to update. However, there was a nasty virus that infected my computer so I was stuck unable to do anything for a while and I had to get rid of all my infected files. The chapters and notes that I made regarding this story were all destroyed and there were some other personal problems that caused me to fall into a deep depression after that. I just hadn't had the heart to write at all and I decided to take a much needed break from writing. I went home for the holidays, which has been good for me and so I'm finally feeling up for continuing with this story.**

 **Anyway, I'm back and doing much better. Once again, I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, but I finally have this chapter ready to go, and I hope that you don't mind that it's short. We're picking up with where we left off with Luffy and Zoro having watched the memory of what happened with Kuma at the end of Thriller Bark! With work taking up most of my time and with the realization that I will have to find a second job to support myself, while looking for an internship…? It's just been a hectic couple of months. But I hope that you enjoy what I have planned… and I should warn you, it's just going to be one mystery on top of another here! :)**

 **Floor 23: The Monster From Below**

"Z-Zoro…?" Luffy whispered as present-day Zoro shut his eye and looked away, unable to find anything to say.

But for Luffy, was like there was an empty buzzing in his ears as he stared at the scene in front of him. Zoro… he had offered his life in exchange for his own… he offered to die in his stead to Kuma. And he never knew?

Why? Why did he do it? What was he thinking? How could he be so stupid as to make a deal like this? His entire body shook with both shock and rage, an urge to swing around and punch Zoro was so powerful at that moment that he almost couldn't contain himself. The only thing that stopped him from acting on impulse was the sight of memory Zoro still on his knees as he had finished begging Kuma to take his head in exchange for the lives of the crew.

As for present-day Zoro, he felt that all his worst nightmares were coming at once as he merely stood there. There was nothing that he could say that would be able to take away what Luffy had just seen, knowing that all he could do at this point was allow him to see and judge with his own eyes what happened.

Perhaps Kuma had a hint of surprise in his face as those blank eyes merely gazed back down from where memory Zoro sat. But that was just a guess at this point… it was easier to see what memory Zoro was thinking as he glared back refusing to move or turn away as he waited for Kuma to make up his mind. Either way, he had made it clear that he wasn't going to stand by and allow Kuma to take Luffy from them.

Just then, from the rubble, somebody had gotten back to his feet and was now stumbling his way towards them. When Luffy turned to see who it was, his eyes widen in shock to see that it was Sanji… his clothes were blood and ripped, and he was now walking with a definite limp—probably from where he almost broke his leg trying to kick Kuma from before—but he was still awake and now getting their attention as he marched over with his hands in his pockets.

"Real cute, quit trying to show me up!" Sanji called, his voice wheezing slightly as he demanded, "You've got the right idea but what about your dream? You can't accomplish anything if you're dead you stubborn fool."

"You…" memory Zoro snarled back as Sanji walked on past until he was standing right in front of his crewmate and blocking him from Kuma's view.

"Listen you giant oaf!" Sanji yelled even as memory Zoro hissed, trying to stop him, "Hey!"

But Sanji completely ignored him as he barked up at Kuma, "Don't bother with Moss Head here! If you're taking a head, take mine!"

"W-What?" Luffy choked out, feeling as if the world was falling away from him for a second time. What were… how…? Why were they doing this?! Memory Sanji was now trembling—most likely through a combination of fear and effort to keep standing. But he stood his ground as he glared up at Kuma without a trace of hesitation.

"The government may not consider me a serious threat right now, but you'll regret not taking my head once I start making trouble!" he warned, "Now's your chance to take on Black-Leg Sanji!"

"You… jackass!" memory Zoro snarled out, however he insulted him without his usual irritation. This time, he actually sounded concerned for Sanji's life if he continued on like this.

Luffy's face was twitching as he lowered his head, the rim of his straw hat shadowing his face so that any emotion became hidden.

Kuma, meanwhile, continued looking down at the pair of them with those empty eyes as the two men waited for his 'judgement'. They knew that they didn't stand a chance against him… even if they were in a fit state to fight; he was just way out of their league. They also knew that they couldn't stop him from killing them all anyway, but if he was willing to let them all go for just one head… they were willing to throw their pride away and offer up their lives in exchange if only his empathy was great enough.

"Go on and get it over with! The only head you're taking is mine! Forget about these fools! Kill me and get outta here!" Sanji demanded, unable to keep the quiver out of his voice completely. "I'm just as ready to sacrifice myself as he is! I've fed people my whole life! And now I'll feed the worms!"

"Show off," present-day Zoro couldn't help but speak up at those words… his eye glancing sideways at his captain, who was now as still as a statue. This wasn't good… normally it was easy to tell what Luffy was feeling, but here, he may have been trying to get a sign of emotion from a wall.

Sanji kept his eyes focused in front of him as he spoke again, but this time, it was to memory Zoro.

"Hey... do me a favor..." Sanji said as memory Zoro blinked and slowly sat up tall. Once there, he even was able to find his footing and pushed his wounded body to his feet as Sanji went on, "tell everyone I'm sorry that I couldn't say goodbye. I'd hate to put you guys out… but looks like you'll have to find a new cook."

But before Sanji could make his final move, memory Zoro had heard enough. With surprising speed from a man who had been beaten to within an inch of his life, he rammed the hilt of his sword right into Sanji's side. Normally, such a move would have normally just ticked Sanji off without doing any damage, but given his present condition, he felt the full impact and his body just was in no shape to withstand it.

Still, there was no reaction from Luffy as he watched, already knowing that there was no chance that Zoro would allow something like this to happen. But still… why were they willing to die for him? He hated it, he hated all of this…!

Sanji, however, spun about, wheezing painfully as he grabbed memory Zoro by the shoulder as he cried, "Moss Head, you son of a…!"

But it was too much for him for he never even had a chance to finish his insult. He fought to remain conscious, but he slowly began to slump down to his knees, with only his grip on Zoro's arm keeping him even remotely upright. Memory Zoro didn't move at all as he just looked down at him with another blank glare as Sanji finally let go and hit the ground, out cold.

The whole time, Kuma didn't move or make a sound as he watched. Once they were alone again, memory Zoro glanced up at Kuma once more, panting hard as he removed the swords at his side and said, "Now show me you've got some honor."

He then tossed his swords… his dream… at Kuma's feet, showing that he was deadly serious about this. That he was no longer even going to attempt to fight for his own life at this point. His head was free for the taking if he wanted it.

The silence was almost painful as they looked to Kuma… waiting for him to say or do something. At the least, he wanted to make it quick before anyone else woke up and tried to give themselves up. Just when the silence felt that it had stretched on for an eternity, Kuma finally sighed as he said, "You made sure I can't even touch Straw Hat. Not unless I want to shame myself."

Present-day Zoro shut his one eye for only a brief moment as he silently thanked Kuma for his mercy here. They never would have made it out of this mess alive if he hadn't… and this isn't the first time either. He owed the man twice… once for here and the second time when he saved them all at Sabaody. He only regretted that he would never be able to thank him.

"Then you've got my respect," memory Zoro said gratefully.

Kuma's words were as good as a promise to him, and so he made no move when he saw Kuma turn back to the memory Luffy, still out cold on the stone.

"If that's what you want then I give you my word. I won't take Straw Hat's head," he promised as his giant head hovered over memory Luffy's unconscious form. But then he picked him up and said, his voice going darker, "But if you're intend on taking his place… you will experience a living hell."

Present-day Luffy finally stirred at those words, his mouth opening slightly in confusion as present-day Zoro looked away, grief in his heart at what he was about to see.

Kuma didn't elaborate just yet as he picked Luffy up like he was a rag doll and placed one of his hands upon his chest. In seconds, a colossal red bubble in the shape of a paw print seemed to have been pushed right out of memory Luffy's back. One so big, that it was just about Kuma's own size, and it hovered there slightly off the ground before he placed Luffy back on the ground with surprising gentleness.

"I just repelled all physical injury from Straw Hat's body," he explained quietly to memory Zoro, "His exhaustion… his pain. What rests before you is the sum total of his anguish he endured during his battle with Moria."

Present-day Zoro heard his captain's sharp intact of breath, no doubt realizing what was happening here. He didn't seek to deny or confirm what happened here, knowing that he had to let his captain see the full extent whether he wanted to nor not. This was far out of his hands at this point.

"If you truly wish to take his place, you must accept and inflict his agony upon yourself," Kuma stated. "As close to death as you are already, not only would it undoubtable kill you it will do so painfully."

"Zoro… no… don't tell me… you didn't…?" Luffy began and Zoro felt that he rather take a blade to the gut than hear that heartbroken tone in Luffy's voice ever again.

"Why don't you have a taste?" Kuma offered as he pushed a tiny amount the size of one of Nami's tangerines and had it float over towards Zoro. Memory Zoro didn't react at all as the ball drifted over and sank into his chest. The effect was instantaneous and memory Zoro's eyes widen in shock and pain. He began to scream as spasms shook his body and he writhed around in agony. Zoro, past or present, wasn't the type of many would scream no matter how much pain he was in, but here, the scream was unleased as if his very insides were being burned while his bones cracked and muscles torn as if they were trying to stretch out like Luffy's did when he used his Gears.

That one tiny bubble was enough to almost break a man who stood his ground against any foe with unflinching resolve… and the two could only watch as memory Zoro fell forward, blood bursting from his mouth and the agony remaining even after the effects faded.

"Zoro!" Luffy screamed memory Zoro laid on the ground, forcing himself to roll over onto his back so that he could breath, his eyes rolled in the back of his head like the tiniest motion caused him unendurable torture.

Kuma still didn't react at all as Zoro all but had a seizure right in front of him.

"Do you still want it?" he asked calmly, and the present-day Zoro realized that Kuma was giving him one last chance to back out of this offer. He would allow him to leave here if he asked it… but that would also mean going back on his honor and surrendering Luffy just because he couldn't handle a little pain. Like hell that he was gonna let that happen.

It took Zoro several seconds to catch his breath and slowly sit up. Luffy wanted to yell for Zoro to stop, but knew there was nothing he as he reached out a shaking hand, as if trying to take back all the pain that had just been taken from him..

"Just let me... pick the location..." memory Zoro finally wheezed out as he forced himself back to his feet.

Kuma seemed impressed by this and nodded as memory Zoro stumbled away from him, heading away from everyone else in the courtyard. Kuma only followed with the bubble of pain floating after him like how a child with a balloon would. Perhaps Zoro was hoping to postpone this decision as he tried to find a way out of it. But if he had, he quickly realized that there was no other option and no longer any point in waiting if he wanted to handle this on his own without the rest of the crew knowing. Somehow, he managed to lead Kuma area out of sight of the courtyard, and away from his friends and allies to a place that showed a perfect view of the sun rising.

It was a good place to end it.

Memory Zoro just stood there as he silently informed Kuma that this place would do. Kuma understood as he set the bubble in front of him and backed away, without saying a word. Memory Zoro stared long and hard at the bubble as he breathed hard, his eyes glazed over.

"What were you thinking about?" Luffy asked him darkly, as if daring Zoro to lie to him.

Present-day Zoro didn't answer for a moment before he closed his eye and confessed softly, "I was looking back on my life."

"That's not funny," Luffy cut in, his voice cold as ice.

"I wasn't trying to be," present-day Zoro answered back just as coldly. "I didn't know if I was going to survive or not. So, before I put myself to the test, I was just checking to see if I had any regrets."

"Do you?" Luffy asked, still in that same calm voice, his eyes still overshadowed, but there was a definite threat of anger layering it.

Again, present-day Zoro didn't answer as he watched his past self gaze into that ball of pain as he prepared himself for the fight of his life.

"Do you mean right now?" he asked slowly. "Or back then?"

"Is there a difference?" Luffy unfeelingly stated as his hands curled up into fists.

"Right now in the present…?" present-day Zoro went on carefully, "No. None."

"And back here?" Luffy asked, his entire body now shaking with the effort to keep his voice from rising any louder.

"Just before I was about to put my hands in that thing? Yeah… I had a regret. Just one though," present-day Zoro confessed as he opened his eye. "That I may not have a chance to continue our adventures together with the rest of the crew."

"Then why…?" Luffy asked so quietly that Zoro wasn't sure if he heard him. But there was no time to answer. His past self seemed to have had made his peace with the world before he took one last breath and finally plunged his hands into that bubble of anguish.

Present-day Zoro didn't make a sound as he watched the result of what he chose to do that day.

Not that he needed to see the memory to know exactly what happened. With his hands still stuck inside that bubble his body was being torn apart from the inside out. It all happened at once as wounds erupted all over his body when his muscles were torn and his blood vessels popped, squirting blood everywhere while his bones began to crack.

Neither of the present-day Straw Hats moved an inch as the scene played out before their eyes, memory Zoro's valiant struggles to keep his screams inside this time around. But at one point, he could no longer hold it in and a single scream erupted from his mouth—signaling pain that no one man should ever have to go through.

No words would ever be able to tell just the kind of pain that Zoro went through that day—nor the kind of scream that he made at that moment as a geyser of blood erupted from all over his body and splattering all around him as it pooled at his feet. Only that it showed the true depths of loyalty and determination that he must have had to have willing gone through this hell for the sake of another.

Luffy's own head had lowered so much that not even a trace of his face could be seen from the shadow of his hat as the blood continued erupting, splattering everywhere on the grass and rocks around him so that it looked like a massacre of many people were butchered on this spot. Still, memory Zoro bore with his, mastering control of his screams, his eyes glaring ahead of him with such a focused determination that not even hell was going to stop him from continuing forward.

Gradually the bubble grew smaller and smaller as he continued to absorb the pain until the massive bubble was the size of a marble being held in memory Zoro's hands before sinking completely into his body—fully merging with him.

It took several more long minutes before the ordeal ended. But the aftermath was almost as bad as seeing the even take place. If one were to look around him, you could only imagine the kind of horror that one person went through to see so much blood…? How he didn't bleed to death at that moment, was anyone's guess but he must have lost more than half of his blood at that point… and was losing even more with every passing second as he stood there. That's right, memory Zoro remained on his feet the entire time as he folded his arms, the violent spasms that almost ripped his body in two slowly ending. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared ahead of him, not even seeing anything as blood flowed down his body… waiting…

No sooner did the pain finally stop, did Sanji's voice sounded out from nearby.

"No way that guy just let us go! Dammit Zoro what'd you do?!" present-day Zoro looked up to see that Sanji had woken up and was now running this way, trying to find his past self. Thankfully, he was able to find him in the distance, his back to him as the cook looked on with wide eyes before he slid down some stone, making his way towards him. "You really freaked me out there! So what happened to the warlord?"

That was when he finally got close enough to fully see the state that memory Zoro was in, and his jaw dropped open in horror.

"WHERE THE HELL DID ALL THIS BLOOD COME FROM?!" Sanji screamed. But when memory Zoro didn't answer, he began yelling, "HEY! YOU STILL ALIVE? WHERE'D THAT PAW GUY GO?! WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"

To Sanji's amazement, memory Zoro was able to form some words.

"What happened here?" he croaked out, his body shaking with the effort to stay upright. "Nothing at all."

It was all over now. Present-day Zoro took a few deep breaths before he looked to Luffy, wondering just what he was going to do. At first, he didn't do anything but stand there with his head down.

"Luffy…?" present-day Zoro began slowly.

"You liar…" Luffy finally muttered.

Zoro raised his eyebrows at him, wondering what he was talking about before Luffy seemed to lose it. He didn't see it coming. All he knew was that Luffy's fist had come flying up to meet him and he felt a sharp pain in his jaw as he was sent flying backwards, hitting the ground hard and rolled.

Luffy was panting hard now as he glared down at Zoro, seething with rage.

"You liar…" he said again, a little louder as Zoro spit out a mouthful of blood as he sat up.

"What the hell…?" he hissed, rubbing his sore jaw as Luffy went marching right up to him.

Zoro got back to his feet, ready for a full fight to break out as Luffy stopped and finally raised his head so that he could see it and it caused Zoro to freeze at the sight. Zoro forgot the pain in his face as he saw the furious tears falling down Luffy's face as he yelled out, "YOU LIAR!"

Zoro didn't say a word as Luffy began punching him. Not as hard as he had done before so that he wasn't knocked back, he didn't even try to defend himself as he let Luffy vent, shouting out with every punch, "NOTHING HAPPENED? HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! WHY DIDN'T I KNOW?! WHY DID YOU DO IT!? DAMMIT ZORO, I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

Zoro just stood there and allowed himself to continue to be used a punching bag as Luffy yelled, tears falling from his face with every hit until he grabbed hold of his kimono at his shoulder and forced him to face him as he roared out, "WHY DID YOU DO IT?! WHY?! TELL ME!"

Zoro wanted so badly to yell back at him. But he knew that wasn't the answer at this moment. He took several deep breaths to calm himself before he forced his voice to stay level as he said, "If it were the other way around, what would you have done?"

Luffy's eyes widened as he let go of him, some of his anger ebbing away at the question. Both of them were breathing hard at this point as they looked at each other.

"That's different," Luffy spat out. "I'm the captain…"

"And it's a crew's duty to support and protect the captain," Zoro finished for him as Sanji went off yelling for the other memory Straw Hats so that they could help his past self. But neither of them were even looking at this point as they focused on their present selves.

"And you think that I'd thank you for getting yourself killed because of me?!" Luffy demanded. "Damnit, Zoro! I never wanted anything like that to happen! I never asked any of you to die for me! How do you think I felt when I saw how hurt you were?!"

"And how do you think that I and the others felt when we saw you strapped to that table in Impel Down after being poisoned?!" present-day Zoro yelled back, finally losing his own temper, "The only difference was where the pain came from!"

"I knew what I was doing!" Luffy shouted out. "That pain was mine!"

"So did I!" Zoro shouted back. "And don't you dare deny it, but I know that you would have done the same for me if it was you. You risked your life time and time again for everyone else. Why do you think that we get so angry with you for doing stupid stunts? Because we worry about you!"

"But… when we first met… you… you made me promise that if I ever stood in the way of you fulfilling your dream then…?" Luffy shot back and Zoro's eye flashed at that memory.

"Dreams change all the time!" Zoro snapped back. "And that was way back then! Back when we first met and before I knew what kind of a person you were! Look, Luffy. That was just who I was back then! Not who I am now!"

He held up his hand and caught Luffy's next punch, and he held it there, forcing Luffy to listen to him.

"Ever since I was a child, I spent all my time travelling alone. I had very few people that I could call friends," he panted. "I grew up in a dojo where I saw everyone as competition. That was where I met my greatest challenger. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't win… not a single time. It was my dream back then to grow strong enough to beat my challenger. Just once… I would have given anything to win."

Luffy was still panting, still frozen as Zoro held up his blocked fist, but he was at least listening as Zoro explained.

"That dream was what kept me going and made me train harder than anyone else," he went on. "But, every time I got stronger…?" He trailed off as he thought of Kuina and a series of all of his defeats at her hands played in his mind's eye in solemn procession before he found his voice.

"Nothing was going to stand in my way," he vowed. "But in the end, I couldn't win and… she died."

Luffy blinked at that.

"She…? She died…?" he asked slowly.

He slowly lowered his arm and stood taller as Zoro stood on guard, ready to defend himself should Luffy throw another punch.

" _She_ … that's right," he confessed. "I lost to a girl. And more than once. I'm not ashamed of it… she was the stronger of the two of us and she also had dreams of being the strongest swordsman in the world. We always fought each other with bamboo swords. But the first time that I ever held a real sword in my hands, was in our final battle. And of course… she won. After that, we promised each other that one of us would one day become the greatest swordsman in the world."

"What happened to her?" Luffy asked, shocked by what Zoro was saying. Zoro was never one to talk about his past, and Luffy never pushed him or the others. Who they were before, didn't matter to him. They were his crew… his friends now and that was the important thing.

"She died the day after our vow," Zoro said bitterly. "She fell… down some stairs and broke her neck. Such a stupid way to go… so… after that, I took her sword and vowed that I would become the greatest for both of us. It's just like how you promised with Ace, isn't it?"

His hand unknowingly went to rest on the white blade at his side, and Luffy's eyes widen at the sight of it, realizing who the original owner of his sword was.

"Then… why were you willing to kill yourself for me?!" he demanded, his anger growing once again. "You made such an important promise to someone and you were willing to throw it all away?!"

"I'm trying to make a point! Dreams change all the time! They either become greater or weaker!" he shouted back. "It was a wake-up call to train even harder! Strive for something greater! Luffy, listen to me. After she died, I trained like a demon possessed to grow stronger. Even though I'll never have a chance to prove myself, I wanted to make sure that my name would one day reach the heavens where she could hear it and know that promise was fulfilled! Aside from some people that I met in my journey in the East Blue, I never allowed myself to become attached to people because I was so focused on my goal. When we met inside that marine fortress and you said that you were going to become the King of the Pirates, I wanted to laugh. I honestly thought that one day, we would just separate and go our own ways, I never dreamed that we would have made it this far! Somewhere I realized something."

"And what's that?!" Luffy demanded as Zoro seemed to be struggling inside himself for a moment.

"I thought the answer obvious," he declared loudly so that it probably could have been heard across the island. "Your dream… has become a part of ours as well! We want to see you become the Pirate King and be there at your side when it happens! That's what friends do, isn't it?!"

He stopped for more air, wondering why he would be so out of breath for not even raising a sword. But Luffy was staring at him at that moment like he had never seen him before in his life.

"That doesn't change the fact that I still stood in the way of your reaching your dream!" Luffy yelled and that was when Zoro realized something. Luffy wanted him to hurt him. He wanted to take all that pain back, as if he thought that he could make up for it. Well, too bad. That was back then, and he would have done it over and over again if it meant keeping him and the rest of the crew alive.

"I'm trying to tell you that promise I made with you was when we first met and I didn't have a clue who I was dealing with!" Zoro shouted out in frustration. "I thought that you were just a big talker who would quit at the first obstacle! We fought by each other's side through hell and back! Don't you dare criticize me for offering my life to an enemy when you risked your life for ours countless times!"

"But why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't do it to be thanked!"

"But you and Sanji were…!"

"Don't bring the cook into this! He doesn't have anything to do with it!"

"He was willing to die for me too! I never asked that!"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO! I DID IT BECAUSE I WANTED TO!" Zoro screamed out, feeling that they were just going in circles. "Look! We did it because we wanted to protect the crew! Kuma was too strong for us back then! No one would have been able to live with themselves if we stood there and allowed Kuma to kill you! Remember how we ended up coming to rescue Nami and Robin when they needed help? How is what we did then any different than what we did here?!"

"It just is!" Luffy declared, unable to come up with a good answer there. The yelling went back and forth and in circles for a time until they were both panting for air.

"Luffy, we could fight about this until the end of time, but the fact is this. You are the captain, you are the heart of this crew, whether you like it or not," Zoro went on in a more calm voice. "And that's not an easy job. The choices you make have to be best, not just for you or any one person, but for all the crew. We… we all need you. You said before that without the rest of us you would have been dead a long time ago. You can't be Pirate King on your own. Well, we all would have been dead too if you didn't step in when we needed a helping hand."

"And you think that I can live with myself knowing that you got yourself killed protecting me?!" Luffy demanded, wiping sweat from his forehead with a shaking hand. "When we first met, your dreams came first, and then you promise me that if I ever…?"

"Oh, for crying out loud! How many times do I have to tell you that doesn't mean a thing anymore," he shot back. "How can we take a promise seriously when we didn't even know each other back then? And what about that other promise I made you?"

"What one?" Luffy demanded, and in his surprise, he forgot that he was angry for a minute.

"The one after I lost to Mihawk?" he said clearly. "Back at the cook's stupid restaurant? Do you remember what I said?"

"You said that you would never lose again?" Luffy asked. "Yeah, I remember!"

"That's right," Zoro said grumpily. "That is the one I made after we fought side by side throughout the East Blue. After having a better idea of who and what I was dealing with. I stand by that promise… which counters the first one."

"No, it doesn't!" Luffy shouted back. "You made me promise to never stand in your way to become the greatest swordsman! And the second one you promised that you would never lose again!"

"Listen to me, you rubber-brained idiot! Because I am only going to say this once," Zoro warned dangerously as his hand rested on his swords and gripped his white one tightly. "I rather lose my swords than just stand back and allow any one of the crew to be killed. And that includes that damn cook, but don't you dare tell him I said that or I will kill you for it!"

"But it was still a promise, wasn't it?" Luffy yelled. "The first one that we ever made! How can I become the Pirate King if I know about this?!"

Zoro was now fighting the urge to punch him now.

"Only if you willingly stood in my way and stopped me!" Zoro countered. "Don't you see? Your dream is a part of mine! And I asked you never to stand in the way of my dream! Well, if your dream is mine, you never stood in my way! I was always allowed to do whatever I wanted! So can't you see? That promise was never broken! Because I did what I wanted! Not because you made me or stood in the way!"

Luffy paused at that, his voice hitching as Zoro rubbed his face with an exhausted hand, wishing that he was better at this.

"If you don't believe me, just look!" he shot back as he pointed to the memory Straw Hats who had come running back with Sanji, crowding around memory Zoro, desperately trying to treat him though he wouldn't move. It wasn't until memory Zoro saw memory Luffy in front of him did he finally relax his guard and collapse, forcing the others to jump in and help.

"They were all willing to do whatever it took to protect you because we care," present-day Zoro said. "And you were all here to help me because that's what a crew does, isn't it? Look out for each other?" Luffy didn't answer as he looked on, barely listening to Zoro as he finished, "Your dream is impossible. But then, so are ours. The life of a pirate is fun, but dangerous and usually short. The moment that we chose to join your crew, we knew that. We knew that we could die at any moment. But how we chose to die is just as important as how to live."

"Still… I don't…?" Luffy began.

"You practically own our souls!" Zoro shouted back. "What do I have to do to show that?! Why else do we put up with your crazy stunts?! So you want to take my sacrifice and just throw it away?"

"Of course not!" Luffy cried out, "But…?!"

What do you say to someone after all that? What could you say to express just what was going on inside?

Luffy didn't have a time to find out, for at that moment, he felt water washing in over his feet and with a startled yell, he jumped back to look down and saw that this dark place they were in was filling up with water at a rapid pace.

"What the…?!" Zoro yelled, also noticing the water.

They backed up to stand back to back, trying to see through this seemingly empty darkness. But it was no good, it was like trying to see through a blackboard for all the good that it did. Meanwhile the water was continuing to rise, and before they knew it, it had risen up past their knees and was at their waists.

"Luffy!" Zoro yelled as the water, salt water, began to sap all of Luffy's strength.

"W-What's going on?" Luffy moaned out, becoming weaker with every second and slumping against Zoro for support. "I don't like this tower anymore… it stopped being fun."

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing," Zoro said, having to support his captain as the water was quickly rising. He looked upwards to the darkness above and realized that if they could only on, perhaps they could make it back up the tower to the others? He certainly hoped so because the water kept on rising with every passing second and before Zoro realized it, they were treading water, his toes just barely able to touch the bottom. He slung Luffy over his shoulders, having to support both of them as the water kept flooding in and he was soon swimming.

"Damnit! Just how is all this water coming in?" Zoro demanded, glaring around. The emptiness around him and all this ocean water made him feel like they were stuck out in the sea during a storm. For all that he could see was darkness and water. Telling Luffy to hold on, he just continued to kick his legs as the water seemed to continue rising and rising for a fair distance until he was beginning to hope that they would reach some kind of exit before Luffy let out a loud "OW!"

"What is it?!" Zoro demanded before reaching up and to his horror, he realized that they had collided with a ceiling.

"What the hell?! Where did that come from?!" he yelled, his eye widening. Ok… he was trying to calm himself as he thought back. He and the others entered the tower and have just been going up floor by floor, trying to reach the top. He had long since lost track of how many floor there had been, but he remembered his surprise by how far that he and Luffy had fallen through when the floor they were on fell through. They just kept falling down and down… without hitting anything? There was no way that they could have reached the top in such a short amount of time…? This had to be some kind of trick.

"Ok," he said bracingly, knowing that time wasn't on their side. "If we fell through here before, there's gotta be some kind of hole or something, right?"

But with his senses so dulled by this pressing darkness, all he could rely on were his hands to feel around the ceiling for some kind of opening.

Zoro was struggling to keep his head above the water as he held Luffy in one arm, pressing up against the ceiling with his other one. But this ceiling wasn't made out of anything he ever experienced before for not even his unbeatable strength was he able to even crack it. The best that he was able to do was to leave a thin scrape across the stone when he struck at it with his sword. He gritted his teeth, his head quickly running out of room for air as he was now pressed up against the ceiling to keep breathing.

As he focused on slicing about him, Luffy's strength continued to fade and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he began to slip from around Zoro's shoulders.

With a startled gasp, Zoro took what may have been his last breath of air and dove down to grab hold of Luffy's limp form and through it over his shoulder. His cheeks budging with his limited air supply, he stared around desperately for a way out of this mess. He couldn't see were the water was coming from, nor could he see any stairs or doors that had been on every floor before. If he could just find some kind of step, he was sure that he could find the way up and rejoin the others.

But time was running out and so he began to swim, desperately searching about for a way out. He stared about, searching for some kind of opening… if he could find one then maybe it would lead them back out to sea and he could swim out there…?

But were sinking fast and with Luffy as heavy as a bag of rocks on his back Zoro knew that if he didn't think of a way out of here in the next few minutes then they were both as good as dead.

That was when he sensed something nearby… something alive…?

He turned his head and he saw it staring back at him. It was an eye…An enormous golden eye was looking up at him from the darkness and he opened his mouth in a shocked cry that was unheard from the water while the eye blinked once to show thick, armored scales before opening again. He raised his blade, ready to kill whatever it was and find a way out… but that was when he saw someone else there standing in the shadows of scaly skin that was formed around the eye.

He drew his blade, preparing to fight it until he realize what it was.

It was a little girl…?

He was sure of it… to his utter amazement, there was a little girl dressed in a simple cream-colored dress and her dark hair tied back into a pair of pig-tails standing there beside the creature's eye.

At the sight of his sword, the girl was shaking her head at him and this action caused him to stop dead in mid-swing. The little girl smiled suddenly, her gloomy expressing melting away, and that was when he noticed something odd. She was underwater like they were, but it didn't look like she was having any trouble breathing.

A mouthful of bubbles erupted from his mouth, his air almost out. What was he going to do?! He wanted to know what kind of trick this was, his last thoughts suddenly turning to anger at the girl, thinking that she was somehow responsible for this. But the girl had pulled a small flower from her hair that he didn't notice before… a tiny flower with glowing white petals, and she held it up for him to see. Zoro's vision was starting to become fuzzy as his eye was drawn to the flower that she let go of and saw it float towards them.

His lungs were almost out of air and everything was going dark as he saw the flower petals break apart from the steam, glowing brighter than ever and then…? Nothing…?

…

"…?"

"…ro?"

"Z…oro?"

"Zoro?! Hey, Moss Head! Wake up already!"

Zoro came too slowly, his mind so foggy at that moment that he was having trouble remembering anything that happened. Why were the others trying to wake him up? Was there another storm on the way? Or marines attacking the ship? Please, they could handle it, so why were they telling him to wake up from his nap?

He was left with no choice when he felt a sharp pain on his face and his eyes opened in time to see Sanji's shoe in his face from where he had stomped down on his head.

"About time!" Sanji said sourly. "Thought that you were finished there for awhile, Moss Head. Can't say I'm not disappointed."

"Oh, shut it, you crappy cook," he hissed back as he spit up a mouthful of seawater. That was when his memory came back to everything that happened and he sat up at once, looking wildly around for his captain. To his relief, Chopper was nearby and was now pumping on Luffy's chest to get the water out of his lungs. Luffy was coughing and crying as he breathed in the air.

"I really thought I was gonna drown that time," he blubbered out, sucking in all the air his lungs could get.

"What happened to you two?" Franky's voice asked suddenly and after looking around, Zoro realized that they were back with the crew, stuck in one of the stupid floors again. It did little to improve his current mood, but at least they were in a space where he could see a little and the rest of the crew was with them—after doing a quick headcount anyway. "One minute you guys were there and then the next you fell through the floor and were gone!"

"That's what I wanna know," Zoro said, checking his side where his swords were to make sure he didn't lose them. "Did you guys pull us out of the water?"

"No, we found you like this," Usopp said in surprise. "What I wanna know is how you guys got to the floor above us?"

"Wait, what?" Zoro asked as Luffy blinked around with a dazed and confused expression. "What are you talking about? We fell down, remember? Or do you not know how that works?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk about direction!" Nami retorted as she was wringing out her hair, and he saw that they were all soaking wet like he and Luffy were.

"We tried to follow you down but then we were forced up when a flood of water came through!" Brook gasped anxiously at Luffy's side. "The current was so strong that we couldn't fight it! Not that I could anyway since I can't swim but…? Yohohoho! Skull Jok… wait… that wasn't a Skull Joke?"

"Is everyone alright?" Zoro asked at once, and he realized that the rest of the crew were all looking like they had been through a bad storm as well.

"We're all here and in one piece," Robin reassured him as she tried to dry out her bag and her notebook next to him. "Sanji was kind to carry me upstream as I was sinking."

"And I would have gladly have done it again, Robin my love!" Sanji swooned as Brook and Chopper thanked Franky and Usopp for dragging them up with them.

"But you two had us worried sick!" Usopp added was squeezing the water from his hat. "We thought that you two had drowned down there but then the next thing we knew was that you two were already on this floor when we got here.

"What? No, we fell down and into more memories, but that was when the water came in and we were floating up," Zoro explained, "But then there was that eye and the little girl and…?"

That was when Zoro felt something in his hands and looked at it to see that it was… a flower petal?

He held it up to stare at the suddenly darkened flower petals. Before, they had glowed brightly, but now they didn't look anything special but simple flower parts.

"That's what happened to me," Nami answered after she tied her hair up into a ponytail. "I thought that I was drowning, but then I saw this little light shining above me and when I reached for it…?"

She held up a small white petal to show them and soon the others were slowly reaching out their hands to realize that each one of them had a single flower petal. After getting a good look at them all, Zoro told them about what he had seen below… skipping over the part where he and Luffy had been forced to see the memories of the aftermath of Thriller Bark, anyway. He felt Luffy's eyes on the back of his head as he stood up and told them of the girl and the massive eye. The way he described the eye was enough to cause the Weakling Trio to scream in terror as Brook passed out. At least, he thought he did, it was hard to tell with him.

"I knew it! I knew it! It's that dragon! It's doing this! It's haunting this tower and it's trying to eat us!" Usopp screamed, already panicking.

"What?! But I don't want to get eaten! Let's get out of here!" Chopper cried out.

"There is something not right with this island!" Brook whimpered out, hugging himself. "Just the thought sends chills up my spine! Ah… wait… I have a spine… but how do I turn that into a Skull Joke?"

"Who cares?! Don't you realize the shitload of trouble we're in!?" Usopp barked back. "I told you! I told you all that coming here was a bad idea! Why doesn't anyone ever listen to what I have to say?!"

"Because if we did, then we'd never get anywhere?" Sanji offered, but he was looking back down at Zoro with a strange look in his eyes. The two looked at each other silent as the others were talking about the possibility of a dragon here in the tower with them. Then quietly, both Sanji and Zoro glanced at Luffy's suddenly still form.

Sanji glanced back at Zoro, who nodded silently, informing him without the need for words what the memory it was that they saw. Sanji's eyes then turned one to deep concern and knew that they had a lot of explaining to do. But, thankfully, with everyone's attention focused on getting out, they had time to work that out.

"Strange," Robin said thoughtfully as she looked sadly at her notebook, wishing that she could have written down what Zoro said so that she could have notes. "If that dragon was trying to eat us…? Why didn't it eat Luffy and Zoro when it had the chance?"

"Now is not the time for your creepy thoughts, Robin!" Usopp cried, tears flooding down his face. "I want out! I've had it with this freaky tower! Nothing about it is making sense at all! Please! Can't we just find our way out so that we can find the Sunny? I don't care about any stupid treasure anymore! I just want to find the Sunny and leave this island behind."

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree," Nami sighed, resting her chin on her knees from where she sat on the floor, but she couldn't help but have her eyes shining like beri's at the thought of treasure. "At the end, I prefer to live over finding treasure. But we can't get out of this place, remember? We've tried everything before?" She ran her hand over the hard stone beneath her and shivered as she asked, "This stone isn't right. Nothing here is right. Every floor that we go up? And that little girl from before…? You think that she was the one who is causing this?"

"From before…?" Chopper asked in confusion. "Oh, you mean when we first entered the island?"

"Now that I think of it, she did warn us not to go into the tower?" Nami muttered. "I'm starting to think that we should have listened."

As Robin was flipping through her notebook, trying to fix the sopping wet pages, she discovered one entry she made earlier and read it through once more.

"Everyone?" she said suddenly, getting their attention, "Do you remember what the door said?"

"What door?" Usopp asked and Robin called Franky over so that he could give her some light. That was when she read out the words that she had copied from the front door of the tower.

 _Those of dark, beware the light,_

 _For through these doors, prepare to fight…_

 _Through these doors, a beast of flame and flight._

 _Beyond here, awaits fire and grief…_

 _Deadly to all but those who accept belief._

 _Forbidden treasure, beware ye thief…_

 _Danger beyond measure, beware ye slayer…_

 _Enter, now, if you dare…_

 _Enter, now… the dragon's lair!_

"Oh, right, I forgot all about that," Franky said thoughtfully. "Wait… you think that it was trying to warn us from whatever is wrong about this freaky place?"

" _Those of dark, beware the light, for through these doors, prepare to fight_ ," Robin recited.

"Well, we certainly have been fighting in every way possible but how we kick ass," Sanji muttered darkly, drying out his cigarette lighter, and now growing angry to see that it had stopped working. Just great…

"Beware the light…?" Nami whispered softly before her eyes widening. "Wait. Doesn't it grow bright just before a memory pops up? So maybe the memories we're seeing are the fight that we have to go up against?"

"How can you fight a memory though, Nami-san?" Brook asked in confusion. "We've all tried many times, but there is nothing we can do to change the past, right?"

"Maybe it means to fight against our own feelings of seeing the memories?" Robin offered as she read out the next part, " _Through these doors, a beast of flame and flight_ …"

"Ok, so that's got to talk about the dragon, right?" Chopper asked at once. "I mean, dragons are supposed to fly and breathe fire, aren't they?"

"It also says that _beyond the doors waits fire and grief_ …" Robin added slowly, " _Deadly to all but those who accept belief_."

"Belief? What are we supposed to believe in?! That we are screwed?!" Usopp demanded. "Please tell me that there's some part that talks about how to get out of here?!"

" _Forbidden treasure, beware ye thief_ ," Nami added.

"Oh, of course, you would remember that part," Franky pointed out.

"Shut up!" Nami snapped as she crawled over to look over Robin's shoulder at the barely eligible words. "I'm just trying to figure this out. Ok, so there is some kind of forbidden treasure waiting for us, but to go through this tower, we have to fight against our memories and the dragon while believing in something? Is that what this is about?"

"It's difficult to say," Robin said, still frowning as she looked over the one part, "Deadly to all but those who accept belief. But belief in what?"

"What does the rest say again?" Luffy asked as he was looking at the flower petal that he woke up with. "And what does it say about flowers?"

"Nothing about flowers," Robin said, "But the rest says, _Danger beyond measure, beware ye slayer… enter, now, if you dare… enter, now… the dragon's lair_."

"And that's all?" Chopper gulped down. "Why doesn't it mention what else is going on here?"

"Maybe the ones who built this freaky place did something really bad and called in a curse from the seas and now anyone who goes in this place is cursed!" Usopp suggested in horror and Chopper screamed out.

"I'm starting to think so to," Nami said, surprised by how calm she was as she felt the soft petal in her hands before sticking it between her breasts, feeling that they should hold onto them for now. Since it helped to get them out of the water, they may be some kind of lucky charm… wait… was it possible that little girl from before was trying to give them some kind of clue?

She suggested this to the others, who all looked at their own separate petals, as if expecting the answers to come to them if they look at them long enough.

"You think that their some kind of a clue?" Chopper asked curiously as he sniffed it, but not picking up any scent, which was odd since flower petals usually had some kind of smell?

"Well, I'm an expert at plants, but I sure don't recognize any kind that this came from," Usopp said as he observed his flower petal. "And why isn't it glowing anymore?"

"I think that someone's playing around with us, here," Sanji said as he looked at his own flower petal in the palm of his hand. "It's like we're just given enough clues to keep us guessing and we just have to make up the rest of it as we go along."

"Or… maybe we all ended up eating some bad mushrooms or something here and we're all dreaming?" Franky offered.

"Are you telling me that I fed the crew something inedible, you walking tin-can?" Sanji demanded in outrage.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Zoro offered.

"Shut up for once, Moss Head!" Sanji shouted as the petal in his hand began to glow again. But it wasn't just his, the others all gasped at the sight of their own piece of the flower began to glow and behind them a door appeared in the wall and opened up wide for them to see stairs leading upwards.

"Oh no," Nami moaned out as Sanji and Zoro both ran to the door and cautiously stuck their heads inside to look up. "Please, don't tell me that we've got to keep going up like this? After what just happened?"

"Well, what other options do we have right now?" Sanji growled, feeling sick of this whole thing. "You know we've got to run out of tower sooner or later. And right now, after trying to drown us all like rats, I'm now aching to run into this dragon!"

"What do you know? We agree on something for once," Zoro said darkly.

It took a lot of convincing for some of the crew members to keep going, at least until they reminded them that they could risk drowning here and soon they couldn't waiting to get up to the next floor. Sanji led the way this time, ready to kick something at whoever was waiting for them at the next stop and what they were going to see next.

Zoro decided to watch the rear guard should anything come up from below them. But as the others all were out of their sights…?

"Zoro?"

Zoro paused as he looked back to see that Luffy was still standing there, tucking his own flower petal into the rim of his hat, his eyes never leaving Zoro's face. The captain and the first mate all both just looked at each other as some kind of understanding seemed to pass between them, forming some kind of connection that neither of them could describe. But…?

"I know…" Zoro said with a nod at Luffy's suddenly stoic expression. "We still have to talk about what happened. But we can wait until after we get out of here. Our first priority is to make it out alive with the crew. Right?"

Luffy frowned, but he ended up nodding as he walked up passed Zoro and climbed the stairs after the others. Zoro just watched on until his captain's back was out of sight and he sighed, knowing that they would talk about this again once they were able to find their way out. Hopefully, he would find something that he could say to prove that they all wanted the same thing. They wanted to just stay as part of the crew… and that was all that the wanted.

But still… how did they end up falling down and ended up at the top after all of that? It was like someone was changing everything inside this tower at the drop of a hat…? Was someone controlling the floors like this? Did they somehow know that there was a memory that he didn't want to see and that they forced him and the one person he never wanted to find out about it to watch it? And that water? What was that for? To get them back to the others once the memory was done? Well, whoever it was responsible for this stupid fun house, he was going to gut them.

He began to climb the stairs as the door shut behind him, leaving the confusion and mystery behind them, as even more was waiting for them above. But with Franky leading the way with his nipple lights, there was nothing but darkness surrounding Zoro until he caught up with the others… he didn't notice the shadowy image of chains wrapped around his body and shackles trapping his wrists appearing for just a brief moment. But as he climbed, the shadowy chains broke apart, leaving only the shackles until he caught up with the others and was in the light again. But the cold illusions of the shackles had already faded at that point and he did not notice anything strange as he continued climbing.

All Zoro felt was that there was a strange weight lifted from his heart… but not completely.


End file.
